Borrowing a Bachelor by Karen Kendall

A truly terrible book
1 star

To tide her over between jobs, Nikki Fine takes a gig as an exotic dancer. Her first gig involves her popping out of a cake at a bachelor party but what she wasn’t employed to do was fall face-first into groomsman, Adam Burke.

Adam doesn’t mind the gorgeous girl who falls into his arms and one satisfying encounter leads to another. But with Adam studying for exams and Nikki trying desperately to keep her day job - can they overcome the obstacles and find a way to discover the passion between them?

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I’m always happy to read a Blaze romance and wasn’t put off by the unusual premise or how the characters meet in the beginning. Unfortunately, after reading the book I feel that these are the only positive things I can say about it.

Firstly - the characters. Adam was far too immature for my tastes right off the bat and not just because he was only 25. I prefer the male lead to be a strong, confident man but Adam was a juvenile, college boy. Nikki, however, just left me shaking my head in disgust. She too was young, immature and so whiney that I actually couldn’t stand her. The pair had no chemistry and the sex scenes were embarrassing to say the least. I want to read about men I want for my own and women that can inspire me.

The plot was flimsy and ridiculous and just didn’t interest me at all, I’m afraid. The language used was unbelievably unsophisticated and I just couldn’t believe how the characters acted and interacted.

Whenever I put this book down, which was often, I started thinking that perhaps I was being too harsh and that it couldn’t have been that bad. So I would pick it up to read again and find out that yes, it really was that bad.

Some books are so bad they are funny. This book didn’t even reach those heights. I’m actually flabbergasted that this was a Blaze book and will be avoiding this author from now on. I’m still shaking my head that I wasted so much of my time reading this book and I can’t recommend it by any stretch of the imagination. 1 star.

Midnight Madness by Karen Kendall

Stereotypical and flat Blaze romance

2 stars

When the governor of Florida, Jack Hammersmith, sees a photograph of hairstylist Marly Fine in a magazine, he instantly knows that she is The One and so sets out to track her down.

Agreeing to cut his hair, Marly is stunned to arrive at the offices of the governor to find him shirtless – and gorgeous to boot. His playboy reputation is understandable and Marly isn’t immune to his charms or his kisses. Luckily she’s not his type but she hasn’t anticipated that politicians are the most persuasive people and Jack is determined to convince her to give them a go.

Despite looking forward to the slightly unusual premise of this book – in the end it just didn’t work for me. The author was clearly trying to make Jack an alpha male character but instead I felt he came across as a childish, annoying and at times, creepy guy. Marly was slightly better but she was still a very stereotypical ‘hippy’ character and I just couldn’t like her. The pair did have chemistry and the sex scenes were hot even if they had little emotion to them.

The other large failing of this book was the fact that it was often bogged down in politics. I have little interest in them, especially American politics, yet barely a page went by without one of the characters droning on about Democrats, Republicans and the stereotypes involved with both. I get the feeling that the fact the characters had differing politic viewpoints was supposed to be a source of conflict which I just didn’t understand.

For me, this book was a struggle to finish and I just can’t recommend it. Perhaps if you are a fan of Karen Kendall or if you like your romances with a political undertone then you might enjoy this – unfortunately it just wasn’t my cup of tea. 2 stars.

Men At Work

Disappointing Blaze anthology

2 stars

Through the Roof – Karen Kendall

Socialite Marina Reston is heartbroken when her fiancé leaves her after he loses his business but Ben will not let her support him. But Marina is used to getting what she wants and she vows to win back her man by any means.

The characters in this story were so terrible that it was hard to dredge up even a tiny bit of sympathy or compassion for them. Marina was a spoilt brat with a love of plastic surgery and only thought of herself. I admit she was written like this but I could not identify with such a person. Ben too was hard to like – an alpha male taken one step too far – basically a chauvinist pig.

Taking His Measure – Cindi Myers

Samantha Delaney has landed the perfect job – photographer for a charity calendar full of delicious, naked working men. But then Josh Kitteredge – the subject of all her teenage fantasies - walks through her door. But now the pair are all grown up and all their fantasies are about to become reality.

I again had problems liking either of the characters in this story. A boyish girl and a former stripper – not my idea of a good romantic hero or heroine. The conflict in the story was also a little weak.

Watching It Go Up – Colleen Collins

Private Investigator Gina Keys has been assigned to follow a suspected thief – Hawk Shadow Bonaparte. But this hot man gets her pulse racing with his dangerous work on tall buildings – and with what he gets up to several stories up.

By the time I got to this last story I admit to being so fed up that I couldn’t even find one tiny thing that I liked about it.

I was looking forward to this Blaze anthology about delicious working men but I am sad to say that I was really disappointed in it.

Unfortunately I really can’t recommend this book and if you’re looking for a sexy, fun set of romance stories then I suggest that you try some other Blaze anthologies as there are many excellent ones out there. A disappointing 1 star.