Treat Her Right - 2 /5 - Zack is a single father to his 4-year old Dani and on the lookout for a nice, domesticated wife who can teach his daughter to be a lady. That means that his new neighbor, Wynn, a tall, “Amazonian”-like woman who acts like one of the guys is completely unsuitable, even if she does fire his blood and spark his interest. He absolutely refuses to consider her. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have an affair with her. Wynn though is far more than what she seems and Dani takes a shine to her. Zack is finding it difficult to go searching for a future wife when he can’t stop thinking about Wynn.
So...I was actually kinda hoping that Zack, being a single father and a dad-like figure and all that would be somewhat likeable. He isn’t. Deciding that he resented being attracted to such an unsuitable woman, Zack is outright mean to Wynn. He isn’t the least bit kind or interested in her as a person, but he can’t stop harping on how sexy she is for such a big woman. He’s totally interested in an affair, and his lust comes across clear as crystal. But at no point in this story do I get the sense that Zack LIKES Wynn...he desires her, but he doesn’t like her. And that’s where the romance falls short for me. I’ve gotta feel like the heroine and hero actually do want to spend time together and I didn’t get that sense here. Not until after the off-the-page 3 weeks had gone by and they’d been sleeping together, but even then Zack didn’t think twice about sitting down with his buddies and talking about how very unsuitable Wynn is to be his wife. She overhears of course, but Zack chases her down and changes his mind about all that in a matter of minutes. Which made it totally unbelievable.
Also gotta comment, like everyone else, on the author’s need to hammer home, repeatedly, the fact that Wynn was “big.” It’s clear she’s not overweight and she apparently has the body of a model with a flat tummy and all that, but what the author really meant by “big” was “tall and muscular.” But to me, describing a woman as big, in any sense of the word, sounds pretty rude. And the overuse of this exact adjective to describe her was overkill. I get it, she’s not petite, she’s not dainty, but why do we need to keep saying she’s big?
Mr. November - 4 /5 - Amanda has been pestering Josh to pose for her firefighter’s calendar which donates money to burn victims, but Josh isn’t having it. He’s after a REAL woman, which Josh gets the sense Amanda is not - she’s rich and pampered and too concerned about her appearance. But finally Josh has enough and decides he’ll turn the tables and he’ll pester her...by seducing her. He’s surprised to find that Amanda isn’t receptive and is actually afraid of the idea. This intrigues Josh even further and he becomes determined to learn Amanda’s secrets, but the more he learns of her, the more he realizes she’s special and he’ll do anything to earn her love.
This started out as a struggle, mostly because Josh was overly pushy and I wasn’t liking it. I’m a firm believer of the rule that when a woman says she’s not interested, she means it. Josh realizes he can’t be too pushy, but he continues to touch her in seductive ways even when he agrees that he’ll tone it down. Once Josh realizes that Amanda actually means something to him, she starts to respect her wishes, which lucky for him, become less restrictive to him. It shouldn’t have taken him that long to lay off though. I feel like there was a way he could have approached her and expressed his interest, without pushing past her boundaries.
Surprisingly, I ended up liking this story. Josh gets far less pushy the more he learns about Amanda and he actually gets hella protective and considerate for her. Her situation was a bit tropey, but it still worked for me. The angst and the UST kept me engaged and reading and intrigued me, so this was my favorite of the series.