What I Did On My Summer Vacation: The Guy Diet / Light My Fire / No Reservations

by Thea Devine, Debbi Rawlins, Samantha Hunter

The mercury's soaring and so are the body temperatures of three lucky couples:
The Guy Diet by Thea Devine
Disillusioned food columnist Lo Cavallero only wants her men "lite." But what will happen when dishy newsman Jed Costigan tries to convince her that he's more than just a scrumptious morsel?

Light My Fire by Debbi Rawlins

Jordan Samms has a mountain to climb led by supersexy wilderness guide Zach Wilde. Before long, they're lighting each other's fire every night. But will the flames stay smokin' hot or blaze out of control!

No Reservations by Samantha Hunter

Edie Stevens is shocked when uberhottie property owner Joel Roberts appears at her vacation cottage because of a mix-up with the dates. Seems they'll steer clear of one another...yeah, but how will they handle the sizzling chemistry?

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Blaze, Harlequin, Anthologies, Contemporary

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Thea Devine is the author of eighteen historical romances and four novellas, including her contributions to the Brava anthologies Captivated, Fascinated, and, most recently, All Through the Night. Devine lives with her husband of 35 years in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Jo Reads Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing summer anthology
2 stars

THE GUY DIET by Thea Devine
Food columnist Lo Cavallera has decided that it's time to give up men. Unfortunately newspaper editor Jed Costigan has plans to change her mind.

Written in first person and also third person, this is a terribly written, pretentious and cringe-worthy story with a shallow, distasteful heroine and a lackluster hero. It wasn't hot - just juvenile and crude. Embarrassingly bad.


LIGHT MY FIRE by Debbi Rawlins
Marketing guru Jordan Samms has been ordered to take a break from her hectic life. She decides to take a wilderness vacation where hunky tour guide Zach Wilde might just take her mind off her work.

A pretty stereotypical story of high flying city girl stuck in the wilderness. While being fairly well written - unfortunately the heroine was sarcastic, spoiled and deserved a good slap of reality. The hero could do so much better which isn't ideal in a romance.


NO RESERVATIONS by Samantha Hunter
Edie Stevens is shocked when she gets to her holiday cottage by the ocean only to find it occupied by gorgeous Joel Roberts because of a mix-up with the dates. They plan to steer clear of each other but they didn't count on their sizzling chemistry.

It isn't the most interesting story I have ever read but this was still a sweet, enjoyable tale with likeable characters and a good, solid romance. Easily the best story of the bunch.


This is supposed to be an anthology of stories that are hot and perfect for summertime reading. Unfortunately, the first two stories are mind-numbingly bad and despite the sweet warmth of Samantha Hunter's tale, it just isn't good enough to make this book one I would recommend. There are much better anthologies out there that I think would be a more satisfying read. 2 stars.

[Delacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three decent and entertaining short stories.

The Guy Diet: The writing style of this story threw me off several times. While there was some amusing phrasing, the style led to a detachment while reading. The conflict was also kind of weird and annoying, and I felt that too much time was spent on the roommate than on the romance. Maybe this type of story would have done better in a little longer format to flesh out the actual relationship more. 2 Stars.

Light my Fire: A cute and quick romance. It had a little bit of everything: humour, tension, flirting, spicy and easy to resolve conflict. The pacing was good and story felt developed enough despite being a short story. 3.5 stars

No Reservations: A nice with a little romance with some heat. Good character and romance development in the page constraints. 4 stars.

[Netanella · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Guy Diet" by Thea Divine - Can I give a book "O" stars?

I couldn't like this story less if I tried. The first-person narrative of the New Yorker who writes a column called the "The Grab and Go Gourmet" was a complete turn off. And I like first-person narratives, if I can stomach the character narrating. This was awful. As was the image that the title of her column brought to mind, that of guys adjusting their crotches in public. Even the narrator's name, "Lo", brought to mind images of take-out Chinese food. I had to skip whole passages of this drivel in the hopes it would improve. Alas, it did not.

"Light My Fire" by Debbi Rawlins - 2.5 stars

A vast improvement upon the first story, this is a sweet, short story about a driven advertising exec whole is forced on a week-long vacation on an "extreme camping" trip and ends up falling for the successful owner of sports company in his vacation guise of tour guide. The characters are likable, and there's a memorable waterfall scene that's a lot of fun. After all, if you're going to have action in the wilderness, waterfalls are a necessity. I so buy into that.

"No Reservations" by Samantha Hunter 3 stars

An accountant from Ohio accidentally crashses the pad of a newly divorced lawyer in Cape Cod. They have a fling a discover a love for middle-aged, rebound sex. Actually kind of nice.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. The first story felt like a record on repeat, while the third story's dialogue had me rolling my eyes. The second story wasn't bad, and parts were blazin', which is why I gave it 2 stars.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Contains 3 stories and I found the third to be the best. Very sexy and hot.

[Xee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars .
Fun casual book, in the HB style. Def a good palate cleanser and flavour changer.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

HBZ #405