I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Temporary by Sarah Mayberry & Sarina Bowen. Rich Aussie playboy type falls for American battler*.
*”battler” = Australian slang for someone who works very hard and doesn’t have much money
Tag: Sarah Mayberry (Page 1 of 2)
Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy via the author. Disclosure: The author and I are friendly on Twitter and bonded once over a Ted Baker dress. We’ve met in person too.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Blue Sullivan knows a player when she sees one. And Eddie Oliveira—charm and sex personified—was born to play. She never wanted him to say goodbye, so for the last ten years she’s ignored the sizzling attraction between them and focused on being the best sidekick a guy could have. Smart girl, right?
Then Blue has a serious accident, and overnight Eddie changes. Suddenly he’s more intense and singularly devoted…to her. With all this sexy attention, it’s hard to stay within the boundaries she’s scrupulously drawn. The temptation, the anticipation builds and, finally, she has to have what he’s offering. Of course Eddie proves to be brilliant. Now, she worries he’s ruined her forever…and she might regret leaping from friends to lovers.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I always enjoy Sarah Mayberry books. It’s just a matter of degree. I liked Satisfaction last year and like many other fans, I too clamoured for Blue’s and Eddie’s story. They were so close and anyone with eyes could see they were perfect for one another. When I received the book, I didn’t even bother reading the blurb. Who needs a blurb when you know you’re going to like the book anyway right?
I think Anticipation is a stronger book than Satisfaction. It felt more cohesive to me. I gave Satisfaction a B/B+ so it’s not like I hated it or anything, it’s just that it was a book of two distinct halves. Anticipation has a smoother feel to the transitions. Eddie is also slightly less perfect than Rafel and this appealed to me more as well. Eddie is impulsive and hot-tempered, although he’s rarely a jerk.
When Eddie first me Blue some 10 years before the book begins he hits on her (because of course) and she turns him down flat. Eddie is something of a player. That’s not something that offends me about him because he’s honest about it. He has hookups or relationships (one at a time) but they are mostly short-lived. He hasn’t dated the woman he wants to settle down with yet. I always thought Blue was a little unfair to Eddie in that way. When you think about it, every relationship you have fails until one doesn’t (thank you Dan Savage) so if Eddie’s had a lot of girlfriends, what of it? Sure, things usually end when the girl wants to take the relationship to the next level and Eddie wants to keep things casual. But that doesn’t seem to indicate a problem with Eddie’s constitution – or that’s not what I default to. It just means he hasn’t dated the right woman for him yet. As becomes clear through the course of the book, there are in fact reasons for this. Continue reading
Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by the author.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Maggie Hendricks loves her life. She’s got a great job, amazing friends. Everything is perfect – except for one smallish problem. Maggie can’t quite get there, sexually speaking. It’s just never happened for her. And while she tells herself she’s fine with that, she can’t help feeling as though she’s missing out.
When her friend shares the intimate details of an encounter with an extremely talented lover, Maggie makes a desperate pact with herself. She will seduce this man – or allow him to seduce her – and if he can’t get her there…well, then she’ll hand herself over to medical science. A simple enough plan. What could possible go wrong?
Within minutes of meeting Rafel Oliveira, Maggie knows the answer to that one: plenty. But Rafel turns out to be far more than simply talented in the bedroom. As he takes her on a journey toward the ultimate pleasure, Maggie finds herself craving a lot more than his beautiful body. The question is, is Rafel’s heart available for the taking?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I liked this book very much. I’m going to have some criticisms (of course) but I want to say first up that I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a spicy contemporary that is all about the relationship (no suspense, not secondary relationships; just the couple, getting together).
I liked Maggie very much – she’s strong, independent and clever. She runs a successful small business and she loves books (what’s not to like?). She had a believable reason for being anorgasmic (at least, to me) but her back story wasn’t played for sympathy votes. When she makes a plan to get herself an orgasm, she ovary’s-up and sets out to get it. One of her good friends, Cleo, had a sexy encounter with a “Brazilian hottie” named Eduardo at Brothers Ink. So Maggie quietly makes herself an appointment to get her some of that.
She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t thought of any of this before now. It was one thing to be preoccupied, but this was bordering on willful stupidity—especially when she took Cleo’s track record with men into account. Barring one rather dishy specimen, Maggie had never so much as glanced with envy at any of Cleo’s boyfriends. In fact, she and Cleo usually had diametrically opposed taste in men. For example, Cleo thought Ashton Kutcher was hot, whereas Maggie wanted to give him a good shave and send him to work for the UN Commission on the Status of Women for a couple of years.
Why I read it: This is the free “novella” released last week by Harlequin. I enjoy all things Mayberry so I not only downloaded it the same day – I read it too. I say “novella” because it’s 180 pages so it’s a long-ass novella. Bonus!
It’s free until the end of August but after that, it’s likely to go up to $2.99 or so. It’s well worth the money but free is better so get downloading.
Australian readers please note that the title is spelled Her Favourite Temptation over here.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Leah Mathews has always been the good sister, the favored one who could do no wrong. But as her thirtieth birthday looms, she’s ready to step out of her parents’ shadow and make changes in her life. Shes even more inspired by the sexy musician who moves in next door and his seize-the-day attitude. And tempted to take comfort in his arms…
Will Jones is facing the prospect of losing the career he loves–and possibly his life–to a sudden illness. When he meets Leah, he feels a powerful connection to her, and flirting with a smart, beautiful woman seems like the perfect way to spend the weeks before his risky operation.
But as their relationship heats up, Leah still doesn’t know the truth about Will’s situation. Will their bond be strong enough to face the challenges yet to come.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Leah Mathews is a doctor training to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Unlike Christina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy however, she doesn’t have passion for the role and is jumping off that train to get on board with Clinical Immunology. While she is very happy with her decision it also marks the first time that she has stepped away from her parents’ wishes/hopes/plans for her and they don’t take it well. I was pleased that Leah stuck to her guns even though it brought her into conflict with her family and I liked the way that being on the receiving end of her parents’ disapproval opened her eyes in a new way to how her older sister Audrey has been treated nearly her whole life. This spurs Leah to reconnect with Audrey and attempt to establish a closer relationship and I really liked how Leah actually does something here. She doesn’t just lament, she makes a move and by the end, she and Audrey are forging a new bond. I hope this will be explored a little more in the next full length book due out in early September – Her Favourite Rival (Her Favorite Rival for US people).
Why I read it: I picked this one up from NetGalley.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The best thing between Oliver Barrett and Mackenzie Williams is a fence. Ever since Oliver’s new-neighbor gestures were met with unfriendly responses, he’s decided to keep his distance. After all, he’s in this seaside town to get his life on track again. That doesn’t include working hard to get on Mackenzie’s good side—no matter how intriguing she may be.His intentions are put to the test, however, when his dog becomes infatuated with hers. The two crafty canines do their best to break down the barriers between the properties. And where the dogs go well, the humans must follow! It doesn’t take long for a powerful attraction to build between Oliver and Mackenzie. They soon discover that the worst of first impressions can lead to the best possible outcomes .
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Oliver is a darling. His soon-to-be ex-wife is mad. I mean, really. Oliver is gorgeous, successful, kind, sexy, loving – he can even sing and play guitar – why would any reasonable woman cheat on him with Mr. Toxic-Ex? But that’s what she does. Lucky for Mackenzie that Oliver’s on the market again.
Mackenzie doesn’t make a good first impression (or second or third for that matter), coming across as very rude and scary. But she is actually not rude or scary and once she let’s “nice Mackenzie” out, Oliver soon finds himself deeply in like and mentally lusting over his new friend. I liked how it became clear over the course of the story that Mackenzie probably was a lot closer to “rude and scary” pre-accident than by the time she met Oliver – her old life doesn’t fit her anymore. Oliver, very astutely, encourages her to see that things have to be different now – fighting to get back to what was was not really possible – searching for a what–can–be was a better option. And, I liked that very much about the book. Trauma, any significant trauma changes you. As you gather scars and bruises and pains (and joys for that matter), they leave indelible marks which become turning points in the journey – but there is no going back (however much we might wish it from time to time). There is an implicit acknowledgement and understanding of that in the book and that, I think is its strength. There is encouragement (without sappiness) that life goes on (but adjustments are necessary) and life can be good and joyful even after things have truly sucked – even if they’re different than expected. (While everyone knows that sometimes life just continues to suck, this is a romance novel and there‘s no way you’d get a HEA out of that and who’d want to read it anyway?).
I liked the main characters being somewhat older and I liked that children or the lack of them wasn’t an issue in the book. By the time the book ends, I suppose that Mackenzie and Oliver could still pursue that if they wanted to but it wasn’t the focus of the book and there is no baby epilogue here. I guess readers are free to imagine whatever future they see as bright and happy but I thought the ending was pretty good just where it was. I was glad of the epilogue though, because Oliver was only 5 months into what was going to be a messy divorce when he first meets Mackenzie and (as the book acknowledges) he is still pretty messed up. I needed to see a glimpse of them after they’d whethered those storms.
Also, truly cute dogs.
What else? My difficulty with the book comes from my own background in the workers compensation industry. I had a whole thing about why but then I realised that it was REALLY BORING. For the purposes of the story, I could go with it, but my OCD did kick in a little. However, for everyone else, who doesn’t have my career background, it won’t make any difference.
The author clearly knows about tv production though – that aspect of the book was interesting and felt very authentic. Also, she totally made me Google Mary De Garis (who is a real person).
Favourite Quote: “I promise you that your heart will always be safe with me. Always.“
Grade: B
Why I read it: I’m a fan of Sarah Mayberry books and when I saw Dear Author had a review up (which I haven’t actually read yet) it reminded me that I hadn’t bought this one yet. So I rectified that, stat. After the previous book I finished reading, I felt like a reliably good contemporary so I opened it up.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The definition of a happy man? The guy who knows exactly what he wants and has it. That’s Harry Porter. He’s got the perfect job, the best buddies and no commitments beyond the next good time. It’s the ideal life.Then he stops to help Pippa White when she’s stranded by the side of the road. He’s known—and liked—her for a while, but as the ex of a friend, she’s entirely off-limits. And as fun as the banter with her is, Harry knows single moms are out of his league.So why all the excuses to see Pippa again
and again? And why can’t he stop thinking about her? But most puzzling of all is how Harry suddenly wants to swap a night with the boys for one with
only Pippa!
What worked for me (and what didn’t): How unusual is it to have working class main characters? Pippa is struggling to finish her teaching degree and working part time in a gallery as well as raise her 6 month old daughter. Money is tight. Harry is a mechanic. No billionaires or CEO’s in sight. It was a refreshing change to see a couple who could have grown up down the road from where I did get their own story and HEA. The depictions are realistic – I grew up at the lower end of the socio-economic scale and this felt familiar to me. Also, my best friend from school married a mechanic. (He still fixes my car).It was also nice to see a couple in their thirties. Not all that much was made of their ages – Pippa is even a whole year older than Harry and it wasn’t featured at all in the story arc. I didn’t get married until I was nearly 31 so again, I can relate.Harry likes to be unencumbered – and not just relationally. Over the course of the book, Harry realises that maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the whole “footloose and fancy free” deal. His father owns a workshop – Harry did his own apprenticeship there but he has never wanted the hassle of owning his own business and so after he finished his apprenticeship, he deliberately sought work elsewhere. He’s made it clear for years that he doesn’t want the burden of the workshop. When Harry’s father decides to take yes for an answer however, Harry is surprised how this makes him feel. There were a number of things in the story pushing Harry to change, not just his relationship with Pippa. He sees his best mate Steve in a new light (and yeah, okay that indirectly has something to do with Pippa, but…), his thoughts about his employment future. These things, combined with Pippa, seeing how she has had to embrace “being a grown-up” because of her daughter; all these things have an impact on Harry.
Pippa doesn’t change much through the story. She falls in love but there isn’t much by way of character growth required. It is Harry who has to shift to be HEA material. I love stories like this because I’m mostly all about the hero. Harry is always a good guy – he doesn’t treat people badly or lie to women about what he’s up for but, essentially, he has to grow up and realise that there’s more to life than being Peter Pan. And, over the course of the book, he finds that those things are things he wants. That it’s time. I spent enough time in Harry’s head that I understood and believed his progression.
Pippa deals with the realities of single-parenting and she’s not blind to the relationship-killer that a small child can be.
Alice was utterly dependent on Pippa, and if listening to her daughter cry made Harry break out in hives and want to shimmy out the window on a rope made of sheets…well, this was going to be the shortest-lived inappropriate affair in the history of the world.
Fortunately Harry is not fazed by a crying child and neither she, nor I, had to hate him.
Harry is good with his hands – he can tune up cars and women (especially Pippa) with equal ease. I love a good handyman, don’t you? 🙂 The build up of sexual tension was fun and the scene where Pippa gets an eyeful of Harry’s crotch when he’s on a ladder fixing her ceiling was hilarious. Come to that, there is a bit of physical humour in the book which I enjoyed – not over the top slapstick, but the sort of thing that actually happens (not that I’m admitting anything, mind you).
He frowned, then entered the room fully. She slid farther away, instinctively wanting as much distance between herself and the source of her humiliation as possible, only to overbalance and slip backward into the tub. Her head hit the wall behind the bath with a thunk and she wound up with her ass in the tub and her legs bent over the side. She pressed her palms to her face.
If the world exploded in a ball of fire right this second, she would be grateful and happy. She wanted to die.
I got the impression that Pippa isn’t a stick figure. Not a lot is made of her physique in the book. She is large breasted and full bottomed and I got the impression of an average woman, complete with a belly and everything. Harrydoesn’t notice any physical flaws and Pippa doesn’t have a poor body image, so it wasn’t a big deal. I like the idea of a heroine who might have a bit of cellulite. It is somehow comforting.
One thing I did notice in this book (and actually, also in Within Reach) was the Pippa didn’t seem to have any close female friends. I’m not sure if it is more about the category word count, but it struck me as a little odd that she wouldn’t have a close female friend or two. Instead, apart from her mother, Pippa was very much alone, until Harry comes along.
Steve is a piece of work but Ms. Mayberry does manage to show his motivations. While they don’t make him any less of a douche, it did provide context and dimension to his character. I wondered whether Harry would adopt Alice at some point and what that might do to his friendship with Steve. And, speaking of Steve, it wasn’t quite clear to me how Harry and Steve were going to manage their friendship going forward. That’s okay, the story wasn’t about Steve and Harry after all, but even though there was some resolution between them about Harry hooking up with Steve’s ex girlfriend and the mother of his (heretofore unacknowledged) daughter, the mechanics of it were unspecified and it was something I was curious about. I grew up in a working class suburb and I’m sure this kind of thing actually happens.
What else? I really need to read All They Need now because that features Harry’s sister Mel and it is apparently where he first appeared. Mel and Flynn made important cameos in this book and I’m curious about their story. Note to self: dig it out of Mr. TBR.
Grade: B+
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