Review: 3.5 stars- contemporary romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 20, 2013
:  NO ROMANCE REQUIRED is the third storyline in Cari Quinn's erotic contemporary romance Love Required series.  Although it is the third installment in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone.  Some of the previous storyline characters are mentioned but their importance to the current story is connective only.  No Romance Required focuses on CEO Cory Santangelo-a man who has no time for anything or anyone in his life except business- and Victoria Townsend-an interior designer who has been in love with Cory all of her life.The premise of the story finds Cory needing a special someone in his life to keep his parents from hassling him about finding a wife and settling down.  Now that his brother is in love, Cory feels the push to find that special someone-if only to please his parents.  So, to keep everyone happy, Cory asks a favor of Victoria-pretend to be his girlfriend for a few weeks, to keep his parents happy.  What neither one expected that the pretend relationship would become the real deal with broken hearts and painful loss.The character of Cory was a little difficult to like in the initial stages of the storyline.  He was cold; buried himself in work; and refused to acknowledge the pull between himself and the woman he has known most of his life.  He was abrupt, condescending and rude but within a few chapters, his character started to turn around when he realized that Victoria Townsend was everything he wanted and needed in his life.And Victoria was a bit of an enigma.  A woman with a previous reputation from high school that the locals refused to let her forget, she is also a daughter and a sister first.  And the secrets that she hides will push her over the edge and into Cory's arms.The writing style is simple.  There are a few references to the previous storyline characters but overall there is no confusion or loss of cohesion in the story.  The relationship between Cory and Victoria is both hot and cold; cold when Cory and Victoria continue to push one another about their personal lives and current arrangements; and hot when the faux relationship becomes sensual and sexual in the bedroom-just to keep it believable ;)NO ROMANCE REQUIRED is a short storyline of frenemies to lovers-a long time in the making.  Their relationship was a given by everyone but the two people at the center of the storm and it will take a family to ensure that Cory and Victoria know that they are perfect for each other.