Review: All that a romance novel should be
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2012
When it comes to romance novels, I have certain pet peeves.  Plot devices or characterizations that are guaranteed to make me grit my teeth, roll my eyes, or yawn.  Sometimes simultaneously.  But, this book...this book had none of those things.  If I had to explain to someone what my ideal romance novel would be like, this would be the book I would use as a shining example.A brief synopsis:  Lauren does a favor for a friend by accepting a 3-month temporary position working as the personal assistant to renowned photographer, Caden.  While they are instantly attracted to each other, Lauren and Caden both have emotionally scarred pasts that lead them to be against the idea of love - and neither is interested in anything other than a temporary, physical relationship.Okay.  So far, pretty typical.  And, yes, it's still a romance novel and predictable in that we pretty much know how it's going to end.  But it's the getting there part in this book that's interesting.When I first started this book, I was afraid I was going to strongly dislike Lauren.  I thought she was going to be one of those obnoxiously annoying "tough" heroines.  Don't get me wrong - Lauren is strong and she is no one's doormat.  But she's not tough in an in-your-face kind of way.  She ended up surprising me by being a very likeable, realistic character.There was no "rush to love" in this book.  (Oh, how I hate the insta-love!)  There is a very slow building of their relationship from co-workers to lovers to friends and back again.  It flows up and down and back and forth.  It was emotional and at one point I started getting nervous thinking the story was going to dissolve into the dreaded angst.  But it stopped short of that, thank God.The sex was crazy hot (and, FYI, explicit).  Don't get excited - nothing kinky.  Just HOT.  And that, too, was a nice change from the formulaic sex scenes that have been boring me lately.I don't know what else to say about this except that it's a typical romance that's not typical.  If that even makes sense.  I loved it and can't wait to read more from this author.Highly recommended.