Girl's Guide to Hunting & Kissing

Single in South Beach #2

by Joanne Rock

For every attraction...
When it comes to breaking the rules, Summer Farnsworth is an expert. From her wild braids to her vintage bustiers, she lives by her own guide. So how can she explain her attraction to Mr. By-the-Book, Jackson Taggart? Sure, the guy is gorgeous with to-die-for shoulders, but she can't get to those shoulders through all the starch in his shirt! After a few steamy kisses, however, she's willing to play by the rules of seduction...if only for a day or two!

There's an equal opposite reaction!
Jackson knows that life with Summer would be simpler if he just wanted a fling. But something about her uninhibited ways has him captivated and he knows it will take more than a few weeks to satisfy his desire for her. In fact, it could take forever. So, armed with a few sensual moves, Jackson begins his campaign to persuade Summer that the best sparks fly when opposites attract....

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Blaze

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 14, 2003

About the author

Joanne Rock is a USA Today bestselling author of over one hundred works of popular fiction, including domestic suspense and romantic suspense. A frequent speaker at regional and national writing conferences she enjoys giving back to the writing community that nurtured and inspired her early career. She has a Masters degree in Literature from the University of Louisville and has taught fiction, film, and writing at the college level. When she's not writing, Joanne enjoys travel to gather new ideas.

Reviews

[Curvy Girl Book Nerd (Jen S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girl's Guide to Hunting and Kissing is Book 2 of the Single in South Beach series. It's a steamy, opposites-attract, vacation romance. Jackson is an assistant district attorney who is rather straight-laced with political aspirations. Summer is a free spirit who works at a pleasure club. The two couldn't be more opposite but find themselves attracted to each other. But can this mismatch work? This one was just ok for me. The chemistry was decent, and the ending was happy. 3. 5☆s.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jackson is looking for a mouth...the most perfect mouth to spend the night with and forget his troubles. He finds Summer Farnsworth and manages to get an introduction and attempts to convince her to go out with him. They're both tempted to just fall into bed and that's exactly what Summer wants, since she actively avoids commitment and relationships. But Jackson is trying to entice her in to more. But Summer, with her wild, unconventional ways and past full of scandal, could mean negative publicity for the staid, conventional Jackson, who is about to run for Congress and doesn't need any more scandal in his life.

Ugh. What was that whole mouth thing about? I didn't quite get that. Also, Summer was extremely frustrating. It's unusual that I find myself routing for the hero to win the little relationship competition (will he get her to date him or not?) because usually the hero is being an obnoxious overbaring jerk about it. Not Jackson. He's charming and just a little bit desperate, but not in an awkward way. It was kind of cute. Summer was so not cute. She's quirky and eccentric, but she's also constantly running scared and flying of the handle getting angry about nothing. On the bright side, this did have some good chemistry and an initially good sex scene. There was some build up for the scene where Summer is "overwhelmed" (in that she's controlled by Jackson during sex) but it was a bit of a let down. It was probably cutting edge for the time it was written, but post-fifty-shades and the resulting flood of kink in your standard romances and the pushing of the envelope in the not-so-standard ones, there are much sexier scenes out there.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn’t really a hit or miss for me. It just sort of fell somewhere in the middle. The writing was tight and the characters and setting were interesting enough. And yet it just felt like so many books I’ve read before. There just wasn’t anything about it that sparked my interest. And I found it odd that one of the main characters, Jackson, was considering a political run and worrying about his image. In this day and age, one in which a politician can be found guilty of paying off a woman he slept with while his wife was home with their newborn and STILL get elected, I think pretty much all bets are off. So I just couldn’t buy into the conflict of the relationship between Jackson and Summer. But I suppose it might make an enjoyable beach read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical Politician . . .

Summer Farnsworth is a free-spirit “wild-child” who captures attention easily, especially with her new pleasure club perhaps offending the public. Jackson Taggart has political aspirations to cultivate and shouldn’t be trying to catch the eye of such a flamboyant female whose reputation could harm him. Will he decide to be cautious and work toward his political goal? Or will he foolishly stroke his ego and go for a passionate fling, risking voter reaction that could lose him the election. Or maybe the voters will applaud his gutsy actions instead? It always helps a review when the reviewer likes the characters, but unfortunately, I didn’t.

[Esme Greiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer, an ambiance coordinator for Club Paradise, and Jackson, an ambitious assistant district attorney. Summer's free-spirited, crystal-loving personality clashes with Jackson's pragmatic, rule-following approach to life. Despite their differences, sparks fly when Summer dares Jackson to loosen up and embrace the city's wild side, threatening his carefully planned political career ambitions. This playful and passionate romance explores themes of compromise, personal growth, and taking chances. Will Jackson realize that Summer is just what he needs in his life?

[Marie Bourgery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potential political candidate Jackson pursues Summer even though her love of sexy clothing and her new pleasure club could turn off voters and hurt his career. Summer is free spirited because of her childhood commune hopping with her parents. Jackson is more buttoned up but she brings out his passionate side. Still he has to decide what is more important a relationship with Summer or a political career.

[Fleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 3.5
Jackson and Summer are very different and for them opposites attract and Jackson pursuing her no matter how it could look for his career. There were some fun parts along with awkward and sweet times which made this a good afternoon red.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way they met and connected. The different backgrounds they have. Expectations from his family. When there's a setback, they see what they can have, and start making it work, instead of running away. Definitely reading this again.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good. It was very unique. I loved the vibe between Jackson and Summer. I can’t recommend this book enough.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Bronwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly I really enjoyed this book!!

[Debbie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I liked this story for its different approach to romance and the humor in it.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an opposites attract with an interesting storyline and characters. An entertaining story with humor and fun times. Received a free copy.

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opposites attract, but in this case, I’m not completely buying it. Jackson stole my heart from the moment the book opened. The “perfect mouth” search squicked me out a little. However, the fact that it brought him to Summer and his choice was to pursue more than a single night with her, meant that I can forgive the slightly creepy way it started. What I found harder to forgive was Summer’s behavior. She’s defiantly unconventional simply for the sake of being unconventional. She knows she has issues that need to be dealt with, but that’s all to be handled “later”. She’s so proud of her ‘run first, ask questions later’ philosophy, that I spent most of this book being intensely frustrated. I get that she has good reasons for her reactions, but I wanted better for Jackson. And I didn’t find her last second change of heart entirely believable. There are also a lot of little errors that kept pulling me out of the story.

[Shaebay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the biggest wall-thrower I've read in a long time. I can't count the number of times I fell asleep while trying to read this. There was nothing at all interesting or new about Summer or Jackson. I didn't like either of them in the slightest. This book just really irritated me.

[Lauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summer was rebeling against her parents wackiness by being wacky, um okay. Jackson had family issues but at no point actually talked to them about it.