Customer Reviews

Notorious (Blaze)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rancher Noah Garfield can't visit Las Vegas without thinking about sex--and when he thinks about sex, he thinks about Keely Branscom. She was the bad girl he wanted growing up--the one who he managed to resist when she was 16 and too young, but who then posed for a centerfold and left home. He can't believe it when he sees her in Las Vegas and resolves to do everything he can to save her.

Keely has never forgiven Noah for spurning her advances at 16, and this is her chance for revenge. She'll treat him to a weekend of sex he'll never forget, then move on with her life. At least she doesn't have to return to the dreary and conservative land of ranches and nosy people. The one thing she can't risk, though, is falling in love with Noah--again. But surely she's out of that now--isn't she?

Author Vicki Lewis Thompson writes a sexy story. Noah promises himself that he'll keep his hands off the beautiful Keely, but he doesn't have a chance when Keely turns up the heat--and boy does she turn up the heat. A Vegas wedding adds to the emotional impact of the moment as both Keely and Noah review their thoughts on what marriage means and their hopes or fears for their own future. NOTORIOUS was the launch book for Harlequin's BLAZE series--and it delivers both the sexy premise (he thinks she's a topless dancer and possibly a prostitute) and follow-through that BLAZE is built around.

Keely Branscom left behind quite a reputation in her hometown after posing nude for a men's magazine. While she regrets the break with her family, she's never missed the small town or the small town attitudes. But when she bumps into her teen crush, Noah Garfield, on the streets of Las Vegas, the chemistry between them reminds her of what she misses most. Noah never forgot the spirited Keely who always lived for the moment's pleasure. But when he saw her about to enter a strip bar, he interrupts her "interview" to rescue her from the ogling eyes of the stage. He brushes aside her protests, taking her back to his hotel and promising to help her find another line of work. Readers won't be able to resist the sexy Keely, the wild child whose reputation made her notorious. She's certainly not lost her touch as she lustfully draws Noah under her spell. Treating life with a spirit of adventure, she seizes the moment whether it is a stolen caress barely concealed from prying eyes or raspberry lotion applied in a closet. Her sensuality and sense of adventure will tease and tantalize the reader right along with the sexy hero. Additionally, the hotel, with its exotic water fixtures and decadent room, can't help but flame the imagination. Very highly recommended.

So it has finally dawned on me after reading almost 100 Blaze books and coming back to this one as one of my all time favorites why I like them soooo much: the fantasy element of the Blaze series and the tasteful yet wild sexual fantasies that each one incorporates is like reading every month a set of Red Shoe Diaries- like the sexy Zalman King series that was on Showtime and narrated by David Duchovny as the lover whose woman had died and left him with a pair of red shoes and a diary filled with fantasy unfulfilled.....

The sex and the tension in this one and the tremendous impact of the sex scenes is visceral. I love it when Keely tempts Noah with some voyeuristic thrills then takes them herself when it pushes him over the edge....their passion at a Vegas wedding against the glass looking down on a hotel lobby again has these fantasy elements that bring the heart rate up! I need to get a new copy because I find myself doing as I did at 13 and dogearring the good parts to read over again!

Kudos to Harlequin for continuing to stretch and push the element of women's fiction! The strong sexual content of the Blaze books, the action packed Intimate Moments line, the emotional Special Editions and the ever good Desire and Temptation lines just keep getting better. People forget that most of the big names in women's fiction all got their start in series romance- today with all of the options available in the series there is room for so many styles it is the readers who really win!

And the Harlequin Blaze line esp as written by Ms Lewis Thompson is about as good as vanilla porn ( the Jennifer Crusie term from Welcome to Temptation) can get!

Blaze picked the perfect book to launch its new series. I have two copies of this book as a failsafe in case I ever misplace one! To be honest, I haven't read a romance novel since which has measured up to the anticipation, passion, and satisfaction that this book offered. The prequel story in Midnight Fantasies about sister BJ is wonderful as well.

Again, Vicki Lewis Thompson has penned a hot, sassy and fun love story with NOTORIOUS. This book reminded me of the saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". And that's what most of the book is about.

After ten years the fates decide that Keeley and Noah will again meet. Noah is in Vegas to be in his friend's wedding and Keely is on assignment to write an article for her magazine Allure.

Noah walks by a strip club and immiedately his old "crush" Keeley comes to mind, the hometown's Bad Girl. As fate would have it, they bump into each other and Noah gets the impression she is going into the strip club to apply for a job. Since her father and soon to be sister-in-law work for him and the sparks are still there, Noah feels that he must protect her and invites her to stay with him for the weekend in hopes that he can counsel her. Well, Keely has other ideas. Why? Noah rejected her 10 years ago and so did her family and hometown when her photo was featured as a centerfold in a magazine.

Well, hold on to your hats, because if you want sex, steam, sass and tears, then read this wonderful and incredible love story. You will laugh, sigh and cry at the same time.

This book also reminded me of another five star VLT book, LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX. Another "Bad Girl" and fun book.

Summary: "Keely Branscom had always been a little notorious. A confirmed wild child, she'd shocked the town by posing for a centerfold at the age of nineteen. But what she'd really wanted was to get a reaction from seriously sexy Noah Garfield. Only, back then, he hadn't quite known what to do with her... Now, years later, Noah's still in over his head with Keely. But when he catches her walking into a Vegas strip joint, he knows that he has to save her from herself. Only, Keely doesn't want to be saved. Instead, Noah's supersexy childhood nemesis seems determined to show him exactly what he's been missing..."

This is the follow-up story to Thompson's contribution to the anthology "Midnight Fantasies," which featured a wonderful story involving B.J. and Jonas, two childhood friends working on a ranch together. "Notorious" picks up the storyline with their siblings, Keely and Noah.

Thompson is one of the better authors writing in the steamy Harlequin genre at the moment. Her erotic scenes are well-written and imaginative. In addition to her incredible grasp of the erotic, Thompson gives us fully-developed characters and believable romantic tension.

"Notorious" is a wonderful example of Thompson's grasp of the genre. Keely and Noah are interesting and appealing characters, and their attraction is hot hot hot! Thompson does a good job of building up sexual and emotional tension between the characters.

As usual, I have the familiar complaint that perhaps the romantic impediments were disposed of too quickly, but this is still still a steamy, stand-out read.

Enjoy!

Though he has been to Las Vegas before on the rodeo circuit, Saguaro Junction, Arizona rancher Noah Garfield only returns for the wedding of an old rodeo friend. Being in town makes Noah sadly contemplate on the state of his relationships as all his friends have one woman in their lives. He reflects back a decade to Keely Branscom posing as the centerfold for Macho magazine when he sees her entering a strip joint. Noah immediately assumes that Keely is about to peel the flesh again.

In actuality, Keely is a reporter for Attitudes Magazine and does stories on sexual fantasies. Never forgiving Noah for his rejection of her, she decides to let him think the worst of her, not that stripping is a bad occupation in Keely's mind. When he goes as far as offering to save her from herself, she cannot resist playing along with a man she has always loved, but feels was born old, prim and proper.

NOTORIOUS is an amusing romantic romp filled with innuendo and plenty of heated scenes yet somhow the theme never is buried under an avalanche of page after page of sex. The jocular and blazing story line centers on relationships that need to embrace differences rather than scorn them so that everyone can win. Keely makes the tale happen in a Holly Golightly kind of way that shows why this new imprint chose Vicki Lewis Thompson to be the opening act.

Harriet Klausner

favorite scene with keely-
when keely is humiliated after someone at the wedding recognizes her from the magazine.

favorite scene with noah-
noah coming back to arizona and talking with his brother after seeing keely's reaction the singing telegram.

favorite scene with keely and noah together-
the ending with talking about going to the nude beach and the desk.