Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl

Fun and sexy romance

4 stars

When her Dad was involved in an accident, Lori Love put her life on hold and came back to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado to run the family auto body shop. Now with her Dad gone, Lori realises she’s stuck in a small town with no prospects. Her best friend decides that only one thing can shake Lori out of her funk – lots and lots of hot, no-strings sex.

Quinn Jennings is so absorbed in his job as an architect that he barely remembers to sleep let alone date. When he hears that Lori is willing to skip all the dinners and small talk and head straight to bed, he’s delighted. When he sees the kind of books Lori reads for inspiration, he’s ecstatic. But when Lori’s life is suddenly in danger, Quinn realises that he cares more than either of them ever expected.

This is the second in Dahl’s Tumble Creek series after Talk Me Down and before Lead Me On. Despite this, and the inclusion of characters from the previous novel, there is no need to read the books in order as each stands nicely on its own.

I really enjoyed this book even if I did feel it took a while to get going. Lori was a good character and one you could empathise with and get behind. At first, I thought Quinn was a little too much of a good guy and too sweet for me to really root for the pair but once the story got going, I began to love them both.

This book is extremely sexy. This may not be to your taste if you like your romances quite tame as there’s role play, very light S&M, alfresco sex and much more. I loved it and found it an important part of what is a nicely sexy story.

If there is one thing I would have changed it’s that I would have liked an epilogue to round off the story. Regardless, this is a fun, sexy and interesting story and one I would recommend. I’m looking forward to reading Jane’s story in Lead Me On and hope I enjoy it like I did this book.