Strapless

by Leigh Riker

With only 207 more shopping days until thirty Darcie Elizabeth Baseter is searching for . . . an office with a door on it, a great apartment in Manhattan and a man who's interested in commitment. Instead, she's been spending her days battling her co-workers at Wunderthings Lingerie International and her nights trying to avoid her grandmother's possessed cat. And though she gets a great employee discount, she hasn't needed it since . . . Well it's been a while. Even her grandmother has a more active social life. So when a chance to go to Sydney to open up a new lingerie store lands in Darcie's lap, she jumps at it.

Australia is incredible, and so is Dylan Rafferty the Aussie sheep rancher she falls into bed with. But now that she's met a man capable of giving her multiple orgasms and multiple laughs, Darcie bristles at his fantasy of her barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen, no less. Should she marry him, or send him back to the set of The Donna Reed Show?

Caught between romance and reality, Darcie vows to define life, and happiness, her own way -- even if that means risking it all and going strapless!

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Australia, Contemporary

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Leigh Riker can't imagine anything better than having a good romance novel to read--unless it is to write one! When not writing or thinking about writing, this award-winning author also likes to garden, play the piano, travel and try to learn Spanish. At home in the Southwest with her husband/hero, she is at work (of course) on a new novel.

Please visit her at leighriker.com, on FaceBook at LeighRikerBooks, or on Twitter @lbrwriter.

Reviews

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story with good characters.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, slightly addicting. Wish i was sitting on a beach reading this.

[Mauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo romanzo, un autentico chick-lit al 100% è stato davvero una gradevole sorpresa per trascorrere un rilassante pomeriggio. Non so davvero come ringraziare la persona con cui ho fatto lo scambio per avermelo fatto scoprire se non sperando che il mio libro le provochi la medesima mia gioia.
Forse la storia non sarà delle più originali, forse i cliché tipici del genere ci sono tutti in grande quantità, ma è davvero un romanzo delizioso, fresco, interessante e ricco di umorismo e divertimento.
L'autrice ha racconato con leggerezza una storia semplice e piacevole senza avere le pretese di aver partorito chissà che capolavoro letterario come, invece, credono di aver fatto molte altre scrittrici e questo è ammirevole; ha descritto il frenetico mondo del lavoro esattamente per quello che è, non dilungandosi in dettagli noiosi, ma cogliendo lo spirito "da ufficio" e quello "da trasferta", per non parlare del migliore di tutti, lo spirito da "evento imminente", evento che ti assorbe e non ti molla mai con situazioni e scene improbabilmente ridicole addirittura nella realtà, figuriamoci come diventano in un libro scritto con ironia!
Alcune parti mi sono risultate un po' indigeste, ad esempio il classico mentire a se stessi dell'eroina che a metà libro avrebbe già dovuto darsi una svegliata, poi anche la nonna ottantenne un po' troppo free-spirit mi è risultata indigesta, sarà che sono radicata ai vecchi valori della nonna in sedia a dondolo con lo scialle come Dylan...
Il fatto che lui sia troglodita in fatto di emancipazione femminile è fin troppo calcato, ma abbastanza veritiero in merito alla categoria che rappresenta, ottimo invece l'aver ritratto una donna che, non ha l'imperativo biologico di riprodursi: hurra! Fate una statua all'autrice anche perchè di solito appena conosciuto l'uomo dei sogni l'eroina rimane prontamente incinta e se anche la cosa mi può star bene in un romance storico, in quelli di ambientazione contemporanea la cosa mi sembra un tantino poco probabile, naturalmente a meno che non sia necessario al fine della narrazione.
Cosa mi è piaciuto è che la nostra Darcie non dice NO categoricamente, ma un "forse più avanti" decisamente più vicino alle donne moderne. La prima autrice coerente e realistica che incontro nel genere.
Ottimo quadretto, interessante e particolare l'ambientazione australiana e le caratteristiche del luogo, insomma carino, non l'eccelso ma la categoria del chick-lit non pretende di esserlo, solo di assomigliare a favole moderne con attinenza alla realtà e questo c'è riuscito, mi ha davvero fatto sognare!

[Candice Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though i enjoyed the main character she was just someone i was really unable to connect with. She at times had me wanting more and had me liking her best friend more someone who had more in common with on the main character to be a little bit lazy when it came to her job and a bit of a whiner when it came to men she was allowed to do things that they were doing but if it was done to her come off like she wasn't angry but she was angry. Her actions provided that. With that said i did like the backdrop of location (Newyork, Australia) and the author finding a way to connect them and describe them.

[Courtney Payne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. I thought the characters (especially then main) to be dull and weak. I thought the plot to be boring. The ending was predictable, which would have been okay as romance novels often end predictably, but I didn't feel as though all the loose ends were wrapped up for the main character.

[Jennifer Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've owned this book for several years and like to reread it every now and then. Taking chances is good and you never know where your life will end up.

[Laurent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un roman de midinette qui ne vaut pas mieux que son titre !

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! A little fantasy, a little romance, and a lot of "real life" situations! Great read

[Lakeisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I loved the main character Darcie. Her story took my emotions on one heck of a ride. I could see myself in her shoes. Now I want to go to Australia. Great writing!

[Payton Millis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept waiting for the protagonist to grow and move on from these men that she keeps defining her life by but she never does. It was disappointing to see her only be happy when she as with a man.

[Michaela Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh…Darcie’s relationship with her grandma is weird. Dylan is a toxic man. Everyone sucks here.

[Marsha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another entry in the realm of sexual romances, this particular specimen is one that had me grinding my teeth from beginning to end. A horny milquetoast of a woman, Darcie Elizabeth Baxter (it’s revealing that her first two names are taken from one of literature’s most contentious couples) is good at her job but lousy at confrontations. She lets another co-worker steal her ideas and allows her on-again, off-again narcissistic adulterous lover to throw his boorishness all over her in bed.

When she supposedly finds true love from a bar pick-up, her hot new Aussie lover proves no less of a jerk. Oh, Dylan Rafferty is charming, sexy, handsome, strong, powerful, a demon in the sack, etc., etc., etc. He’s also filled with alarming antediluvian ideas about men and women that would make the Lord of Greystoke blush with embarrassment. When he bleats on about how he doesn’t want his women to work, I want to slap him until his eyes cross in his head.

Darcie firmly puts her foot down; she’s not about to throw up career and home in the United States to bunk down with a sheep farmer Down Under, especially one who subscribes to keeping the Sheilas barefoot and pregnant. But, typical of such heroines, all her brains ooze out of her vagina whenever he starts taking off his shirt.

The worst thing is that, even though she makes a success of her financial venture, nothing is truly settled between them. Dylan shows up again for one last shag and all talk is shelved while they throw off their knickers and get down to business.

This novel just shoves the message down your throat that, once again, women are nothing without a man, that we’re suited for nothing more important than staying home and minding the kiddies, that when everybody else around you is pairing up (even an aged grandmother in her eighties is shown kicking up her heels with a man half her age), there must be something wrong with you if you can’t land a mate. I was happy to finish with this; except for its amusing Ozspeak (complete with American translations sprinkled throughout) this book was a thudding waste of time.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a light, easy read about a woman’s adventures in Australia. We’re talking about a young, single world traveler working in the lingerie industry - I was picturing something akin to “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." As a frequent international traveler who has always wanted to go down under myself, I thought I would devour this book in just a few hours, but I was sorrily mistaken. The painfully push-over protagonist idly lets her coworkers steal credit for her work, carries on an affair with a pig of a man who treats her like crap and is obviously married, and trades awkward sex stories with her grandmother in the first couple of chapters. By page 45, I had come to the conclusion the protagonist was weird and annoying and had no further interest in reading her story.

[Trudy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darcie Elizabeth Baxter works for a underwear company that is expanding into markets in Australia. She goes there for a 2 week fact finding trip with her boss and finds Dylan Rafferty, Aussie Cowboy. Throw in drama with a boyfriend, a sister who is dying to come to NYC from Cincinatti, a sex addicted grandmother, a back stabbing coworker, a friend going through the marriage trials after her first baby, and an upstairs neighbor that is prone to break ins and you have a pretty fun read... I would call it a beach read for sure...

Likeable characters... actually ones that I would be interested in reading follow up books about.

[Jen Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read another book from this press that was a "romance" i guess, and it was cute and fun, and a quick read. I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would give this a try...! I was wrong... this one was has no nuance, poor dialogue, and a flat and predictable plotline. I stopped halfway through because I don't care about what happened to the main character.

[Kourtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have liked this book more if I read it in my twenties. Instead I found it dull and found myself skipping parts just to get to the end. Very frustrating to read about a woman who can't be happy without a man.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like this at all. Just read it for a light read on my trip to Connecticut and back. Light read would be an understatement. There was no real point to the whole book except the usual, boy & girl get together in the end, which you knew about 15 pages into the book

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started this book, but its about a 29year old (209 days away for 30)looking for the right job, man, and apt in NYC....sounds like me right now. Yet she moves to australia. I have 5 months left, this could be me!
Book was cute, think I've almost had my fill of girly books now.

[Senator · Rating 1 out of 5]

Classic chick-lit, but the dialogue wasn’t strong enough to keep me interested.
I implore you, DO NOT read this book! ...please read the full review at: http://tipsyreader.com/books/reviews/...

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick, fun read. Pretty racy but a good summer book to enjoy that's chick lit. without being anti-feminist...in my opinion.

[Emily]

Chick Lit set in Sydney, Australia. I plan to read it only because of the Sydney part -- the most glorious city in the world. The reviews don't look promising, so I plan to simply reminisce :)

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun girly summer read.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that this book was from the point of view of multiple women. Rather graphic at times it was all in all just a basic boy meets girl love story that was occasionally set in Austrailia.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! A little fantasy, a little romance, and a lot of "real life" situations! Great read

[Megan Mahoney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book - bought it in a bookstore in Brisbane and read it all on the beach. The perfect Aussie love story.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read. The main character was a dingbat acting all feminist while really just being self-obsessed. The grandma and love interest are fun characters.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute romantic story..

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

chicklit, goes to DZ

[Jennifer March · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute, a nice light read for the summer. You can't help but love Darcie and all of her men-drama.

[Laura Morse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't connect strongly with any of the characters, found it a bit formulaic. But a bit of fluff isn't going to hurt.