Customer Reviews

Simply Sensual (The Simply Series, Book 3)

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

 

 

Ben Callahan readily accepted the offer from Emma Montgomery. As a private investigator, he is more accustomed to clients who tried to weasel their way around expenses and final pay, rather than Emma's generous offer. He not only needs to cover his own bills, but also the cost of the independent living community where he has placed his mother. Emma's job is also intriguing. Emma believes her granddaughter is "in the process of finding herself and she needs a keeper."

The first moment Ben sees the picture of Emma's granddaughter, he's hooked. Just looking at Grace Montgomery's picture is enough to rev up his libido. So Ben travels to New York City, taking the apartment across the hall from Grace. When he sees Grace in person, his reaction is equally instant and intensive.

The sight of Ben in her hall sends Grace's adrenaline pumping. She has escaped to New York to experience life and discover her self-identity. A treat like Ben is just one of the perks of living away from home, even if she mostly watches from a distance. Ben adds spark and zing simply with his presence. Grace has had enough of men who wine and dine her for her connections and family money. She believes Ben to be different. He seems to let her know up front just who he is and what he wants. Little does Grace suspect Ben's connection to her grandmother.

Carly Phillips presents a highly seductive novel in SIMPLY SENSUAL. Her heroine lends the novel a marvelous sparkle with her spirit and spunk. Phillips also lends comic relief with Emma Montgomery, who is charming, refreshing, and addictive. I would love to see her matchmaking skills reoccur in another of Phillips' delightful romances! Highly recommended.

Carly Phillip's third installment of the SIMPLY series is a winner with me. We knew after SIMPLY SINFUL that Grace was the next person Emma Montgomery was turning her matchmaking eye towards. Grace has been living in New York off her trust fund when she realizes that she cannot put her parent's expectations behind her. So, learning from her brother, she stops taking money from her trust fund and finds a job helping people. She is hired as a photographer to create a brochure that will show how poorly some children live. This is tricky because Grace wants to show the kid's potential while touching people with her pictures so they will give generously to the fund. In order to accomplish her goal, she has another job to supplement her income. She must also travel to areas most people consider dangerous in New York to get her pictures. Grace has done this without the knowledge of her family. As a result of her tight lips her grandmother, Emma, is concerned over her welfare.

Emma hires a P.I., Ben Callahan, to keep an eye on Grace. Emma isn't looking for personal details but rather a report that Grace is happy and safe in her life. Ben needs the extra money to help his ill mother move into an assisted living facility. Ben takes residence in the apartment across from Grace. There is an instant attraction when they first meet. This book showcased the chemistry better than the last two books in the series.

As for Grace, she is trying to go beyond her comfort zone. She feels an attraction to Ben and decides to do something about it. She is cute as she tries to play off the sexy vixen when she really is a sweet and down-home kind of person. Grace finds Ben tagging along with her as she goes into the neighborhoods to take her pictures. On one particular day, she is attacked and told not to return or she will be seriously hurt. This starts a minor mystery that brings Ben and Grace closer together. Grace is happy to have found someone who wants to be with her because of who she is and not what family she belongs to. Lots of tension breaks out when Grace finds out the truth about how Ben came into her life.

I enjoyed the way this relationship unfolded. Two adults who felt something and let things go naturally. They do average activities like washing a car and turn it into a sensual chore. This is the best of the series to date and maybe we will find Emma working her magic again sometime soon.

I feel these abbreviated series romances do not always allow the author to fully flesh out the characters and so I usually find them lacking. This book, although very well written was no different.
This is the story of P.I. Ben Callahan who is contracted by a matchmaking grandmama to follow her granddaughter, Grace, to make sure she's safe and report back on her activities. It seems that Grace has recently renounced her blue bloodlines and decided it is time to live on her own efforts rather than on Daddy's cash. Grandma is understandably worried since Grace is all alone in New York and so Ben swallows her unlikely story and despite his own misgivings accepts to befriend Grace and report all back to Grandma. However, things become a little difficult for Ben when Grace gets a load of his gorgeous self and decides to seduce him.
There was very little I enjoyed about this book. First, I thought it was well-written and the love scenes were very steamy. But in the end I simply could not care for either Ben or Grace and I never felt as if I knew who they were supposed to be. The relationship seemed to me to be based on their mutual attraction, their sexual chemistry and not much else. Also, the plot was flimsy and the matchmaking grandma plot device was in my opinion just plain silly. In short, while this book was an easy read, the relationship was too superficial for my taste. I will give this author's full length novels a try though because I really did enjoy her writing style. Recommended with many reservations :0)

This novel is perfect for the type of person whom doesn't read very often but once in a while likes a basic simple uncomplicated romance novel they can read in one sitting. I don't like to slam books because the authors put a lot of heart into them, but this book came as part of a series of teeny tiny books that lost appeal with each one. They seemed forced out in the end and it felt as if the author was following a template that repeated itself. It was an okay book, but I forced myself to finish it.

I'm not a reader of romance as a rule. I don't like them and I never have. I read this book first, not knowing it was part of a series. I wasn't crazy about it, but it was a welcome distraction. A co worker thought that I should read Ms. Phillips' work and handed me this book. And, although I did like the story, I'm still not a reader of romance. With that said, the story was put together nicely. Ms. Phillips had great characters and great emotion. Not my cup of tea, but not a bad read.

Ben Callahan P.I. is hired to keep tabs on hieress Grace Montgomery. Ben goes to NY and moves into the apartment next door. Grace notices the hunk next door and sparks fly. The problem is that Ben can't seem to keep his hands off Grace and not mix business with pleasure. Little does Grace know that her grandmother's meddling might just might lead her to the man of her dreams. But what happens when Grace finds out that Ben's been keeping her company for the money, and not her, the whole time?

I liked this book -sort of. Its written well, but the plot is non-existent. Phillips is clearly talented in the love scene department and there's alot of it here if your interested. This unfortunately doesn't make up for the lack of angst. The big to-do in the book is whether Grace will forgive Ben when she finds out that he's been hired to watch her. That's just weak, not enough to keep the reader interested for 260 pages. I wished that Phillips would have expanded on the drug theme, maybe some slight voilence would have added the needed jolt here.

Character descriptions are good...I felt I could really see the characters. Unlike many Harlequins, it wasn't too short. BUT, like most Harlequins, the plot is predictable. What keeps it from being totally boring is that the primary characters do have depth. Overall, sexy, sensual, predictable, easy read.

Taking the lead of her brother Logan, Grace Montgomery rejects her family's wealth and lives her life in Manhattan as a regular gal. When her job takes her into some pretty rough neighborhoods, meddlesome grandma Emma is concerned and hires a PI to keep an eye on her. Ben takes the apartment next door and soon has more than his eyes on her. As he accompanies her on her excursions, and happen upon a bit of mystery, the two grow closer together. Grace is just happy that she has found a regular guy to love her for who she is, not because of her family's wealth. But when Grace finds out the truth about Ben, will she walk away?

The last in the "Simply" series proves that sometimes authors should quit while they are ahead. Yes, the requisite steam is there, but the plot is so recycled and loaded with so much trite dialogue, it was hard to get through at times. It was a bit of a disappointment.

Wealthy senior citizen Emma Montgomery paid the airfare and expenses from New York to Hampshire, Massachusetts to offer the job of "keeper" to private investigator Ben Callahan. The pay is excellent and the job seems easy. However, Ben has doubts about "sitting" for an adult. Still the fee would allow him to provide assisted care to his mother, whose eyesight is beginning to fail. Further rationalizing that Emma would hire a less scrupulous detective, Ben reluctantly agrees to keep an eye on Emma's beautiful granddaughter Grace as the latter seeks to find herself in New York.

From just a picture of Grace, Ben's libido explodes. When he meets the "Golden Princess," he realizes that he is more worried about protecting her from himself than from some thug. What he failed to count on is that a finally free Grace amazingly decides she wants to be Ben's woman and recklessly goes about insuring that happens.

SIMPLY SENSUAL is a fun to read contemporary romance. Ben and Grace make a sexy duo, while the upper class Emma provides humor as she performs matchmaking duties between the sleuth and her beloved granddaughter. Simply speaking, Carly Phillips makes reading a delight.

Harriet Klausner

The "Simply" series was my first Carley books to read . I love her fast paced stories. They are the kind that grab you and dont let go till long after the end. I loved all three books, but I would have to say that this one is my favorie. It is very sensual and had me turning the pages so fast it took only about two hours for me to read the aweseome story. Ill be looking for any other titles by Carley and snatch them up as fast as possible. I cant wait for what she has in store for us next.