Talk Me Down (Tumble Creek, #1) in Alpha Heroes & Spitfire Heroines

May 21, 2009 ♡Karlyn P♡ rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2009, steam-hot, dnf

DNF. I got halfway and called it quits. I wanted to like this one, but it read too much like a run-of-the-mill HQN Blaze(ish) with very little story and whole lot of sex starting in the first few chapters. Now typically I love a romances with a lot of good sex, but for me I need to get to know the characters and care about them. I also need a compelling story to glue it all together, not some shallow mystery with an obvious ending. I didn't get any of that in this story.

In all fairness I believ ...more

34 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2009 Auntee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-romance, 2009_reads

Add me to the list of fans of Victoria Dahl's extremely sexy, and often hilarious romance, Talk Me Down. This book was packed with sexual tension, was blessed with witty dialogue, had some laugh out loud moments, and even had an element of suspense thrown it. I was totally captivated by it, so much so that I had a hard time putting it down.

Molly Jennings writes erotic romance, is quite successful at it, but no one knows about it. Not her family or friends. No one but her editor. It's her little Add me to the list of fans of Victoria Dahl's extremely sexy, and often hilarious romance, Talk Me Down. This book was packed with sexual tension, was blessed with witty dialogue, had some laugh out loud moments, and even had an element of suspense thrown it. I was totally captivated by it, so much so that I had a hard time putting it down.

Molly Jennings writes erotic romance, is quite successful at it, but no one knows about it. Not her family or friends. No one but her editor. It's her little secret, and she'd like to keep it that way. When her writing inspiration runs dry, she decides to leave Denver and her manipulative ex and move back to her tiny hometown of Tumble Creek, Colorado (where everybody knows their neighbor's business), and into the house that her late aunt left her. And if she happens to find her muse there...

When Molly spots former high school hunk and now Chief of Police hunk Ben Lawson at the grocery store--hello--all of a sudden Molly's inspiration is back on track. Ben looks even better than he did ten years ago, and looking at him reminds her of the last time she saw him, when she inadvertantly walked in on him and his girlfriend...

Ben has always liked Molly, even though she is his best friend's little sister. And even though it's clear that Molly is very interested (flirting and teasing him), he's not sure it would be wise to pursue a relationship with her. After a sex scandal involving his father nearly destroyed his family when Ben was a teen, Ben has been sensitive to gossip and worries a lot about what other people think. He has a reputation to uphold as the Chief of Police, and doesn't even date women from the same town. But man, Molly sure is tempting, and he's no saint. Just how long can he be expected to hold out?

Well, not long, as it turns out. At first, Molly is interested in just using him for sex, while Ben is looking for a more meaningful relationship. Molly's got issues with her family, feeling she never 'measured up' in her parents eyes and can't compare to her more successful brother. She has trouble opening up and often hides behind jokes and outrageous behavior. But Ben knows and understands the real Molly, and that's a dangerous thing. If she falls for him, what will happen when he finds out her big secret?

When a stalker threatens Molly, the romance between Ben and Molly heats up. All Ben's naturally protective instincts kick in, and it makes Molly very aware of her growing feelings for Ben. She realizes their relationship will hit a dead end though if she doesn't reveal her secret profession to Ben, and also tell the truth about why her ex stills thinks he's her boyfriend. Can she risk rejection and tell Ben the truth?

This was one hot, yet funny read. Molly was adorable, although at times a little flighty and immature, but boy, she had some very witty dialogue. There were a few good laughs in every chapter of the book. And Ben--what a guy. I loved how he blushed over some of Molly's comments, and he was just an all around good guy. He may have been quiet and reserved in public, but when Molly got him in the bedroom, he certainly wasn't! They had some pretty racey bedroom (and pick-up truck) scenes! They made a terrific couple, even though I wished Molly would trust him enough to reveal her profession. It was often very funny whenever Ben was thinking to himself, trying to figure out what line of work Molly was in. That girl drove the poor guy crazy! I thought the suspense aspect of the book played out very well--I mean, I thought I knew who the stalker was, but then the author threw in a nice little twist. Well done, and I didn't see it coming.

If you're in the mood for a sexy, romantic, and very funny read, with an adorable H/H,and a hint of suspense, give this book a try. This has to be one of the best contemporary romances I've read in a while, and I look forward to more books by this talented author. 5 well-earned stars!

...more

28 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2009 jenjn79 rated it really liked it

Shelves: info-full, reviewed, genre-romance-contemporary, stars-4, 2009, published-2009, series-tumble-creek

The only reason I bought this book was because I was wandering around Borders, saw it, and remembered that a bunch of my GR friends had rated it highly. So I thought I'd give it a try. And it was a good pick-up - a surprisingly steamy, funny contemporary romance.

Talk Me Down is about Molly Jennings, an erotic romance writer, who moves back to her small hometown of Tumble Creek after a bad break-up with an boyfriend who has possibly turned into a delusional stalker. The experience left her unable The only reason I bought this book was because I was wandering around Borders, saw it, and remembered that a bunch of my GR friends had rated it highly. So I thought I'd give it a try. And it was a good pick-up - a surprisingly steamy, funny contemporary romance.

Talk Me Down is about Molly Jennings, an erotic romance writer, who moves back to her small hometown of Tumble Creek after a bad break-up with an boyfriend who has possibly turned into a delusional stalker. The experience left her unable to write and she hopes moving back home, and seeing sexy Ben Lawson - her crush from her teenage years - will inspire her to write again. And she's right. One look at Ben and her juices are flowing - metaphorically and literally. Ben resists her flirtatious advances at first. He has no intention of getting involved in a steamy affair that would most likely end in uncomfortable times after and make him the focus of local gossip (something he detests after his father's exploits). But the heat between them is too much for Ben to resist. The ensuing problem though is that Ben wants more from Molly and she keeps treating him like a fling. Because Molly has secrets. No one knows what she does for a living and she's afraid to tell Ben, the object of her first novella. Things get dicey when someone starts stalking Molly. Still, Molly is too scared to tell Ben, and Ben is tired of being lied to.

This was almost a 5-star read for me. The one thing that kept me from absolutely loving it was that I didn't entirely like Molly. Not that I disliked her, but the way she treated Ben annoyed me. It was like he was just a sex object to her. She would purposely seduce him any time he got determined to try and talk to her and the way she refused to tell him anything about herself at times just ruined the whole bond that developed between them. Plus, I wished they'd had a big talk at the end to resolve the issues between them. Their HEA felt a little superficial for me. So those things kept this book from reaching 5-star status.

But it was a fun book to read. It's light-hearted and funny at times, but not so much that it's a fluff read. The sex was super hot, which I wasn't expecting. And I just loved the character of Ben. He was one of those genuine good guys that's enjoyable to read about. I just wished Molly had treated him a little better.

The plot had some nice surprises to it. I was semi-surprised when a certain thing happened. It was a nice twist. The stalker thing isn't all that original, but Dahl made the story interesting and readable.

I'll definitely be looking for the follow-up to this book, Start Me Up which will feature Molly's brother Quinn and her friend Lori.

WARNING, this books contains: mildly explicit sex and some explicit language ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2009 MelissaB rated it really liked it

Shelves: hot-cop-hero, 2009-reads, contemporary-romance

I was annoyed with the heroine for not telling the COP hero about the guy stalking her and about keeping her occupation secret when she supposedly was not ashamed of it. She seemed very selfish about those things and I didn't like how she tried so hard to make everything only about the physical because I didn't get the sense that she had real reason for that except for the author to further the plotlines. The star rating got bumped up from a three because the ending was pretty good and because B ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Julie (jjmachshev) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009-reads

A lot hot, a lot humorous, and just a whole lot of fun! "Talk Me Down" by Victoria Dahl is the story of a woman who moves back to her tiny hometown to escape from a determined, but fairly harmless stalker; only to run into the boy-turned-man who fueled the fantasies that turned her into a best-selling erotica author.

She keeps her secrets to avoid disappointment. He hates secrets and scandal. She's a hot-selling erotica author. He's a small-town sheriff. They're both having a hard time keeping t ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2009 librarygirl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemp-romance

I keep going back and forth with my star rating. I loved this book but got tired of Molly about half way through. She was hilarious but her secrecy and stubborness got old fast. Other than that, I loved it! It was a fast, funny read and Ben was awesome!

5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2008 Jenny Rebecca rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, romance-novels, super-steamy

I love Victoria Dahl's contemporary as much as I love her historical which is unusal. This book made me laugh out loud every ten pages or so and smile every 5. I enjoyed both of the main characters and the plot kept me interested throughout. A very fun good read.
............................................................

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2008 ChloeLeeNH rated it it was amazing

Very cute... enough mystery to keep it interesting if you aren't interested in the hot chemistry between these two LOL... ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2009 Colleen rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary-romance, own-book, 2009

Let me start by saying I did like this book, but what stopped me from giving it more than 3 stars was Molly. She was just so flighty and immature at times that it got on my nerves. I loved the character of Ben though - how he put up with Molly, I have no clue. Their romance was nice, but the whole stalker thing was cheesy. It could have been done so much better.

Like · see review

Mar 19, 2010 Rochelle rated it liked it

Shelves: chick-lit, man-in-uniform, read-2012, whew

I didn't feel there was that much depth to Molly. She keeps her secrets to avoid from being disappointed, but the fact that she could be so indiscreet with her relationship with the chief of police at times (not in relation to her writing) and sometimes acted quite immature.
The stalker part was interesting ...more

1 like · Like · see review