Sizzling (The Buchanans, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mallery's latest spicy saga of the Buchanan family, Seattle's most prominent restaurateurs, doesn't quite measure up to the pleasures of her last (Irresistible), but makes a tasty dish nonetheless. This entry features Reid Buchanan, a womanizing former baseball hero trying to clean up his tarnished image after an embittered reporter he slept with publishes a tell-all newspaper article headlined, "Good in bed? Not so much." With the media hot on his tail, Reid takes refuge at the family estate, where his cantankerous grandmother, Gloria, is recovering from a series of debilitating illnesses. Gloria's as mean-spirited as Reid remembers, but now she's got to deal with peppy home-care nurse Lori Johnson, who's determined to turn Gloria's life around. Lori does her best to ignore Reid—arrogant, self-centered and "fifteen kinds of gorgeous"—knowing that even if she were attracted to him (which of course she is) he wouldn't look twice at a plain Jane like her. While Mallery's prose is luscious and provocative, and her characters worth following from book to book, fans may be disappointed when Lori resorts to expensive haircuts and fashion makeovers to catch her man. An intriguing backstory involving Reid's half-sister Dani and her search for her birth father should leave readers impatient for the next entry's July 2007 release. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"When you think of passion, drama and heartwarming stories, think Susan Mallery." -- Romantic Times BOOKclub

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HQN Books (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373771762
• ISBN-13: 978-0373771769
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #20 in

  Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > Mallery, Susan

• This is item 3 in The Buchanans Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reid finally meets his match..., December 27, 2006

By	iheartjackbauer - See all my reviews

Reid Buchanan is horrified when one of his ex-lovers publishes a story regarding his skill (or lack thereof) in the bedroom. After an injury ended his career in baseball, Reid takes over the family Sports Bar where he can relive his glory days with his customers. The fact that women flock to him doesn't surprise Reid and he takes full advantage. Reid loves women and women love him. He always makes it clear that there are no-strings attached. When he hires a nurse for his grandmother, who is recovering from a broken hip, he's surprised that he's found one female that doesn't seem to want him.

Lori Johnson has one goal: to help her patient recover. The only thing that's unfortunate is that Lori is instantly attracted to Reid. She does everything she can to hide her feelings. Lori is mystified by her attraction to a man that he has such contempt for. What she doesn't realize is that there is more to Reid than meets the eye.

Susan Mallery continues the Buchanan saga with Reid, who is trying to find his way after being thrown in the unflattering public spotlight. While he is indignant about people assuming he's a bad lover, he feels worse when he finds out how his manager has been handling his affairs. While Reid tries to fill the sudden emptiness in his life, he realizes that Lori is more that she seems. Together, the two find their way through very complicated lives, to what they really want...each other. Mallery weaves this story in a way that will make you laugh, breaking your heart at the same time. With secondary characters we know and love, SIZZLING is a definite winner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pretty Modern Day Romance, February 16, 2007

By	SMP (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This book, "Sizzling" renews my belief that there are still some really good romantic reads out there. Sizzling tells the story of how a strong woman character (Lori Johnson) can truly reform a too handsome, self-absorb ex-baseball player (Reid Buchanan) into a really likable character.

Lori, a home care nurse takes the job of helping Reid's stubborn and horrid tempered grandmother (Gloria Buchanan) back to health, after she is release from the hospital into homecare. Lori sees beyond Grandmother Gloria's bad temper and shows Gloria that she can be just as stubborn when it comes to the health of her patients.

I like Lori because she takes no stuff. And this attitude comes in handy when Lori must deal with pretty boy Reid as well. Reid believes himself to be God's Gift to women; that is until a story appears in the paper about his supposedly lack luster sexual abilities in bed. (This is Not True) Although the newspaper article was written by a spurned female newspaper writer, the story takes off and now everyone's talking about Reid sexual skills and not in a good way.

In comes Lori, who is attracted to Reid, but cannot let him know it. Lori is an independent take charge type, who normally does not fall easily to a pretty face. But she finds it hard to resist the sexual chemistry that sparks whenever she is around Reid. Both main characters learn a lot about themselves as the story progresses. They both challenge one another and go through a character metamorphosis, and of course they fall in love. Reid is definitely a rogue. But this rogue becomes very likable and opens Lori up to her sensual side.

Although Sizzling is not the very best novel I've read, it does holds your attention and the storyline is told beautifully. There is a side story told about Lori's sister, which is also interesting. The story is aimed at Romance Readers that want a more mature romantic novel. This is a pretty modern day romance story. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where Have I Been?, January 21, 2007

By	loonigrrl (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Seriously, I have no idea why it's taken me so long to read one of Susan Mallery's books, but I'm so glad I finally did. With all the books she's written, I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while. She actually reminds me a little of Susan Elizabeth Phillips (or does SEP remind me of Ms. Mallery?) and I mean that in a good way.

In Sizzling, Lori takes a job nursing for the rude, ill-tempered and terribly mean Gloria Buchanan. Lori is a strong willed and surprisingly cheerful woman who refuses to be bossed around by her disagreeable patient or charmed by her patient's very charming grandson. Her first day on the job, a reporter prints an unflattering story about Reid Buchanan and his total failure in the bed department. Lori's first impression of Reid is that of a gorgeous but useless ex-baseball player who's gotten by on his looks and fame and little else. He's wasted his life doing nothing more important than sleeping with every willing woman to come along. She hates that she's attracted to him and lets him know exactly what she thinks of all of his shortcomings. Reid may sound like he's irredeemable, but he's actually a very likeable character. When faced with Lori's and the public's scorn, he quickly realizes that he needs to do something important with his life, and quickly takes action to go about accomplishing it.

Sizzling is a very charming story. Lori and Reid's romance is sweet and humorous and their sex scenes are surprisingly (well maybe not so surpising if you've read other books by Ms. Mallory) steamy. Usually side stories just annoy me, but here, the story with Reid's sister, Dani, had me eagerly flipping the pages- I'll have a difficult time waiting patiently until her book is published. Sizzling also took a surprising turn toward the end and despite the fact that I needed to reach for the tissue, it was yet another display of the author's skill in telling her story. I was very much caught up in these characters' lives and at no point did I feel the need to have read the other Buchanan books first. I really enjoyed Sizzling and I can definitely recommend it.