Customer Reviews

One Perfect Man (Silhouette Special Edition No. 1620)

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

 

 

I read ONE PERFECT MAN on a flight from Orange County to Hawaii and then picked it up again for a second read the next day. Sandoval delivers a believable tale about a single father who wants to give his awkward 14-year-old daughter the perfect quincenera and against his rule of keeping his lovers separate from hearth and home, hires a sexy driven event planner. Single women who wrestle with the decision how let love in her life can relate to Erica. And every single woman will certainly want a man like Tomas!

This is a book you'll want to read over and over again because when you reach the end, you miss the characters.

What I loved about this book: it involves characters of Spanish descent and it's set in New Mexico; the hero, Tomas has a warm and loving family (so does the heroine Erika), and, there are legitimate and "real" reasons for the hero and the heroine not to immediately fall into bed, or in love, with each other. In other words, there are no sinister family members or jealous ex-mistresses preying on the main couple; there's no immediate bed-hopping, and it's got a fairly realistic story line! Tomas is a single father with a teenage daughter who he's trying to do the right things for, and Erika's got a nice career that she really cares about. Tomas' teenage daughter is a very realistic character; her little breakdown with Erika while looking for formal dresses was very true and really caught my sympathy.

But what I didn't quite love about this book was that the author kept the couple apart for too long after they finally admitted their attraction to each other and they made love. I felt that this was a too-obvious writer's attempt to make book longer -- that in "real life", after such a special first time and with the feelings they now had for each other, Erika and Tomas would have worked out their problems and finally gotten permanently together much sooner. Instead, the author makes these likeable characters into puppets on a string; keeping them apart for all kinds of unrealistic reasons.

The first 2/3 of this book is very good, the last 1/3 a disappointment.

Back cover reads:
THE PERFECT NIGHT...
Single-minded events planner Erica Goncalves was stuck on maintaining her independence--even if it meant turning down a job to keep a sexy single father away. But after he made an offer she couldn't refuse, Miss Independence learned that passionate love could smolder but not smother.
COULD IT LEAD TO A LIFETIME OF MORE?
Tomas Garza needed Erica's help turning his daughter Hope's quinceanera into the perfect night. And though he was immediatley drawn to Erica, Tomas wouldn't risk having his daughter's heart broken-or his own-by getting involved with a woman who swore home and hearth were not for her. Still, he found Erica irresistible. Could he convince this career woman to turn in her single status for the family plan?

New-to-me-author Lynda Sandoval is now on my list of auto-buys. What a fantastic author! ONE PERFECT MAN was exactly that - perfect. Deeply emotional, real-life characters, and witty dialogue make this one of the more compelling series category reads I've had the pleasure of devouring.

KUDOS, Ms. Sandoval! Thanks for the delicious read!