A Review By Wendy
3 Lost and Found Stars
* * *
How we are raised factors so much in how we go forward in our lives. It can be a strength and assist us in conquering all the hurdles presented to us or it can cause us to build walls... to see things we didn't like and turn away from any type of action which would cause a repeat of what was experienced as a child. Dirty Deal by Christine Bell touches on those thoughts with this book.
We have the small town hero/Army Doctor, Bryan. He is a product of a military family and has seen first hand the negative side of being a Career Service man....what it can do to a woman and her children. His father was Sir or the Colonel, never Dad. He would be around for periods of time but always leave. Strict and distant, our guy thought he was a hero when he was younger, only to see the real picture as he matured; his mother sad and broken... and him confused.
Vowing military life is not for relationships, he is not connected to anyone but his sister, Quinn... He has had his taste of difficult obsessed women...No... not tying himself down with anyone until he retires sounds like the only way to not hurt a woman he might care about.
His sister has another idea for him, though. She decides to take matters into her own hands.... she wants him to have someone in his life. Sneaky and plotting... she edits videos he sent home and enrolls him in dating sites... Now he is ducking phone calls and emails from one of the services. They want him to be their spoke's man.
We find him at the event Quinn's company has put together. Yes, the usual Hot Guy auction for a good cause. He is in the ridiculous outfit of boxer briefs covered in leaves to be sent out to strut for bidding. Little does he know there will be quite a bit of excitement happening when he walks out. It seems his obsessed ex girlfriend who will not understand they are done... and the representatives of the dating service are there... ready to bid on him.
Let the games begin.... And they do... for Serena, part owner of the company, sees the cray cray in the other bidder... She knows her partner Grace feels this guy is the one to represent the company and will do anything to get him on board for the ad campaign. She believes in Grace and is a little concerned about the other bidder... as the stakes get silly high... she comes up with a counter bid of using her locations for future events plus the cash. Sold-done deal.
Byran is so relieved not to have his ex for this auction date. He takes a look at Serena and admires the package. She is stunning and the type of woman who commands a room. Serena has been manipulated into going on the date; Grace uses the excuse Bryan is annoyed with her constant approach and he would be more receptive to her... making it a better chance at closing the deal.
As Bryan and Serena are talking about this date, his ex comes up and starts moving in... saying she will be with him at the upcoming reunion and wedding they both will be attending. Seeing the distress on Byran's face, Serena plants the impression she is with Bryan... they are a couple... and the ex slinks off with daggers in her eyes. With the seed planted... Serena figures out exactly how to get Bryan to do the campaign... be his pretend girlfriend while he is here on leave. He will be protected from all of the women who have been stalking him... and she get's the campaign with the hometown hero.
Of course, there is one little hitch to this arrangement... both are so drawn to each other... they are having a difficult time staying clear... physically and mentally.
This is the standard story of couples pretending to be one thing and turning out to be something else. Both were one night stand lovers... both were the type of people who were damaged and decided this was the answer for them.... but sometimes hearts can over ride minds and things turn out differently.
There was combustion and plenty of hot times... these two, when together were fun to read. She was a strong character and had tremendous warmth. I felt her arc with him and she was brave in how she handled everything. There was a bit of disconnect, though with him. He was stubborn and also very quick to judge... which did not make him as likeable as I would have liked.... he was good.....just didn't like a couple of things he did.
There were a couple of other elements of the story...Because Bryan was such a "great lover", this caused all of the ex's to not want to let go... it seems he had a "move" which drove them crazy.
I am old enough to remember the story arc in a show called L.A.Law involving the "Venus Butterfly". In the episode below at around the 1 minute mark of the "Previously on" for this episode... you will learn of it and then see a very satisfied couple after having experienced it. It was ground breaking television at the time...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLHr7ywQ-k
Somethings never go out of style....
A gifted copy was provided by Entangled/Brazen Publishing for an honest review.
Christine Bell is a
romance author and also writes erotic romance as Chloe Cole. She and her
handsome hubby currently reside in Pennsylvania with a four-pack of
teenage boys. If she gets time off from her duties as maid, chef,
chauffeur, or therapist, she can be found reading just about anything
she can get her hands on, from Young Adult novels to books on poker
theory. She doesn’t like root beer, clowns or bugs (except ladybugs, on
account of their cute outfits), but lurrves chocolate, going to the
movies, the New York Giants and playing Texas Hold ‘Em. Writing is her
passion, but if she had to pick another occupation, she would be a
pirate…or, like, a ninja maybe. She loves writing steamy romance
stories, but also hopes to one day publish something her dad can read
without wanting to dig his eyes out with a rusty spoon. Christine loves
to hear from readers, so please contact her through her website, www.christine-bell.com
No comments :
Post a Comment