Review: Katy Regnery is now one of my auto-buy authors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
"By Proxy" is a debut novel by Katy Regnery and a first book in her series: Heart of Montana.  A lot of other reviewers have already provided a summary of the story so I won't repeat it. I spent some years in the Midwest, so the small town setting and how the other characters acted around Sam and Jenny seemed believable and genuine to me.What I really loved about this story was the complexity of Jenny and Sam. Sure, on the surface they seemed like your typical `city guy' and `country girl', but on the inside they were both nuanced and flawed and both trying to figure out this instant attraction for each other. They both seemed primed for a change in their lives and meeting each other was the catalyst for love and a happy ending.  It was amazing to discover how one weekend changed them both. While change seemed believable for Jenny, I had some trouble believing in Sam's transformation because of some gaps in his background.  How could such a sweet and funny guy have such a high-powered, shallow life in Chicago? He almost seemed like two different men. One man spent his boyhood summers in Montana and the other man went out partying and dated a vapid weather girl. I couldn't integrate these two men together. How did he `lose' himself only to be `found' by Jenny? I thought my reconciliation between these personalities could have been more believable if I learned about Sam's motivation for success or if his old-girlfriend, Pepper, had any redeeming qualities.  When Sam goes back to Chicago, he is a completely different man from his boss and co-workers that I couldn't understand how he'd ever been like them to begin with.I read at a variety of heat levels, from sweet regencies to erotica and found that the `sweet contemporary' heat-level was appropriate for this story. Even though they don't get beyond kissing, the sexual tension between Sam and Jenny was `steamy hot' and kept me engaged that I did NOT want to put the book down. I stayed up until 2 a.m. just to read the ending! I loved getting to really know these two characters in ways books nowadays don't give you time to do and I look forward to reading more about Jenny's brothers. Katy Regnery is now one my "auto-buy" authors and she should be yours, too.