MéNAGE À TROIS? Librarian Olivia Cooper, daughter of the town drunk, will do almost anything to gain respectability—even marry wealthy, but oh-so-dull, Adam Rutledge. But the night of the local costume party, Adam's anything but dull. Suddenly her would-be fiancé is daring, dangerous…and very, very sexy. Only, Olivia never guesses that the right chemistry will lead her into the wrong bed.…
Rebel Luke Rutledge thinks he's only saving Olivia from his brother's greedy machinations when he takes Adam's place at the party. But once Olivia is in his arms, Luke can't think at all! The attraction is immediate, the sex explosive…and the truth disastrous. Olivia might have wanted Adam—but she can't keep her hands off Luke. So what else can this bad boy do but seduce her into saying yes?
First, let me say this is how I show up at my desk every morning to write. Dahling, I couldn’t possibly write a word unless I was wearing 3-inch heels with a Martini at hand. NOT!!! But it’s so different, and face it, infinitely less scarey than the way I usually work, running shorts and t-shirt with a cup of tea nearby, that I had to put this picture up.
I’ve been an avid reader ever since I was growing up on a farm in south Georgia. At that time I dreamed of writing poetry while living in The Big Apple and traveling the world. Fast forward, bypassing lots of not-so-glamourous jobs such as barbeque joint waitress, telemarketer, and corporate numbers cruncher, to today’s reality. I write contemporary romance, live in The Big Peach (ya know, Atlanta), and I’m working on the world travel.
I actually live in the suburbs with my husband, daughter, three cats, two rescue greyhounds, and chihuahua who bosses the whole house.
Writing is one of the best jobs in the world and one of the most miserable–depending on which day you’re asking. However, obviously the best outweighs the most miserable or I wouldn’t be working on that next book. So, here’s the straight skinny on the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
The saddest thing about this book is it's uncelebrated publication as a Harlequin Temptation title, relegating it by association to the least popular brand rolling off Harlequin presses.
Readers who are fortunate enough to discover Jennifer LaBrecque will know after reading their first LaBrecque that they have found a treasure.
Despite it's humble packaging, Barely Mistaken contains some of the wittiest, most provocative dialog ever written for a romance novel. In the story, Luke and Olivia only consummate their relationship during their first evening together, but you'll turn to the last page and feel like you've just finished reading about a very, very steamy, passionate relationship.
And our hero, Luke, is HOT! LaBrecque fills his dialog with double entendres and suggestive comments that keep the reader and Olivia in knotted knickers.
What is truly a joy about Barely Mistaken is we see Olivia grow as a person as she becomes more comfortable with herself. Unlike some stories where the reconciliation between the hero and heroine follows an epiphany on the part of one character or the other, Barely Mistaken allows us to see the evolution in Olivia's thought processes. Of course, there is a moment of revelation that throws her over the edge. What is truly delicious is how she declares herself to the community and secondary characters. You can't help but cheer her on.
After you read this book and you want more of LaBrecque's style and wit, look for Daring in the Dark. Simon is every bit as lovable as Luke.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I had a great time reading this one. Barely Mistaken had great characters, steamy romance, wonderful dialogue, and was extremely quick to read.
Olivia Cooper's main goal in life has always been to gain the respect of her community. As the daughter of the town drunk, this has been very difficult, but she is finally in a position of respect as the town librarian. When she starts dating a pillar of the community, Adam Rutledge, Olivia knows this will only raise the town's image of her. Meeting Adam one night at a masked dance, Olivia notices how much more seductive his kisses seem than normal. As passion rises between them, they continue their intimate encounter at Olivia's house. Olivia is shocked when her phone rings right after their passion has been slaked and finds Adam on the other end of the line. Her passionate evening has just been spent with his rebellious brother, Luke, with whom she shared a kiss during high school. Olivia is understandably furious with Luke, and she doesn't want to see him again, but he is not agreeable with this. Luke keeps turning up and throwing her life into turmoil. Olivia has to decide what it is she really wants most out of life - the respectability offered by Adam, or he love promised by Luke.
I thought that for the short length of this book, the characters were very well developed. There were some very sensuous scenes, and the hero was definitely appealing. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I enjoyed it enough that I am getting ready to move right on to another of hers. I do wish that she had some longer novels.
This had a wonderful hero who has always had a thing for the heroine. He is the opposite of the heroine in the sense that he refuses to conform and makes no apologies for who he is. The heroine has spent her life trying live down her family's name and be perfect so that no-one can look down on her. However, a costume party changes all of that she lets loose with him. Of course she tries to backtrack afterwards but the hero won't let her. The heroine was a bit frustrating and I really wished she would have had more confidence in herself and the hero. This is one sexy read where even the process of making a bed is made sensuous.
RESUMEN: Tenía que rescatarla de las maquinaciones de su hermano. Olivia Cooper era la bibliotecaria del pueblo, pero también era la hija del borracho más conocido del lugar, por eso habría hecho cualquier cosa por ganarse el respeto de sus vecinos... incluyendo casarse con el rico, aunque aburrido Adam Rutledge. Sin embargo, durante aquella fiesta de disfraces, Adam fue todo menos aburrido; de repente se había convertido en un hombre aventurero, peligroso... y muy, muy sexy. Pero Olivia ni siquiera podía imaginar que aquella increíble atracción iba a llevarla a la cama equivocada...
El intrépido Luke Rutledge pensaba que lo único que hacía al hacerse pasar por su hermano durante la fiesta de disfraces era rescatar a Olivia de las ambiciosas maquinaciones de Adam. Pero una vez que tuvo a aquella maravillosa mujer entre los brazos no pudo seguir pensando. La química había surgido entre ellos de manera inmediata... y el sexo había sido explosivo, pero la verdad hizo que todo aquello se convirtiera en un auténtico desastre...
Reviewed for THC Reviews Barely Mistaken is a stand-alone contemporary romance, but it’s part of the long-running, multi-author The Wrong Bed theme series from the Harlequin Temptation line in which all the stories center around couples who find themselves bedding the “wrong” person. Olivia is the youngest daughter of the town drunk who has spent most of her life trying to distance herself from the rest of her family and be a “good girl” so that the townspeople will see her differently. She now has a respectable job as the local librarian and recently started dating wealthy golden boy Adam Rutledge. In the month that they’ve been together, he’s barely kissed her a few times and never set her heart fluttering the way she wants, but he’s everything she thinks she needs until the night of a big costume ball. Little does she know that Adam’s brother, Luke, has taken his place in the pirate costume Adam was supposed to wear. In the darkened ballroom, without her glasses, Olivia can’t tell the difference except that suddenly “Adam” is now incredibly seductive and his kisses set her on fire. Luke has had a thing for Olivia since high school, so when he overhears his brother and father talking about how they’re using Olivia for something, he has to find out what their plan is. Knowing that Adam is going out of town, he takes his brother’s place at the ball. He never intended for things to go as far as they do with Olivia, but before he realizes what’s happening he’s had the most incredible sex of his life. When she discovers his real identity, though, she starts giving him the cold shoulder. Luke isn’t about to be deterred so easily, but getting past Olivia’s hangups about needing the town to respect her and getting her to see the truth about what his brother’s real purpose is in dating her prove challenging.
Olivia’s family has always been the subject of their small town’s gossip mill. Her daddy had a reputation as the town drunk. Now her brother seems to have headed down the same path and her sister is notorious for changing men as often as she changes her nail polish. Wanting more for herself, Olivia has tried to cultivate a good girl image, always dressing conservatively and becoming a librarian. She just recently started dating Adam. He’s perfectly boring and his kisses are uninspiring, but him being part a wealthy family and one of the most respected people in town is exactly what Olivia thinks she needs to get the townspeople to see her differently. The night of the costume ball, she thinks that Adam has finally become the exciting man she’s been craving when he turns on the seductive charm, but it’s not until she’s had sex with him twice that she realizes it wasn’t Adam, but his brother, Luke, the bad boy, black sheep of the Rutledge family. Olivia is upset with him, but even now knowing the truth, the sex was so mind-blowing that she still desires him. However, he doesn’t fit in with her plans for respectability, so she blows him off. With Luke building a new addition to the library, though, she can’t avoid him, and gradually finds herself warming up to him and eventually realizing that she’s been hiding the real her behind a facade that only Luke can see through. But when Adam lies about Luke being the one who was using her to get to her father’s prime property, she might fall into his trap.
I love librarian characters, so Olivia was very appealing to me. But there were two things about her that were a little off for me. The first was the extreme measures she took to “exorcise” Luke from her house after their love-making session. It was admittedly being played for laughs, but I just couldn’t help wondering how she had the money to replace expensive items on a small-town librarian’s salary. The other is that she maintains her desire for respectability over potential happiness with Luke for a little too long to the point that it became rather repetitive. But otherwise I liked her and was happy when she finally decided that she wasn’t going to let what other people thought of her rule her life anymore.
With his reputation as a hellion, Luke has never really been accepted by either his family or the townspeople. He’s gone a separate direction from the family business and created his own successful construction company. Ever since they were in high school, he’s had a thing for Olivia but he never thought he was good enough for her. He kissed her once when she seemed upset about what some means girls were saying about her, but when she fled immediately afterward, he took it as a rejection. When he discovers his brother is using Olivia for some nefarious plan, he has to know exactly what’s going on, so he decides to masquerade in his brother’s pirate costume at the ball, hoping to get information. Instead, he finds himself with Olivia and can’t seem to resist the magnetic pull she has over him. He didn’t intend for things to go so far, but before he knows it, he’s in her bed and she’s everything he’s ever dreamed of. When she finally realizes he’s not Adam, she’s understandably upset, but knowing that if he tells her that Adam is just using her, she won’t believe him, he keeps quiet about that, hoping to find more information to back up his claim. In the meantime, his construction work on the new library wing keeps them in close proximity where he continues to press his suit. Eventually Olivia starts to warm up to him, but when Adam twists the truth about who was using whom, Luke realizes that perhaps Olivia’s need for the respectability she’s always craved may trump her desire for him.
Overall, I liked Luke a lot. He may be the town bad boy, but when he puts his mind to genuinely wooing Olivia, he can be pretty sweet. The only thing I wasn’t entirely sure about was him essentially bowing out and taking the heat when his brother started lying. On the one hand, it was rather selfless in that he really thought he was giving Olivia the opportunity to have the respect she desired. On the other hand, he knew that Adam was just using Olivia to get her father’s land, so a part of me wanted him to fight harder to protect her. But then there’s also the issue of him not feeling quite worthy of her and him having fought for the whole story already, which made for a complicated situation that gave me mixed feelings.
Overall, I very much enjoyed Barely Mistaken. I came close to giving it keeper status, but a couple of things held me back, mainly Olivia fighting her feelings for Luke and taking so long to realize the truth about him and Luke not fighting harder to keep her. I understood the underlying issues that were causing Olivia’s endless internal conflict loop between desiring respectability and desiring a life with Luke, but it just went on a little too long. Then Luke surprised me with his almost easy capitulation when his brother started lying to Olivia about him. Again, I understood his reasons, but given Adam’s true motives, a part of me wanted Luke to fight it to save her from a potentially unpleasant fate. Sure, Olivia might not have believed him, but at least he would have tried. Otherwise, I didn’t really have any other problems with the story. Some readers may be off-put by Luke sleeping with his brother’s girlfriend, but given that Adam didn’t really care about Olivia and had ulterior motives in dating her, I didn’t view that as a problem. Still others might be bothered by the fact that he slept with her when she didn’t fully realize it was him, but again, it wasn’t an issue for me because I felt like deep down a part of her knew something was up when he wasn’t behaving like Adam usually did. Your mileage may vary though. But for me, Barely Mistaken was a good story with some lighthearted moments, fun innuendo, and steamy interludes. This was my first read by Jennifer LaBrecque. It may not have been perfect, but it was good enough to make me interested in reading more from this author.
VERY enjoyable read. Olivia's the town librarian and she's determined to prove she isn't anything like her loser family. She's tired of feeling as if her every move is being scrutinized, knowing that one slip-up will have the town painting her with the same brush that covers her drunk and disorderly dad and brother, and her easy sister. She knows that a relationship with Adam, who is not only wealthy but all things respectable, would really give her what she longs for--a solid reputation.
Adam's brother Luke has always found Olivia attractive--he's the family rebel, and when he finds out his brother's kissing up to Olivia for some mysterious reason, he reasons that it's only right for him to intervene to save her from his nefarious intentions. Only they both end up discovering that they've got some crazy serious chemistry, and maybe what other people think might not be quite the end-all and be-all.
I really enjoyed Ms. LaBrecque's Temptation debut--very fun characters and plot, and some real heat AND emotion despite the light-hearted interplay. Olivia and Luke are truly fantastic together, and it's a delight to see them figure out what truly is important to each of them.
Definitely looking forward to more by Ms. LaBrecque!
Witty, fun, and well written. Luke and Olivia were both likable characters. It was a simple plot, but with plenty of humor. Worth the read and then maybe another one, too. This is the first Jennifer Labrecque book I have read and I planning on putting at least one more in pile pile to be read.
Kind of embarrassed to have it show up in my list of books, but it's a quick read and, as far as romance novels go, pretty good. You'll get what you're expecting from it and a bit more.