Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (September 26, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0060773170
What is Clare Wingate doing?
One minute she's suffering in a pretty-in-pink gown she'll never wear again, and the next thing she knows it's morning . . . and she has the nastiest hangover of her life.
One minute she's suffering in a pretty-in-pink gown she'll never wear again, and the next thing she knows it's morning . . . and she has the nastiest hangover of her life.
To make matters worse, she's wearing nothing but a spritz of Escada and lying next to Sebastian Vaughan . . . her girlhood crush turned sexy, globe-hopping journalist. Somewhere between the toast and the toss of the bouquet she'd gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble.
Clare had the right to go wild-after all, she'd been knocked off her dyed-to-match shoes after finding her own fiancé in a compromising position with the washing machine repairman. Clearly her society wedding is off.
But Sebastian pushed all the wrong buttons-and some of the right ones, too. Clare is in no mood for love-;not even for lust-and wants to forget about Sebastian and his six-pack abs ASAP. But he isn't in the mood to go away, and his kiss is impossible to forget.
One of the things that intrigued me about this story is that the characters were different than I thought they were going to be. For starters, Clare may have been labeled the uptight, do-the-right-thing type of woman, but she also has a wild side and is somewhat defiant when it comes to dealing with her mother, right to her face. They butt heads from time to time, and Clare is not afraid of her mother as so many heroines in her position have been. See, Clare comes from money, but it's not turned into this big issue in the book, which was a huge relief. She writes romance novels, which her mother refers to as "women's fiction", and she's quite good at it. Again, with Clare and her friends, we see a glimpse into the writer's life, and I like those little slices of insight. What does make me question Clare is her engagement to a man everyone else knows is gay. Would you let a friend marry someone who obviously wasn't that into her? I don't know how I'd handle that one, especially since Clare believes she really loves Lonny.
Then there's the sexy wanderer, Sebastian Vaughan, who travels the world looking for the real story. Sebastian's father works for Clare's mother, but it's not about the servant/master relationship, thank God. Sebastian is sexy, and confident, and good at what he does, though he's getting a little tired of living on airplanes, but he's not ready to settle down yet. Life has dealt him a rather tough blow and he's decided to get in touch with his father and maybe re-establish some type of relationship after all this time.
Sebastian has been pushing Clare's buttons since they were little kids in the single digits, then they don't see each other for 20+ years, until Clare's heart is broken and she drowns her sorrows after her friend's wedding. Sebastian tells Clare they had an unforgettable night together, and wouldn't mind a repeat. Clare of course is mortified, believing she's fallen back into a pattern she hasn't worked since her twenties, yet she's not about to let Sebastian know her thoughts.
Time passes between meetings, and during that time what began as an antagonistic relationship sparks into unbelievable heat, until even Sebastian can't stop thinking about Clare. At first she tries to resist, but there's something seductive about being truly desired, so eventually Sebastian and Clare give into their strong attraction and wow, it's sizzling! Sebastian couldn't be happier when Clare doesn't want a relationship, just a friendship with benies, and Clare is relieved to know she's over her fiance and able to enjoy being involved in a strictly sexual relationship...or so she thinks.
The reader knows that any two people who can't stop thinking about each other, and a hero who keeps coming back to Clare not just for sex but because he loves her company, is going to end up together. They just haven't figured it out yet, but they will.
I loved that Sebastian read Clare's books, and loved them. I loved his growing relationship with his father. I enjoyed seeing Clare with her friends, and how they supported each other, no matter what. Oh, and there's mention of Jane from my favorite Gibson book, "See Jane Score", which I thought was cool. IINMFL was a great follow-up story to "Sex, Lies, and Online Dating", and I can't wait for Maddie's, which is up next - in 2007.
For more, you'll have to check out Jazz's review on Sanctuary's Finest. Yeah, page 182. I hear ya.
Whatcha waiting for? Go buy the book!
posted by Stacy~ at 10/23/2006 05:30:00 PM
Ok Stacy. I liked your review. And I'm going to keep my eyes out for this book. I'm not actively going to look for it, because I do have TBR issues. But if it's there, I'm not going to say no.
byGood review. :P
Great review, Stacy. I enjoyed Clare and Sebastian's relationship. The problem I had with this book is that there was very little interaction between them until about halfway through the book. Thankfully, I stuck with the book and got a great payoff.
byI liked it too. You liked the same things I did, Stacy. I really liked Sebastian. Loved that he didn't hold a grudge, and was willing to give the relationship with his father another try. And I loved that he loved Clare's books!
byAnd I loved that he is friens with Jane and Luc :)
LOL Ames, I have TBR issues as well. I'm afraid the pile is going to kill me one day.
byDevonna, I had that same issue. I wanted more Clare/Sebastian time. But they made up for it, didn't they? Btw, I mailed your book today :)
Lori, I'm right there with you. I loved Jane and Luc, didn't you?
Stacy, I just had a crazy image pop into my head when you said your TBR would kill you. Just seeing all these books crashing down onto a stick figure. LMAO.
byI need to go to sleep. :P
I loved, loved, loved this book!! I was lucky enough to read it a while ago and reivew if for Romance Junkies!! Sebastian was great. I loved his character!
byWonderful review, Stacy.
I too loved this book. I just adored Sebastian and Clare. I can't wait for the next book. I was just talking about this book today to Laurie D too.
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