Say Yes by Christie Ridgway
Cabin Fever (Book 1.5)
Cautious florist Ashley Walker is excited to embark on her "Year of Yes" no matter what happens. But accepting a surprise job offer leads to an awkward discovery: she's hot for her millionaire boss, Chase Bradley!
After four years of grieving the death of her husband and being overly cautious about her life choices, Ashley was ready to start living again. Her New Year's resolution was to start saying "yes" to more opportunities. The first chance came on New Year's Eve when she was offered a job playing hostess at a week-long house party. The money was too good to resist, but the difficulty was her boss. Chase Bradley intimidates the heck out of her, with his good looks, charm, and wealth, to the point where she can barely talk around him.
The development of Chase and Ashley's relationship was very fast. Chase was intrigued and attracted from the moment he met her, and when he found himself in need of a hostess, he jumped on the idea of asking Ashley. His focus was on pursuing the attraction and getting her into bed. However, it wasn't long before he was equally interested in getting to know her. Ashley was attracted to Chase, but she was cautious about risking her heart. I liked seeing them work together to entertain their guests, while at the same time getting to know each other. Once Ashley got past her shyness they had some pretty great interactions. It was fun to see Chase fight his feelings for a while, especially after his conversation with his friend. Ashley fought hers even harder, especially when some of the things she learned about him triggered her fears. I ached for Chase, who wanted to see where a relationship might go when Ashley freaked out over the idea. It took an eye-opening experience for Ashley to realize that there are no guarantees in life and that she should seize her chance to live and love again. I loved their big moment at the end and the "theme" for that day.
No More Bad Girls by Leslie Kelly
Scorched by a string of nightmare ex-girlfriends, Lex Rollins resolves to date only nice women...then is lured by siren Lia before midnight. But Lia is really Amelia, a good girl playing naughty for a night. Can a blind date as their real selves uncover their true desires?
I really liked this story. Lex is a good looking man who was quite the player. The women he dated tended to be on the bad girl side of the scale, especially the last one, who cleaned out his apartment of anything not nailed down. Out with his buddies on New Year's Eve, he took their accusations of having really bad taste in women to heart and made giving up bad girls his New Year's resolution. Too bad he stumbled into an especially intriguing one on his way out of the bar. Amelia is a nice girl who is sick of being every guy's friend and nobody's girlfriend. She was ready to push the limits of her comfort zone and let the woman she wished she was out to play.
I loved the chemistry between Lex and Amelia that was evident from the start. The banter between them on NYE was fantastic. I felt bad for both of them when midnight came because the end of that steamy kiss meant the beginning of Lex's resolution. Lex wanted to stay but stuck to his guns, and Amelia was left bewildered by his exit. Neither one could forget the other. Lex didn't expect to run into "Lia" a couple of weeks later and found himself just as intrigued. The circumstances of that encounter were pretty ironically hilarious, with Lex having just had to cancel the blind date set up by his friend with his future sister-in-law, and (unknown to him) Amelia being that blind date. This is followed by a pretty wild text conversation between Amelia and "Alexander." I loved the snappy humor and comebacks between them then and over the next couple of weeks before their date happens. I loved their reactions when they "met."
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Lex and Amelia. I loved seeing Lex embrace the good side of himself. His planning of their first date was amazing, and he was off and running from there. He was always aware of the fact that Amelia wasn't like his former girlfriends, and treated her with tenderness and respect. I loved seeing him fall deeper under her spell and his surprise at the thoughts he had. At the same time, Amelia grew more and more frustrated. Her feelings for him also grew stronger, and her attraction even more so, but she couldn't get Lex to take that final step. Then a blast from the past reminded Lex of everything that screams that he isn't good enough for a nice girl like Amelia. I ached for the pain he felt and for Amelia when he pushed her away. Help came from an unexpected source, and I loved watching Amelia bring out her bad girl as she fought for her man. The ending was perfect for them.
Just a Fling by Tanya Michaels
Shy, insecure Erin Cross makes two bold resolutions: (A) get on a plane, and (B) have a fling. In pursuit of Option A, she's mistaken for a key witness in a mob trial and whisked away by a sexy FBI agent Which just leaves Option B...
This was a quick, fast-paced romantic suspense. Erin has had some trouble getting back into the dating game, thanks to the hit her self-confidence took at the hands of her ex. She carried on a safe, long-distance phone flirtation with a coworker, until she was challenged by her best friend to do something about it. Erin made arrangements to meet him at a company convention in Mexico, requiring another resolution - getting on an airplane. She's been afraid of flying since a bad experience as a child, but took courage in hand and did it. All she had to do was meet the man at the pool bar and take it from there.
But not so fast. The man she thought was her date turned out to be an FBI agent there to meet up with a witness. Agent Foster thought that Erin was his witness - and so did the two thugs at the end of the bar. Thus began a somewhat madcap adventure as Foster and Erin do their best to escape and evade the men who want them both dead.
I liked the development of the relationship between Erin and Foster. This was his last case before leaving the FBI because of what he perceived as his failures. He was determined to keep her safe, and allowing himself to be distracted by his attraction wasn't in his game plan. She was just as attracted to him and quite willing to indulge in that attraction. I loved the scene at the gym when Foster was giving her self-defense lessons, and she couldn't remember why she was supposed to try to get away from him. I enjoyed how his admiration of her personally and in the way she handled herself gave her self-confidence such a boost. Foster also became more and more protective of Erin. It was great to see how her renewed confidence gave her the desire to help catch the bad guy. I was very impressed with her quick thinking when things didn't go according to plan, and her belief that Foster wouldn't let her down. But in the end, Foster's fears made him push Erin away in a heartwrenching scene. It was fun to watch him suffer for his stupidity, and I loved seeing his friend Morgan call him on it. I loved Foster's big moment at the end and the hint of vulnerability the peeked through his groveling speech to Erin.
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