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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hated the unlikeable "hero." Disappointing., April 2, 2008
I never thought I'd dislike a Christina Dodd book but this one came very close. Mac is the least appealing "hero" I've come across in a long time and Nessa is too perfect and universally loved to be true. On the other hand, the secondary characters were quite entertaining and made the book worthwhile.
To enjoy this book, you have to believe that the love of (or at least hot sex with) a good woman can change the worst jerk into a loving husband no matter how badly he treats her before he has his "aha moment." If you can do that, you will probably enjoy this book much more than I did. I can make that leap nearly all the time in a romance. But most romance novel heroes aren't quite so cruel to the woman they supposedly love as Mac was.
From the plot blurb on the back of the book (not to mention that it was by Christina Dodd whose books I generally like), I was prepared to really like this book. The first half of the book was OK even though the relationship between Mac and Nessa was more out-of-control hormones than romance. Nessa didn't particularly like Mac and Mac thought Nessa was a liar and thief. Nevertheless, they had sexual fireworks. I'm prepared to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good story -- face it, we don't read romances because we want cold reality. But I do want to see something more than lust and obsession growing between the couple; they should at least like each other. Mac was more obsessed with Nessa than in love with her -- even at the end of the book.
That obsession, combined with the bitter and twisted personality Ms. Dodd wrote for Mac, resulted in a last third to quarter of the book that I just disliked. If a guy did the things Mac did to Nessa and her great-aunts (especially what he did to try to force Nessa to come begging), no sane woman would take him back without extensive therapy. His actions were plain nasty (and occasionally illegal) and much worse than anything he believed Nessa had done to him. The book would have been more satisfying and believable if Nessa had sent Mac off to work out his inner demons and the romantic resolution came after some length of time. As written, I'd expect the epilogue to feature Mac and Nessa on Dr. Phil.
As I mentioned above, the secondary characters were delightful, humorous, occasionally creepy and thoroughly enjoyable. I'd read another book with those characters, but I won't read this one again.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sizzling suspense in the Big Easy, March 6, 2008
Mac MacNaught is the arrogant, domineering and unyielding self-made CEO of Premier Central Bank. A large, muscular man, his face and body are mapped with scars and he will never be called handsome but he oozes a raw sexuality that captivates women of all ages. He hates liars and thieves and is furious that two bandits have had the audacity to rob his bank during every Mardi Gras for the past four years. From his office in Philadelphia he obsessively watches the video screens of daily operations in his New Orleans bank and, specifically, the actions of the Assistant Manager, Miss Ionessa Dahl, the woman who fascinates him even though he suspects her of planning the Mardi Gras robberies.
Nessa Dahl was orphaned at the age of five and raised by her great aunts, Hestia and Calista Dahl, impoverished but much beloved doyennes of New Orleans society. Because of their financial straits the sisters have been forced to open their Garden District home, The Dahl House, to boarders but still reign supreme as the hostesses of the Mardi Gras party nobody in New Orleans wants to miss. Nessa, liked and admired by the people of New Orleans and the staff and customers at her bank, is primarily responsible for the bank's success but, because of a mistake made seven years ago, has never been given the promotion she yearns for and deserves. She remains under the thumb of Stephanie a/k/a "Stephabeast", the bank manager who is reviled by employees and feared by customers but has the approval and support of the bank's reclusive CEO, MacNaught.
As another Mardi Gras approaches and the man Mac sent to New Orleans to investigate Nessa returns to Philadelphia having clearly fallen under her spell, Mac decides the time has come to take matters into his own hands. Posing as an insurance investigator, he travels to New Orleans to investigate Nessa himself and put a stop to the bank robberies once and for all. The intense sexual attraction between the brash Yankee, Mac and charming Southerner, Nessa is instantaneous and he is relentless in his sexual pursuit of her as they work together to identify the bandits, even as he continues to investigate her and is certain she is the brains behind the robberies, bless his heart.
Dodd has penned another terrific story littered with wonderfully quirky secondary characters, a hero and heroine you'll fall in love with, and enough twists, turns and sizzling hot sensuality to keep you turning pages until the final word.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast, Sexy Fun--A Great Escape!, March 9, 2008
This author has carved out a dependable niche in the market with her excellently done contemporary romances. Her first, "Trouble in High Heels", was a superb fantsy ride, second one a little weaker, but now she's in top form. The author not only creates smart, sexy lead males and females but fills her story with a lenghty list of secondary characters full of charm and worthy of their own stories. This well written book kept me turning pages because of all my questions--how did he get those scars, nah, couldn't be the old ladies! You'll see what I mean--first class fun and relaxation all the way.
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