Review: 4 1/2 stars Sweet with a batch of sizzle
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 14, 2013
I read this book without seeing the cover. Which is probably just as well as most electronic equipment does not deal well with drool. The hero is Caleb "Abs of" Steele, a rugby player nearing retirement and starting to think, reluctantly, about life after football.Judith, Jude, is a photographer and has been the responsible one for most of her life since her mother abandoned the family leaving her as the homemaker and primary caregiver to her brother Joseph who has ADHD as her father was distant. We get to meet her in the first book in this series "Talking Dirty with the CEO" which is Joseph's story.The one time Jude wasn't responsible left her with a nasty taste in her mouth when Caleb, who she'd adored from the time she was eight years old, took her virginity and with a nasty parting shot, left her heartbroken.Now we are eight years later and Caleb is back in town for the wedding and he and Jude are firing more than laser's at each other. The dialogue zings along and is very funny at times.Now they have to work together on a charity calender project and the close proximity is bringing things to the boil.Caleb struck me as a jerk from the first, arrogant and cocky and of course there is that history. In the past eight years he's been in bimbo heaven, pursued by rugby groupies and standing still to let them catch him. A player in more than just name. It's going to take a lot to get Jude to trust him even if she managed to forgive him for the way he left her the first time around.The relationship zigged and zagged quite a bit and both hero and heroine had TSTL moments. I didn't engage quite as much with them as I have with other characters written by this author.All the same it was an enjoyable read and the characters came across as flawed but mostly likeable human beings. The ending was nicely done with much needed grovel attached.Received this as an ARC without the cover picture so I was totally uninfluenced by the whole 'abs of steele' thing.