Review of Most Eligible Bachelor

Here’s a confession that I am sure every author can relate with. I love my stories and my characters, and I often find myself flipping to pages just to re-live a scene in the book (admit it, authors. I’m not the loca one in the room). Anyway, that said, I always get a little lump in my throat when I see a new review of my books. Is it good? Is it bad? Terrible? … Despite the anxiety, it is always good to know people are reading my stories, and a positive review is a definite day-maker.

So it is my pleasure to share this review of Most Eligible Bachelor by Clea as part of the Book Wenches’  list of June reviews. It’s part of a full list of reviews, so I’ve decided to post mine here. (I’ll provide a link to the page at the end of the post)

Here goes:

Rating: 4.25

Reviewed by: Clea

Chantelle Sah is an up-and-coming journalist who is working hard to become a success at her magazine, and she knows that her story on Lord McKenzie will be the article that will get her the recognition she deserves. She just has to keep her cool, be professional and get him to open up and reveal things that he wouldn’t normally tell a reporter. It shouldn’t be too hard, but upon meeting Lord, she realizes that he is smart and very guarded and sexy as hell. She had no intention of having sex with him, much less falling for him, but it just happened. And it scares her to death. She hasn’t let herself even consider having a fling, much less a relationship, since her fiancé died, and she found out that he had been cheating on her before that. She just can’t handle heartbreak.

Lord McKenzie is a very powerful man in his community, and people respect that, but most people are only interested in his love life. He doesn’t care what people think, so he doesn’t dispute his developing reputation as a playboy because it doesn’t matter to him. He begins to regret his neglecting of his reputation when it begins to affect his family’s business, and he really regrets it when he meets Chantelle and is instantly attracted to her. He understands his playboy image is a bit of a hindrance, but as he tries to prove himself to Chantelle, he doesn’t understand why she keeps pulling away from him.

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Chantelle and Lord are both very sensitive people with big hearts. Their intimate circle of family and friends are of the utmost importance to them. They are both very protective of their hearts and lives, so they have a hard time letting people in for fear of being hurt. This concern seemed to make them kindred spirits, if only they could let their guards down enough to realize it. The story is told from both of their perspectives, and I liked that, because it develops the characters and story line better when you are allowed a peak into the hearts and minds of those involved in the relationship.

The immediate attraction between these two characters is an attention grabber; it sucks you right into their relationship and makes you root for them right away. Their first encounter is very carnal and so full of reckless passion that, for a brief moment, I was sad that I haven’t experienced that kind of unexpected raw need for something in my life. It was a well-written scene, in which nothing mattered except being with each other for that moment in time, and consequences don’t play into until afterwards.

At the beginning of the book, I was too distracted by the names of many of the characters and I had a hard time trying to figure out where the in the world these people lived. It took me until I was about two thirds of the way through the book before I figured it out, and then I was able to focus better. Overall, I would have to say that is my only real complaint about the book.

Most Eligible Bachelor is a really good story with very likable characters, who draw you in and make you care for and admire them on a multitude of levels. It’s like reading a story about two old friends that you want to see happy, and you know they will be perfect together. It just warms your heart.

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Thank you, Clea and Book Wenches for reading my novel and for such a wonderful review!

For you, readers, if you’re looking for some books to add to your TBR list, check out the full list of the Book Wenches’ June 2012 reviews.

Have a wonderful day.