Review: Great read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 6, 2014
Reviewed by Deltafor TheRomanceReviews.comWhat could an up and coming attorney and a lingerie store owner possibly have in common other then their desire for one another? Opposites really do attract in the second book of the Texas Nights series RUNNING THE RED LIGHT.After hotshot Houston attorney Jamie Wright invests in Roxanne Eberly's Red Light Lingerie shop, she knows she's got to keep her hands off of the former Shelbyville hometown boy. No way is she going to risk mixing business with pleasure. She'll just have to suppress her desire to jump his bones, even when a lawsuit against her has them spending much more time in close proximity. If her sexy and brilliant business partner ever learned her secret, Roxanne's pretty sure she can kiss both her friendship with Jamie and her burgeoning business goodbye anyway.In order to convince his firm to choose him as the new junior partner, Jamie has been told, in no uncertain terms, that he needs a secret weapon: a wife. As much as Jamie lusts after Roxanne, she needs much more attention than he could ever provide with his busy schedule...plus she's not exactly the understated, dainty and polished debutante that would benefit his career. Roxanne both infuriates and arouses him in equal measure, especially when he's trying to get her out of a sticky lawsuit and her spitfire ways do nothing to help his progress.But once the two of them admit their attraction, all bets are off as they struggle to deny the deeper feelings simmering under the surface. Jamie struggles to reconcile the request of his law firm with the fact that Roxanne is anything but the perfect partner's wife, while Roxanne struggles to keep Jamie firmly in the off limits category.Like the first book in the Texas Nights series I've read, RUNNING THE RED LIGHT grabs you from the word GO and doesn't let up! The sparks between Jamie and Roxanne are immediate and ferocious, to be sure, but honestly I had a really hard time liking Jamie. I was kind of turned off by the fact that Jamie immediately dismissed Roxanne as a potential wife candidate because she was a showstopping sexpot instead of possessing an elegant nature and influential background. And while he is fascinated by her and wants to sleep with her and even protect her, he doesn't consider her up to his standards for a classy wife. He needs a Jackie on his arm, not a Marilyn, but he's fine to sleep with her till he has to make a choice of wife. And when he runs into his janitor father at a high class opera and is embarrassed and not wanting anyone to witness their discussion, it made me pretty angry.Roxanne is a strong woman, a devoted friend and a business savvy entrepreneur despite being almost illiterate. I'm not sure what she sees in the seemingly pretentious Jamie, other than he's sexy and comes to her rescue. She deserves someone who will complement her fiery ways and not try to stifle her spirited nature. As all good romance novels do, eventually Jamie figures out his stupidity and comes after Roxanne, but even though they got their HEA, I'm still not convinced that Roxanne couldn't have done better! Ms. Browning did a good job of making Jamie both sympathetic and a jerk and although his roots won out in the end, he was really confused and conflicted for most of the book.That said, the chemistry was really well done between them and completely believable. I loved the story line despite my frustration with Jamie's attitude and actions. All in all, RUNNING THE RED LIGHT is a great addition to the Texas Nights series and I can't wait to read more!