Her Sexiest Mistake (Signet Eclipse) by Jill Shalvis starts us off this week, with Mia Appleby already regretting her fling with the new neighbor, Kevin McNight, and her week only goes downhill from there. I find it very difficult to care about what labels are in someone's shoes or clothing, or how much said garments cost; if I wanted to read that sort of shallow thing, I'd go hunt up some old copies of Wifey or some other 'glitz' from the 80s, or maybe even a more recent Judith Michael novel. I don't, however, so Mia starts off not very likeable for me. While she does manage to change a couple more important traits by the end of the story, I still found myself wondering what on earth Kevin sees in her, besides the spectacular sex. I wish I'd liked it better, because Kevin is a good hero. I just don't think Mia is his ideal mate. I'm giving this one only two of Cupid's five arrows.
Bayou Bad Boys (Brava) has stories by JoAnn Ross, Nancy Warren, and E.C. Sheedy. Ms. Ross's story, "Cajun Heat" kicks things off with bad boy Gabe Broussard returning to his tiny hometown to hide out from bad publicity for a while, and the first person he encounters is Emma Quinlan, with whom he shared a very intimate moment when they were in high school. Once is not enough for this pair. This one is fun and very steamy, and definitely what a long-time reader of the 'Bad Boys' series would hope for. "You Give Me Fever" is next, with Lucy Charles heading to New Orleans to continue her work on an extensive family tree. A far distant cousin, Claude LeBlanc is an enigma, a very attractive one, but something about him isn't quite on the level. I didn't like this one as well. Something about the family thing bothered me, and Claude didn't seem to me a real bad boy. "In Good Hands" by Ms. Sheedy is last in this one, with Esme Shane mistaken by Dane McCoy for someone after much more than a week at the beach. I found it hard to believe that, after his treatment of her, his accusations, that Esme would still be so attracted to him. Dane, too, isn't the typical 'bad boy', which left me more disappointed. Of the three, Ms. Ross's is without doubt the best story. But for only one story, I think I'd wait for the mass market release.
Until next time, happy reading!
