Unleash the
wild woman…?
Ex-cop
Ryan O'Hare takes one look at buttoned-up control freak Liz Garner and just
itches to loosen the woman up. Not that he’s into her. Because a woman like
that comes with way too many expectations. Not to mention, she practically
works for him, and he didn’t hire Liz to watch after his beloved
Harley-stealing Gran so he could turn Liz loose in his bed. Still, there’s
something about her, a hidden wild side, that makes him wonder what it would
take.
Liz
must be crazy to work for the insensitive, arrogant, horribly…hot man she's
avoided for years. Unfortunately, she needs the money and Ryan's grandmother
needs a keeper. (Midnight tango lessons and ziplines with Gran, anyone?) Ryan's
rare smile and swaggering confidence have Liz torn between throwing her favorite
pinot grigio at his head or throwing herself at him. Can this control freak
find a way to let loose with the tough, no-strings guy who once broke her
heart?
Ryan just
stood there, his sharp eyes studying her. "You're a puzzle, Liz."
"I
am?"
He reached
out and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear, and her heart caught in her
throat at the gentle gesture. "You seem so…uptight," he said. She
stiffened and took a step back. "But I know you were checking me out when
I was mowing."
She
flushed, but rallied quickly. "I was only bringing you water." She
crossed her arms and said primly, "You surprised me when you dumped the
water on your head. I was merely looking to see if you were going to do any
other…surprising things."
His lips
twitched. "You're like a librarian just waiting to let loose."
"Is
that supposed to be a compliment?" she bristled, hands on her hips.
"There
it is." He smiled and stepped close, crowding her space. She drew in a
quick breath, but held her ground. "The puzzle—fire and ice."
She put
both hands on his solid chest and pushed him out the door. "Next time,
mail the check." She shut the door in his face, turned and leaned against
it. "Urgh!"
"That's
what I'm talking about," he said through the door.
She ripped
open the door. "Go away."
His head
cocked to the side while he bit back a smile. "Is that any way to talk to
your employer?"
"Gah!" She
slammed the door and locked it. She heard his low laugh as he walked away.
Let’s start off this review by saying I really
enjoyed reading this book; it was a nice change from my normal Alpha male book
reading. The main character was a prim,
plan everything, no risk taking, type of woman named Liz. Right in the first
chapter we meet Liz’s older sister Daisy who comes to Liz seeking help. Liz,
always having taken care of Daisy, knows that on her teaching salary that she
cannot afford to help her sister. So Liz looks up an ad as a care taker and
makes a phone call that results in her having to confront a man from her past
that she had a humiliating experience with; cue in ex-cop Ryan, the star in “The
Humiliation”. Ryan needs a caretaker for his feisty, take life by the horns
kind of grandma because leaving her alone just results in random acts of crazy,
her most recent act: taking his Harley for a joy ride. After all these years
Ryan gets the surprise of his life when his eyes meet the beautiful Liz. She is
nothing like the chubby, thirteen year old girl in the orange swimsuit he used
to talk with in his life guard days.
Liz’s attraction and crush on Ryan never went away and just being near
him makes her breath start to shake and her heart start to flutter. The
attraction isn’t anything either Ryan or Liz wants to look into, but the more
they try to deny it, the hotter it gets. A month worth of nightly visits
followed with no breakfast mornings and thank you notes, Ryan starts to feel a
little used by Liz and wants to form some kind of commitments with her but just
not a full on relationship. Many problems start to arise and the sort-of
relationship between the two starts to fall apart before it even has a chance
to fully form. You’ll have to read the book to find out the rest but I do
recommend it. I only gave four leaves
because I felt that the relationship could have been built up more between the
two characters. I also thought that maybe there was a little too much of
outside issues going on that made the story a tad bit longer and problematic than
it should have been. I like the ending however because it felt more like
something someone would do in real life. Like I said, I do recommend this read
and can’t wait to read the next one.
~REVIEW BY VANESSA~
Kylie
Gilmore was lucky enough to discover romance novels at a young age as they were
strewn all over the house (thanks, Mom!). She writes quirky, tender romance
with a solid dose of humor. Her first book in the Clover Park series, The
Opposite of Wild, will launch in January 2014 featuring the oldest of three brothers
and his lady love. The next two books in the series give each brother his dream
girl (eventually).
Kylie lives
in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she's not writing,
wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find
her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret
chocolate stash.
