#TBRChallenge 2017: Dare She Date The Dreamy Doc?

The Book: Dare She Date the Dreamy Doc? by Sarah Morgan

The Particulars: Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Medical #451, 2010, Book #4 in Series, Out of Print, Available Digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I discovered Sarah Morgan through her Harlequin Presents in 2011, and shortly after that an online friend sent me this book when she stumbled across it in a library book sale.  It was also a RITA finalist and I try to pay attention to the RITA finalists for category romance.

The Review: I didn't start my TBR Challenge read until Sunday and wouldn't you know it?  I ended up DNF'ing that book.  So, once again, limited time and poor planning means I went rummaging through my Harlequin TBR Rubbermaid Tote of Doom.  Sarah Morgan is an autobuy for me (even if I am grossly behind on her backlist) so she fits well with this month's Comfort Read theme.

Once you get past one of the dippier titles in the Harlequin universe (and there are plenty of dippy titles to go around) this was a pretty solid read, although not without faults.  Jenna Richards has been divorced for less than a year and she's still in shock.  She married young, which means 33-year-old Jenna is also contending with a teenage daughter, Lexi, who is not all that happy with her mother at the moment.  Why?  Because Jenna has moved them from London to Glenmore, a tiny Scottish island in "the middle of nowhere."  I mean, the cell phone reception is crap.  Jenna is a nurse and the island is isolated enough that the medical staff is pretty much on call all the time.  Meeting the ferry to greet her?  Dr. Ryan McKinley who puts the yum in yummy.  He also has a past he's trying to move on from, but one look at Jenna and he's smitten.

There are some really well done aspects to this brief (185 pages) category romance.  Morgan does a great job of creating a small town contemporary romance on a light page count.  The setting is quaint (the hero lives in a lighthouse!), the residents amusingly meddling and sweet without being annoying and saccharine.  It's a perfect example of why I prefer my small town reading in the category format over a bloated single title word count.  Ryan is sexy and charming without being a notorious playboy or brooding angst factory.  Lexi is a woman who at 33 is still young but feels old before her time thanks to a surly teenage daughter and an ex who blindsided her.  I fell right into this world from the moment I read the first page.

What doesn't work so well?  The romance here is Grade A Insta-Love. Basically it's one of those romances where the couple sparks immediately and they seem to jump straight from "Hello, nice to meet you" to "I love you" without so much as a cup of coffee.  Ryan's baggage slightly annoys me (Ambitious First Wife) but it's not as egregious as other conflict of this ilk I've read in romance (still, I was a little annoyed).  And Jenna?  I did like her.  I did.  But dang if this woman isn't a martyr.  She's really overprotective of Lexi, which is somewhat understandable, but she's willing to throw herself into a pit of misery to placate a teenager who doesn't really need placating (here's an idea - talk to your kid!).  She also acts like 33 is 95.  She literally says to Ryan: "You deserve children Ryan.  I'm thirty-three.  I have no idea whether I can even have another child."

Seriously?!

She's a nurse. It's 2010, not the 18th century!

Then there's Lexi who acts like a typical surly teenager.  Lexi didn't bother me.  Actually I think she's the most authentic character in this story.  Lord but this child acts like a real teenager.  Which I guess serves as a warning if you're a reader who has a teenager at home and you're looking for a bit of "escapist reading."  You may want to steer clear of this one.

I liked this one, and it's a pretty good category romance.  It's not Morgan's best work (of what I've read), but she's created an interesting community in Glenmore and after DNF'ing my first choice, I positively sank into this story.  Worth a look for Morgan fans and readers who love all things small town contemporary.

Final Grade = B-

Digital Reviews: A Tale Of Two Cosmos

In a bid to fool myself into thinking I'm making progress on the ARC Pile Of Doom currently living on my Kindle I thought I'd knock out two quick novellas - both by authors who have consistently worked well for me over the years.  Turns out I was in for a few surprises.

Burned by Sarah Morgan is a sequel to the well-received Ripped and this time the younger sister is in the driver's seat.  Rosie Miller is hardcore into martial arts and is a personal trainer at a London gym.  She shares an apartment with her sister and loves her job.  Her personal life however?  Yeah, she's out to dinner with her latest boyfriend who is unceremoniously dumping her prior to dessert.

I stared at him, wondering whether to kill him now or wait until after dessert.  It was chocolate brownie, my favourite, so I decided to wait.  I wasn't hungry, but no woman ate chocolate because she was hungry.

As if the dumping weren't humiliating enough, sitting behind her at the next table is none other than Hunter Black.  Sexy as sin, the guy who broke her heart to the point of obliteration, Hunter Black.  And now he's there to witness her getting dumped.  Grand.  But wait, there's more!  Turns out Hunter has just purchased the gym where she works.  You know, the job that she loves.  He's her new boss.  Seriously, shoot her now.

Much like Ripped this was "fun erotic romance."  The perfect afternoon pick-me-up.  The perfect antidote when you're tired of wallowing in angst.  That being said?  Without getting into too much pyschobabble and spilling my personal history all over this blog - there were aspects of this story that hit a little close to an "emotional home" for me.  Hunter decimated Rosie and for that reason I wanted more of his blood on the page.  As in I wanted a grovel that was the equivalent of what he put her through years before.  She was young, she was desperately in love, and she was emotionally vulnerable.  I wanted Hunter to pay for that.  And he does - um, somewhat.  I just wanted more.  Still, it's a good solid read and I liked it a lot.  I just have, you know, baggage.

Grade = B-

Let me count the ways I love Megan Hart's books.  So it breaks my heart that Crossing the Line didn't work for me at all.  And I mean, really - at all.

Caite Fox works for a PR firm and one of her bosses is Jamison Wolfe.  Uptight, seriously wound, Jamison Wolfe.  Normally she works with the other partner, but said other partner has had complications arise with her pregnancy and is now out of the office indefinitely on bed rest.  Which means Caite and Jamison working together.  A tricky business since she's hot to trot for him and he doesn't seem to think much of her.  He doesn't seem to trust her very much, or find her capable in handling their new clients, a roster of reality show stars that find more trouble than the Jersey Shore kids ever did.

My problems with this story arise immediately with Caite and don't let up.  It's the way she talks to her Jamison.  The way she acts around him.  HE. IS. HER. BOSS.  She's all flirty and smart-alecky and.....

HE. IS. HER. BOSS.

Given the cut-throat, high stress atmosphere that PR work can entail, her behavior towards him smacked of unprofessional to say the least.  If this had been the real world she would have been reprimanded.  Or, you know, fired.  I suspect the author was going for "light" and "fun" - and it is that.....I guess.  But something about the interactions between the two main characters rubbed me wrong.  I didn't like her and I just didn't care about him one way or the other.

Now at only 80 pages, I should have probably just finished this.  But see first paragraph about ARC Pile Of Doom.  When I hit the 50% mark and I realized that I just didn't care what happened next?  Yeah, I was done.  Hart is capable of delivering shorter works that I enjoy (see this year's Every Part of You serial) but this one was a miss for me.

Grade = DNF

Digital Review: Ripped

Yes, I'm well aware that this is probably the 324th review of Ripped by Sarah Morgan that you've seen plastered all over the Internet.  It's been a venerable squee-fest pretty much across the board.  My review isn't going to sway too far afield from the accolades, but let's just say my reaction is more reserved (maybe it's the librarian thing?).   Oh don't mistake me, it's good.  But there are caveats - because, you know, this is me.  It's all about going into it knowing exactly what it is. 

Fun.

It's "fun" erotic romance. 

The kind of erotic romance you need every now and then to pick yourself up because real life keeps smacking you upside the head.  Will it change your life?  Doubtful.  For those of you who work in public service, think of it like a nice glass of wine and a hot bubble bath after a long day/week/month/eternity of dealing with jackasses.

That's this novella.  It's a glass of wine and a bubble bath.

Sarah Morgan has written scads of books for Harlequin Presents, and it's a foundation that serves her well here.  Not only with the short novella word count, but also with the hero, Nico Rossi.

Nico Rossi wasn't a good boy.  He was a bad boy dressed in a good suit.

He's everything good about a well done Presents hero.  He's smoking hot, drives a fast car, wears great clothes, carries a serious torch for the heroine and is Italian.  That's pretty much all you need to know about him, and pretty much all you learn.  This story is told in first person (which I love!) from the heroine's point of view.  It's Hayley Miller's show, which is fine because not only is she smart and sexy, but she's funny as hell.

The story opens with Hayley at her ex-boyfriend's wedding.  He's marrying one of her former friends.  Hayley is more upset that she wasted ten months of her life on Charlie than she is that he's getting married - still it took some serious balls for the happy couple to ask her to be a bridesmaid.  She only agrees to save face.  I mean, she can't have everyone thinking she's home crying her eyes out and gorging herself on ice cream.  So she crams herself into a hideous dress that doesn't fit and almost dies of boredom while the ceremony drones on.  In fact it drones on so long that when she finally is able to breathe a sigh of relief?  Yeah, her dress splits open.  As in major wardrobe malfunction.

Riding to the rescue is Nico, who is playing the part of best man.  Hayley is mortified, what with her breasts on display for the entire congregation.  However she's also mortified that her humiliation happens in front of Nico.  Not only is the guy smoking hot, but he also faintly disapproves of her.  I mean, he doesn't seem to like her very much.  Turns out Hayley has never been more wrong in her life.

That's basically it.  Think of it as Harlequin Presents Meets Chick Lit.  Hayley is funny and smart, but is naturally a magnet for disaster.  Nico is every woman's dream wrapped up in a Tom Ford suit.  The sparks immediately fly and there's enough chemistry flying around to generate power for a small English village.  Hayley's sister, Rosie, pulls a few strings, and voila!  Hayley is forgetting all about her silly New Year's resolution to stay far away from relationships and falling head over heels.

What saves this from being just another hot-sex-book is the message behind it.  It's one I think almost every woman will be able to relate to - which is to say that relationships aren't about conforming into who the other person wants you to be.  It's about finding that person who loves you for who you already are. 

So hot sex, nice message, and a smoking hot hero that I really wanted a lot more of.  I know it's a novella, but damn I wanted to crawl around in Nico's head a bit more (and inside his Tom Ford suit - uh, while he's wearing it.  Too much you think?).  It's sexy fun and while it didn't change my life?  It's just the sort of story I want to read this time of year.  It's a Calgon-take-me-away sort of book.  It's a I'm-feeling-mopey-and-want-to-stab-someone book.  Read it when you're in a bad mood, because certainly it will immediately cure whatever is ailing you.

Final Grade = B+

Sleigh Bells In The Snow

For every romance reader who loves Christmas-themed stories there are just as many readers who strongly dislike them.  I can understand this, because the holiday season is often tough, emotionally, on a lot of people.  Also, let's be honest Christmas romance fans, it's easy for the schmaltz to creep in.  How many books have we all read featuring Pollyanna heroines sprinkling Christmas fairy dust over the surly Scrooge-like hero until her brand of saccharine somehow manages to win him over but leaves the rest of us with a massive toothache?  What Sarah Morgan gives readers with Sleigh Bells in the Snow is the exact opposite.  She's somehow managed to deliver a story for all the non-Christmas romance fans out there.

A Brit living in New York City, Kayla Green hates Christmas.  The hoopla, the forced "good cheer," the endless office parties, the tinsel strewn over every object that stands still for more than five seconds.  She really dislikes the holidays.  Kayla is all work, no play, and because of this is the rising star at the PR firm where she works.  So it's only natural that she's tapped to handle the incoming Snow Crystal account.  A resort in Vermont, it's a family business working on it's fourth generation.  Unfortunately it's in trouble, which leads to prodigal son Jackson O'Neil coming home to try to right the ship.  Even though he's a successful businessman in his own right, he's getting a lot of static from the other members of his family.  He's hoping hiring Kayla, a decision the family isn't universally overjoyed about, will drum up what Snow Crystal desperately needs - paying customers.  Even so, he's shocked when Kayla volunteers to spend the week of Christmas at the resort to work on her proposal.  Who willingly would give up their Christmas holiday to work?

Kayla, that's who.  All Jackson has to say is "secluded cabin" and Kayla is all in.  She can hide out in Vermont, burn the midnight oil, land the Snow Crystal account and avoid Christmas all at once!  Or so she thinks.  She's not quite prepared for Jackson's family or Jackson.  Everything about this plan soon spells certain doom for Kayla's wounded heart and before you know it she ends up falling for her client hook, line and sinker.

What a lovely role-reversal this story was!  Not that Jackson is a Pollyanna who wants to sprinkle Christmas fairy dust all over Kayla, but he is a man who believes in and is devoted to his family.  Even when they're being a massive pain in his ass.  Snow Crystal is where Jackson grew up.  It's where he and his brothers learned to ski.  It's where they found themselves.  And it's also the source of a lot of their own personal baggage.  Jackson comes home to clean up the mess left by his recently deceased father and to prove to everyone (especially his grandfather) that he's the man who can ensure that the family business will be around for future generations.

Kayla is haunted by an epic screwed-up childhood.  She's always felt like an outsider looking in, and no other time of year has a way of accentuating that quite like Christmas.  Not only does Jackson disarm her, but his entire family has a way of crawling under her hardened exterior.  Then when Jackson decides that they should stop ignoring the chemistry that is coursing between them?  It only gets worse for her.  Why can't he just keep his distance and let her bury her head in her work?

Morgan channels all the elements and charm of a small town contemporary without drowning the reader in all the things that can make small town contemporaries annoying.  She develops the family dynamic and wisely keeps the focus of the story strongly on the family members.  She includes a couple of non-family member workers at the resort in order to set the stage for the future books in the series featuring Jackson's brothers (hey, those guys are going to need heroines!).  She creates a cozy holiday vibe to the Snow Crystal resort and has Kayla experiencing all that can be offered at such a place during that time of year.  Slowly, as the heroine begins to thaw - the romance blossoms.  It's a great first book in a series, and just the ticket to get you in the proper holiday mood.

Final Grade = B+

RSVP Today: An Invitation To Sin

"And suddenly she realized what a clever strategy that was.  Because he didn't appear to hide anything, no one looked deeper.  No one suspected there was anything more to expose...."

Quick.  First response that pops into your head when I say "Harlequin Presents."  Go.

I'm going to go out on a limb that more than a couple of you probably said, "asshole heroes" or "innocent, virginal heroines." Or, you know, a combination of the two.  That's what makes An Invitation To Sin by Sarah Morgan such a good read.  It's not necessarily what a lot of readers would think of when you say "Harlequin Presents."  Oh sure, you've got an Italian hero who is a demon in bed.  And, oh sure, you've got a glitzy Italian backdrop where the actress heroine is filming a movie.  But not only is this book glitzy and sexy - it's also fun.  And besides the fun?  There's also a decent amount of angst floating around.

Taylor Carmichael has been an actress since she was a child.  Her mother was your stereotypical stage mom, until at 17 years old Taylor fired Dear Ol' Mom as her manager.  That, naturally, generated some headlines and it also led to events that continue to haunt Taylor.  It got so bad at one point, the pressure built up so much, that she literally went underground for a while.  Well now she's back.  As much as she abhors the public spotlight, the constant intrusion of the paparazzi, she loves acting.  She just needs to prove to everybody that she is a good actress, and not just a pretty face with a habit of causing train wrecks.  She's landed a juicy part, which is why she's in Italy - attending a wedding with the film's producer.  He's preaching to her to be on her best behavior, no negative publicity, yada yada yada.  And then she stumbles across Luca Corretti hiding out in the garden with a bottle of champagne.

Luca is hiding from last night's entertainment.  Our hero is a bad boy with a great head for business, and a well-honed taste for fast cars and faster women.  Unfortunately the last fast woman he took to bed is acting like she wants a "relationship" ::shudder:: which Luca does not do.  Then he meets Taylor Carmichael, movie star.  Her reputation is almost as bad as his, but unlike Luca she tries to repress her true nature.  That just makes our boy sad.  I mean, what a waste?  Flirtation follows, banter ensues, and before you know it - the press gets a photograph of Luca and Taylor sharing a passionate kiss.  This is not good, for Taylor at least.  And frankly she's so annoyed that she figures since Luca got her into this mess?  He's getting her out.  There's not a faster way towards respectability than crying "engagement," so that's what she does.  Luca, at first, balks, but quickly realizes that this fake engagement may also work to his benefit as well.  So the charade is on!

What we have here is a bad boy with vulnerability issues he hides very well and a bad girl heroine who is desperate for respectability and to be taken seriously.  Taylor also has a Big Secret and massive trust issues.  Essentially Taylor and Luca are a lot alike, they just choose to go about dealing with fame and the trappings of it in different ways.  Luca refuses to hide from anybody, this is me, this is who I am, if you don't like it I don't really care.  Taylor is more insecure about it, although she does her best to put on a brave face  - it's just hard sometimes when some pushy paparazzo is shoving a camera up your nose.

Like all stories of this ilk, naturally the fake engagement leads to something more.  Our bad boy hero who has sworn off commitment falls hard.  Our heroine who is running scared finds a way to stand on her own two feet, in part because of the support she gets from the hero.  The banter is fast and furious, the sexual tension is sizzling, and I loved the pairing of bad girl meets bad boy.  It's slick, it's charming, and it's sexy.  And better still?  Even though the story is fun, the author slips in just enough angst and baggage to give her characters depth - meaning that the whole time you're reading slick, charming and sexy?  You aren't likely to dismiss the book the moment you hit the final sentence.  If the rest of the books in the Corretti Dynasty continuity series are even half as good as this one, romance fans are in for a real treat.

Grade = B+

Sold To The Enemy

When it comes to explaining the appeal of category romance I have a whole speech (most librarians have a "whole speech" about something - 'tis what we do).  I've regurgitated the highlights on this blog quite often over the years, but the take-away can often be condensed down to this simple fact:

When you read a good category romance, it's the purest form of the genre.

There's also the magic of finding an author who writes the format well, which is what Sarah Morgan does.  She's really smart with category.  She takes classic themes and tropes, populates them with interesting characters, and then peels her conflict back slowly, like an onion.  She's very good at what I call the "slow reveal," and Sold To The Enemy is no exception.

Selene Antaxos has spent all of her young twenty-something years living on an isolated, inhospitable Greek island with her terrorized mother and a monster for a father.  Selene's one goal is to get both her and her mother off the island and away from her father, who perpetuates the myth that they're a "perfect family," while secretly behind closed doors he smacks them around.  While her father is off the island visiting one of his many mistresses, Selene disguises herself, thwarts his security team, and lands on Stefan Ziakas doorstep.  Stefan is rich, powerful, and many years ago was nice to Selene at a party she attended with her father (you know, to perpetuate the whole "happy family" thing).  Her father's reach is so far that she knows if she wants to get her business proposal off the ground that she must go to someone who isn't under her father's thumb - and that's Stefan.  The two men loathe each other.

Stefans' not really sure what to think with Selene shows up at his office unannounced, but he does pick up on the fact that she's sexy and sweet, wrapped up in one forbidden delectable package.  What driven Greek tycoon can possibly resist that?  Sparks fly, Selene cuts loose, and a good time is had by all until reality intrudes with the harsh light of day.  Stefan may have just unwittingly unraveled Selene's carefully constructed escape plan for her and her mother.  Oopsie!

On the surface what we have here is your classic young, fresh-faced, virginal (naturally) heroine paired up with the ruthless, worldly tycoon.  This story is a staple in romance and the Presents universe, but Morgan takes it and infuses it with some fresh ideas.  Selene may be young and virginal, but she's got gumption.  You'd have to have gumption to defy her father, and she's smart enough to realize that if she wants to escape him, and save her mother, that she's going to need money, which means needing help.  Stefan has a long-standing reason for hating Selene's father that dates back to his childhood.  What I liked about him is that he uses his brain.  He does make assumptions about Selene and he does think he knows what's going on.  However when things go to hell, and he's alone thinking back on the turn of events - it hits him.  Selene's got a secret, and he's going to swoop in to rescue her.

A Rescue Fantasy is at the heart of this story, and you need a hero like Stefan to believably thwart a man as powerful as Selene's father.  What I really liked is that Selene is constantly pushing back.  She doesn't want to escape one prison only to walk into another, and she doesn't entirely trust Stefan.  Plus it quickly becomes apparent to her that Stefan is a man who is incapable of dealing with emotions and being honest about them.  She's spent her whole life tip-toeing around her father, saying one thing, meaning another.  She's not about to enter into a relationship with a man where she has to tip-toe around her feelings for him just because she might say words like "love" or "forever" and scare the bejesus out of him.

As quickly as this story read, and as much as I liked the main couple, I did have quibbles.  For someone who has been ruled over with an iron fist for roughly some 22 years, Selene's relentless optimism was a little hard to swallow.  Honestly she was a little too well-adjusted, which seemed odd given her monster of a father and a mother who was more wraith-like shadow than woman.  And speaking of Dear Old Mom, that aspect of the story could have used some help, although admittedly a big road block in the way is the category format itself.  Morgan does what she can with it, and certainly writing Stefan as fabulously wealthy with power and resources helps to grease the wheels.

However, quibbles aside,  it's still a good story with classic themes and a fairy tale twist.  If you like Presents, this one is a good one.  And heck, if you think you don't like Presents?  This is still a good one.

Final Grade = B-

Woman In A Sheikh's World

Sometimes the category format is just flat-out better for some stories than a full-length single title.  Category is all "no muss, no fuss" - whereas sometimes, with single titles, characters can wear out their welcome or worse, the author starts padding things with a bunch of pointless filler that you honestly don't care about.  That's what I was thinking about while reading Woman In A Sheikh's World by Sarah Morgan.  It's the type of story that is perfect in category, but probably would have annoyed me no end if the author had stretched it out to 300 pages.

Avery Scott has built an extremely successful party planning business with a client list full of the rich, famous and powerful.  One of those clients is Crown Prince Malik of Zubran, who wants her to plan a lavish party to celebrate his upcoming nuptials to a (seriously, hand to God) virgin bride.  No problem, right?  Wrong-o.  Because Avery and Malik once had a hot-and-heavy affair, lasting a whole year, until his overpowering ways and her fear of all things emotional got in the way.  In short, he broke her heart and now she has to watch from the sidelines as he marries another woman.  Which honestly?  She thinks she's happy about.  I mean, it's a whole lot easier to not pine after a married man, so the sooner Malik is married, the better.  Except for one teensy, tiny problem.  Yeah, his intended bride?  Just up and went missing.  As in, ran away.  That just won't do, so Avery decides to help Malik find her, you know by spending time alone with him the desert.  Sure, that'll work out just fine......

Morgan is so smart in the category format and here she really milks it to maximum effect.  She peels the conflict back, in layers, like an onion.  We know going in that Avery is a smart, independent, ball-busting sort of woman.  She built her own business, she's given her life to that business, and when Malik threatens (so she thinks) her independence, she bolts.  She's not about to let some high-handed Alpha male tell her what to do or what to feel.  Naturally as the story goes on, we see what really was behind the demise of the affair.  What Malik felt and thought, what Avery felt and thought, why they had these feelings and thoughts, the emotional back-story that led to both of their broken hearts.

It's all very, very smart, but in a longer book I think Avery would wear out her welcome with some readers.  This is not a cuddly sort of romance heroine.  Frankly, she's very driven, very single-minded, and is more likely to steamroll over the hero before he has a chance to uncover what's really driving her insecurities.

"'You never need anything, do you, Avery Scott?' His voice was soft in the darkness and she squeezed her eyes tightly so that the tears didn't fall.  She couldn't believe she was actually crying.  She could just imagine what her mother would say to that.

'Sometimes I pretend to need someone, just to stroke a masculine ego.'

'I doubt you have ever stroked a man's ego in your life.  Knifed it, possibly."

And that's Avery in a nutshell.  She is the way she is for various reasons, it's up to the author, and Malik to coax those reasons out over the course of the story.  Then it's up to Malik to teach her that she doesn't have to be afraid.  In short, these two people who are used to being "in charge" need to learn to trust each other, but it won't be easy since they both have baggage.

I liked that the author didn't make either character solely at fault for anything.  Both Malik and Avery make mistakes, and they both have to own up to them.  I also liked that the author doesn't morph Avery into a pod person to make the happy ending work.  She's independent, she's a businesswoman, she's smart, has her own opinions etc.  Which means, thank you sweet baby Jesus, she doesn't morph into a subserviant handmaiden just because she finally realizes that she loves Malik and wants to spend a lifetime with him.

This is a good solid Presents that bucks the opinion, held by some, that the heroines must all be dishrags while the heroes must all be Alpha jerk-wads.  This book features two headstrong people who learn from each other and recognize that their relationship is going to take time and effort - effort that in the end will be worth it.  Because honestly?  They love each other and are perfect together.  Hey, this is a romance - what could possibly be better than that?

Final Grade = B

A Night Of No Return

As much as I love category romance I have always had a notoriously hard time navigating the Harlequin Presents line.  I like glitzy, flashy locales and Alpha heroes as much as the next girl - but let us be honest - the Presents hero?  Can easily tip the scales into Neanderthal Asshole territory.  So I rely on reviews, and the wisdom of other readers to help me out.  One of whom is romance author Lynne Connolly, who reviews Presents and Mills & Boon Modern titles over at The Good, The Bad and the Unread.  Lynne has said that Presents appeal to her because they have a fairy tale quality to them, and she's a fan of Sarah Morgan's work.  That was enough for me, so I settled in to read my very first Sarah Morgan title, A Night Of No Return.

Yes, I totally get it now.  And God help us all, I'm hooked.

Lucas Jackson is a big-time architect who is suffering through the anniversary of a personal tragedy.  All he wants is to be left alone so he can drink himself stupid.  So off he goes to his country estate in the middle of a snowstorm that is rapidly growing epic by the minute.  He settles in by the fire with a suitable amount of alcohol and is all set to kill the necessary brain cells when in barges a very intriguing distraction.

Emma Gray is Lucas' personal assistant and the only reason she is driving to his country home in the middle of a blizzard is because he left some very important papers on his desk.  He has to have these papers and they're vital enough that she's loathe to trust the task to a faceless courier.  When she arrives on the scene she discovers her boss three-sheets to the wind and he's in a total state.  She's never seen him like this before.  Her put-together, single-minded, workaholic, driven boss is a complete mess.  She cannot leave him like this, and even if she wanted to?  Yeah, she's pretty well snowed in now.

I'll be honest, Morgan isn't telling a new story here.  We've all read variations of this before.  What she does do is take these well-worn tropes, spin them around, creates characters that are her own, and delivers a story that is fresh and lively, with the right amount of angsty-goodness to keep me glued to the pages.

Lucas is your classic Presents hero - Alpha, driven, yet with a mysterious wounded past.  He's forceful enough to showcase his Alpha-goodness, but not so forceful that he slips past the Asshole Point Of No Return.  Is he a jerk at times?  Yes.  Was I willing to forgive him?  Yes.  And that's because even when he's clueless about his feelings with Emma, he's still, underneath it all, a decent guy.

Emma is your classic Martyr Heroine.  The heroine who has made sacrifices in her life (hell, she doesn't really have much of a life, does she?) because of various obligations.  She doesn't see these sacrifices as "obligations" though.  Yes, it's not how she wanted things to turn out, but it was the only decision she felt she could make.  Lucas doesn't know any of this.  As a boss he's all work, no personal stuff.  Besides, Emma is not the type of girl with desires to date anybody she meets at work.  And with the long hours she keeps?  Meeting someone she doesn't work with is an impossibility.  Lucas is handsome, smart, driven, and extremely attractive.  But she's not a girl who is stupidly going to fall in love with her boss.  No way, no how.  She's not the type of girl who would foolishly fall in love with a man who is so closed off emotionally that she doesn't have a prayer.  Except....yeah, that's exactly what she does.  Hey, the heart wants what it wants.

What elevated this book for me is Emma.  I flat-out liked her.  Also I loved that she wasn't this shrinking violet who cowers in the corner when Lucas says something insensitive or tries to scare her off.  She stands toe-to-toe with him.  Heck, there is even a very funny moment when she tries to manipulate him to get out of a work-related obligation.  He doesn't fall for it, of course, but it adds to her charm and as a reader I liked that she wasn't afraid.  Ever.  She also doesn't shy away from making tough decisions.  In short, Emma is an Every Woman.  An Every Woman cast in the role of Cinderella to Lucas' wounded (and emotionally clueless) Beast.

It's really a lovely read, and one that I practically inhaled.  I had hit a rough patch with my category reading of late, and reading A Night Of No Return was liking opening up a window on the first beautiful spring day after a dismal winter.  It was exactly what I needed and now I want more.

Final Grade = B+