Journalist Jess has always followed the rules when it comes to her career:
1) Never say no! Trying to extract a tell-all interview from bad boy of the art world Xander Heaton might be her own worst nightmare, but she’s just going to have to grin and bear it!
2) Absolutely no flirting on the job -professionalism is key to a journalist’s success. Even if Xander does have her imagining the most unprofessional scenarios…
3) If resistance proves impossible, remember the golden rule – never kiss and tell!
One night with Xander and she’s broken at least one rule…and discovered it’s much more fun breaking rules than making them!
Series: N/A
Release Date: 05/01/2014
Publisher: Harlequin
Source: Publisher
Reviewer: Michelle
Rating:
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Reviewer’s Thoughts
This is a contemporary romance featuring sexy artist, Xander Heaton and neurotic writer, Jessica Lafayette. Jessica is is trying to save her job by writing an article about Xander that will allow her to prove herself to her editor. Unfortunately, Xander refuses to be interviewed unless Jessica agrees to spend a few days with him in Italy. The fireworks begin from there. The romantic escapades between Jessica and Xander were white hot. Read this book with a little something to bring your temperature down because the passion is off the charts between the two of them.
I’ve never read a book that had a heroine with as many hang-ups as Jessica had. Her mother was emotionally abusive and as a result she developed severe anxiety about her body and even suffered from bulimia for a time. As a result of her past issues she was afraid to wear nice clothes that fit her body and expected rejection/humiliation. I felt so sorry for her, and I didn’t want her to get with Xander. Xander was temperamental and had a boat load of issues from his own childhood. I never felt like I was rooting for them to be a couple. I actually just wanted them both to see a therapist. So I never bought into their romance because it just seemed like there was so much baggage.
The elements of the storyline that I enjoyed were the interactions between the Xander and Jessica. They seemed to be moving from cautious strangers to friends. I think if the author had written more about their relationship I would have believed that as a result of the incredible sex Jessica had a new attitude about herself. However, it happened so quickly it was almost like he “fixed” her by having sex with her. Even when Xander was confronted with his betrayal of Jessica it was almost glossed over with a quick fix and an HEA to wrap everything up. It just felt like these characters had too many issues introduced with no realistic resolution to those issues.
The author took a real risk creating these very flawed characters. I just wish she would have been as bold in addressing all of their issues by giving more depth to the storyline. Overall, it was a quick read with sizzling chemistry.
