Review: The Guy Next Door by Lori Foster, Susan Donovan, Victoria Dahl

The Guy Next Door
Lori Foster, Susan Donovan, Victoria Dahl
Series: Men Who Walk the Edge of Danger #0.5; Donovan Brothers Brewery #0.5
Publisher: HQN
Publish Date: February 9, 2011
Mass Market Paperback {p.378}
Source: Personal Library
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Natalie Alexander, Jett Sutter; Gail Chapman, Jesse Batista; Beth Cantrell, Eric Donovan
Challenge: 50 States
Buy the Book: Amazon

Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster

A vacation from her no-strings romance with her sexy next-door neighbor. That's what Natalie Alexander needs to get her head—and heart—together. But her solo trip south turns into a disaster when gorgeous Jett Sutter turns up with another challenge.

Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan

Single mom Gail Chapman insists on chaperoning her teenage daughter's spring-break trip to Key West. But she never expects to face temptation—in the hunky form of Jesse Batista, the mysterious man in the cottage next door.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl

All-work-and-no-play businessman Eric Donovan won't be distracted by a "businesswoman" who's all wrong for him. Beth Cantrell owns a women's erotica shop! And she has a juicy little secret. Can she tempt him to put pleasure before business for once?

Ready, Set Jett by Lori Foster
Natalie and Jett’s relationship was already semi-established in the fact that they had a no-strings attached type of set up from the beginning. Natalie, who had been burned by past relationships, didn’t want to chance getting emotionally involved with Jett. Jett, who is usually all for sex with no commitment, doesn’t want that type of relationship with Natalie.

The two of them go on vacation together and go through an almost ordeal that finally gets them to admit their true feelings for one another. Although this is a short novella, both characters had a depth and believability about them that made their story come alive.

Gail’s Gone Wild by Susan Donovan
Gail’s vacation romance with the hottie author Jesse was hot from the start. They made such a cute, likeable couple. Of course both of them suffer from some trust issues that pose roadblocks for their relationship. But even with those trust issues they both fell in love with each other rather quickly.

Gail’s Gone Wild was a sexy, funny read. The characters and the location were very well written. I really enjoyed all of these characters, not just Gail and Jesse. This novella I was so engrossed in, I wasn’t ready for their story to end.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl
I didn’t care at all for the whole misleading of Beth by Eric in letting her believe he was his younger brother Jamie. When Eric wasn’t quick to clear that issue up, he lost points with me.

Beth’s refusal to be seen in public with Eric/Jamie because he’d ruin her reputation, I thought was a little much given she runs a sex shop. Not my favorite of the anthology.

Random Read {1}: The Guy Next Door

Random Reads is a brand new monthly meme hosted by I'm Loving ♥ Books! It's a great way to knock out some of the books that've been piling up on your shelf for awhile. To play along, you randomly choose something from your TBR list and read it some time during the course of the month.

Like Sarah, I will be using my Goodreads account and Random.org to choose my book for the month.

Three sexy new spring-fling novellas from three of today's hottest contemporary romance authors!

Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster

A vacation from her no-strings romance with her sexy next-door neighbor. That's what Natalie Alexander needs to get her head—and heart—together. But her solo trip south turns into a disaster when gorgeous Jett Sutter turns up with another challenge.

Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan

Single mom Gail Chapman insists on chaperoning her teenage daughter's spring-break trip to Key West. But she never expects to face temptation—in the hunky form of Jesse Batista, the mysterious man in the cottage next door.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl

All-work-and-no-play businessman Eric Donovan won't be distracted by a "businesswoman" who's all wrong for him. Beth Cantrell owns a women's erotica shop! And she has a juicy little secret. Can she tempt him to put pleasure before business for once?

Review: Ain't Too Proud to Beg by Susan Donovan

Title: Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Author: Susan Donovan
Published: November 2009
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 329
Source: Public Library
Characters: Rick Rousseau, Josephine Sheehan
My Rating:

Synopsis:

CAN MAN’S BEST FRIEND
Josie Sheehan collects failed relationships the way some women collect designer handbags. Now, at thirty-five, she has exactly one male in her life: her Labradoodle, Genghis. In fact Josie, along with the three very single women in her dog-walking group, has recently sworn off men, resigning herself to long walks in the park with her devoted, four-legged friend.

HELP HER FIND MR. RIGHT?
All bets are off, however, when she meets Rick Rousseau, a pet-company CEO who is smart, sexy, and, best of all, head-over-heels for Josie. Even Genghis, an excellent judge of character, seems to know that Rick is the real deal. But just when Josie starts to think that she has found something more enduring than puppy love, she discovers that Rick has a complicated past—and a secret that could put the woman he loves in serious danger...

I found myself enjoying this book from page one. This story had me laughing out loud the entire way through. Josie dog-walking group was very entertaining throughout, although at times they could be very annoying. Okay, first off one of the reasons this book only gets a rating of 4 instead of 5, is because of how quickly Josie and Rick seemed to fall in love with each other. Something about how quickly they fell for each other just didn't strike me as believable. It seemed a little too perfect.

Bennett Cummings, Rick's nemesis, I found to be a somewhat likable character. I so wanted him to let go of his need for revenge and get on with living what was left of his life. For a minute there I thought he have been on the path to doing that because of his interaction with LaShelle.

One of the things that did surprise me was how explicit the sex scenes were. I don't remember Donovan being this graphic before, or it could have just been a while since I read her. Don't get me wrong, it's not a complaint, it was just unexpected from what I believed was going to be a fluff romance with nothing more than some heaving petting. It's not that there is a lot of sex, because there isn't; it's just that the little sex there is, is in detail.

The other reason this book didn't get a rating of 5, was because of the whole situation her sister Beth. She was completely unlikable to me, plus there was no closure for the reader with regards to her marital problems.

I am looking forward to Ginger's story, the next book in the series, The Night She Got Lucky.