Sometimes Naughty, Sometimes Nice

Farrel Sisters #2

by Kimberly Raye

Sometimes Naughty

To Xandra Farrel, men are only good for procreation and pleasure-and sometimes they even need help with that. As proprietor of erotic toy manufacturer Wild Women, Inc., she's ready to launch her best product just as soon as she tests it out. Her subject: Beau Hollister, once the sexiest, most popular bad boy in high school, and the man responsible for the worst sexual experience of Xandra's life. If Xandra can have one mind-blowing night with Beau, the commercial success of her product is a sure thing...

Sometimes Nice

When Beau started his home renovation company, Hire-a-Hunk, being Xandra's boy toy was not what he had in mind, especially since he blew it way back when. Then Xandra turns up the heat and turns on the seduction. As wills clash and hearts collide, can unexpected love prove that being naughty is sometimes the nicest way a girl can have her Beau... and keep him too?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit

323 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

I've always been an incurable romantic. While I enjoy reading all types of fiction, my favorites, the books that touch my soul, are romance novels. From sexy to thrilling, sweet to humorous, I like them all. But what I really love is writing romance--the hotter the better!

I started my first novel back in high school and have been writing ever since. To date, I've published over thirty novels, one of them a prestigious RITA Award nominee, Romance Writers of America's highest award of excellence. I have also been nominated by Romantic Times magazine for several Reviewer's Choice awards, as well as a career achievement award.

I've written for several different publishers, including Harlequin Books, Leisure Books, Berkley/Jove, St. Martin's Press and Warner Books. Born and bred in the Lone Start State, I still live deep in the heart with my real-life hero, Curt, and our young children.

Like any over-worked, under-appreciated wife and mother, I have very little free time. But when I find a few precious moments, I LOVE to read. Some of my favorite authors include Janet Evanovich, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Charlaine Harris (see my Favorite Reads page for more) and the exceptionally talented Nina Bangs. Give me a bag of Sugar Babies, a Toby Keith or Kevin Fowler CD (I love Texas music), and a great book, and I'm in heaven!

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another sexy addition to this series. Xandra and Beau heat up the sheets. If you're looking for something hot to read, then you may want to check this series out.

[mari (givemaribooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

The mcs had no real chemistry. The fmc was annoying and a bitch. She did not respect the mmc's boundaries and continued to pursue him no matter how many times he said no. The author again knows nothing about feminism, and the book ends up with some messed up ideas about women that are quite patriarchal and misogynistic. And the fatphobia is out of control in this book; it's one thing for the fmc to have body issues, but they are continuously upheld by everyone around her. It continued to validate the idea that being fat is ugly and bad, especially by her neighbors. Plus she wasn't even fat to begin with! Her relationship with food was super unhealthy, and the way she viewed people, particularly mmc, based on her own self-worth was messed up. The fact that she judged the mmc for bad sex that one time as teenager is so stupid and unfair. I get that their mom messed all the daughters up, but they are old enough to figure things out. She also had no respect for the mmc's work schedule or the fact that she was making him work super long days because she wanted him. And none of her issues are ever resolved, so she doesn't actually figure out how wrong she was about her views of herself and relationships. It was also really annoying to get POV from the side characters, which added nothing to the story, particularly Albert.

[Aurian Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

When in highschool, Xandra loved her life at home, helping her grandmother in the kitchen. Her mother is a famous expert on sexology and gives lectures all around the country. She is of the very strong opinion that marriage means slavery for a woman, and that women are superior to men. She has a kind of living-apart-together arrangement with the father of her children (and is certainly not married to him!) Their father is a busy college professor. So Xandra and her two sisters were basically raised by her grandmother.
Her highschool was torture though, as she was the fat girl. She never once had a boyfriend, but one time she got bold, and asked the local bad boy to the dance. Only, she did not ask him to the dance to dance with him, she wanted to get rid of her virginity. What she did not expect, thanks to his reputation, was the fact that it all would be over in 5 minutes, leaving her very unsatisfied.

Beau Hollister’s mother died when he was seven, leaving him to help his father raise his three younger brothers, and help out at his service station. This made the other kids look down on him, as he had to work before and after school. Beau did not have the time to sit in the local diner and drink cola. He was the one boy the mothers warned their daughters for, not to date. Which of course made them sneak around just to be with him. Xandra had always been nice to him, smiling at him, greeting him when her grandmother came to the service station for gas, so when she asked him for the dance, he accepted. And when she suggested they go parking instead of dancing, he happily obliged. Instead of the baggy clothes she usually wore at school, she was dressed in a black mini skirt and a top, and she was the hottest girl he had ever seen! Which made him so eager, he lost it in the back seat of the Impala, ruining everything. He could not stop thinking about her, making him flunk his tests that would have given him a full scholar ship to university. Now he only had a partial, which means he had to work his way through college. All because of her.

So meeting with her when she hired him and his company “Call a hunk”, was not something he was looking forward to. His company was on the brink of a major change, and he could not afford to be distracted by Xandra again. No matter how hot she looked, and how much she tried to seduce him. He would resist. He was not in the market for a relationship.
Well, neither was Xandra, she just wanted to test her newest invention on him. If it could make sex with someone who was so bad at it, special, she sure had a winner on her hands. But Beau just keeps resisting her, which was not doing good things for her self esteem at all. Perhaps she was getting old at 29, especially now that she has found a grey hair, down south …


I really loved this book a lot. It was exactly what I needed to read. It was fun, it was different and unexpected and sexy. The thing that made it special was of course Xandra’s mother and her beliefs, which she tries to impose on her daughters. I liked Xandra a lot, even though she is the owner of a very successful company that makes sex toys especially for women, and she tests everything out herself, she is not a loose woman. She just lost her boyfriend of 8 years, and that hurts, even though she was not in love with Brian. She found out how she had stopped being herself, just to please him, and now she wants her self back.
The secondary characters, her employees, added some fun and secondary romances to the story as well, I really enjoyed their interaction.
Beau is trapped in a life he doesn’t really want, but his sense of responsibility doesn’t let him quit. People are depended upon him. Until Xandra opens his eyes, and shows him how it could be. I liked him a lot, he is a good man. Even as he keeps refusing her, trying to scare her off without being a brute. Though the things he does to scare her of, are really rudely male, and would for sure make me end all things while on a date. Having him renovate her new house though, makes sure they keep meeting each other daily.

Xandra’s mother and her beliefs really made this story more original. Xandra tried to stay true to her mothers’ beliefs, but she envied her sister who just got married (to her mother’s horror!) and who is trying to get pregnant.

I enjoyed Kimberly Raye’s writing style. This is the first book I have read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last. Her characters are very lifelike and loveable, I really read this book fast, and I love her sense of humor.
Now the bad news: After finishing the book, I immediately went to Bookdepository, to buy the other two books, but the prizes had me blink my eyes in surprise. Extremely expensive, to say the least. Amazon was just as expensive, and those are mass market paperbacks! Why? So, I’ll just have to find those two second hand, because I do want them.

9 stars.

Full review on my blog, www.boeklogboek.blogspot.com

[Raina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say, I am a BIG fan of Kimberly Raye, which is why this book left me so disappointed. It was terribly predictable and everything was tied up nicely and neatly with a little bow. Everyone was paired off and happy in the end. I started off with really high hopes since I enjoyed the other two books in this series, but it really dragged. I absolutely could could have done with out Xandra's mother's views on relationships/men/women. She's like the relationship Nazi, cramming her views down the throats of her daughters. I felt it really dominated the book almost as much as the main storyline. I will say that the play between Xandra and beau while she was trying to seduce him and he was fighting it and trying to turn her off was both hot and hilarious which was this book's saving grace.

[Cherise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has it's up and downs, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the dialogue between the two characters. While Xandra was trying to seduce Beau and turn him on he was fighting it and trying to turn her off. The stuff that happens between the two is sometimes hot and sometimes hilarious.

It dragged a little here and there and I could have totally done with out Xandra's mother's views on relationships/men/women. She's like the relationship Nazi, cramming her views down the throats of her daughters. The side characters were interesting and I am definitely interested in reading the other stories in this series.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this story was fun, I got tired of hearing Xandra's mother's theories on women and their place in the world, and Xandra's inability to think for herself was annoying.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...

[Kevin Connery · Rating 3 out of 5]

She spins a decent story, but the characters are badly 2-dimensional, and highly self-delusional. They behave in ways which are inconsistent with the way the author defines them, not just inconsistent with the beliefs they supposedly believe. Too annoying.

[Nancy Brady]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11639372

[Zain]

it was nice

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great book to read