Dance of Seduction in Alpha Heroes & Spitfire Heroines

May 23, 2009 Auntee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009_reads, contemporary-romance

This was a pretty quick, easy read, with a couple of hot moments in it. But nothing about it was all that compelling to me--it was just okay. I don't know if it was the fact that there wasn't enough plot for me, the characters didn't really 'grab' me, or a combination of the two. Maybe my expectations were too high, but all I know is that this one didn't particularly wow me, like most of Elle Kennedy's books.

Twenty-four year old Ellie's a ballerina, with a fiancee and a very bright future ahead This was a pretty quick, easy read, with a couple of hot moments in it. But nothing about it was all that compelling to me--it was just okay. I don't know if it was the fact that there wasn't enough plot for me, the characters didn't really 'grab' me, or a combination of the two. Maybe my expectations were too high, but all I know is that this one didn't particularly wow me, like most of Elle Kennedy's books.

Twenty-four year old Ellie's a ballerina, with a fiancee and a very bright future ahead of her. And then one tragic day, her world falls apart, and she loses everything that's important to her: her promising career, her fiancee, and (she thinks) her future happiness. All her plans are out the window. So she takes off from her San Francisco home and an over-protective older brother, and starts working as a dancehall dancer at her best friend's mother's club in a tiny, seaside town just north of Tijuana.

Josh, her over-protective lawyer brother who practically raised Ellie when their parents died 15 years ago, is desperate to find her and bring her home to San Francisco where she belongs. So he enlists the aid of his best friend since high school, professional bodyguard Luke Russell, to find Ellie. Luke tracks her to the little bar/nightclub and can't believe his eyes when he sees little miss ballerina Ellie, swinging her hips on stage in a skimpy costume to a jazzy beat. Is that hot little number...Ellie?

So, despite being turned on by Ellie's seductive appearance, Luke keeps reminding himself "that's Josh's little sister", and that he's here to take her home, not to seduce her.

Well, Ellie's had a crush on sexy Luke for a long time, but that's all it's ever been since with his job, he's never around long enough for anything to happen. And she knows he thinks of her only as his friend's "little sister". But Ellie senses there could be more, she's seen him covertly watching her, and since Luke declares he's not leaving town without her, she comes up with a plan. She knows that if she comes on to him, she could scare him off and he'd go home. But she doesn't figure that Luke will call her bluff...

The rest of the book has Ellie and Luke playing seductive games, and I wasn't quite sure if Ellie was really serious about her feelings for Luke. One minute it looked like she was trying to scare him away, the next minute it was like she couldn't wait to jump his bones. Actually, they both acted that way. I'm not sure that Ellie knew what she wanted at all. She was all mixed up with what had happened to her, and I think she really needed to spend some time and 'find herself' and figure out what she wanted out of life.

As for Luke, he was dealing with some problems too. He had a bad breakup with a girlfriend that made him a bit mistrustful of having a relationship and he also had some problems with his widowed father. Having Ellie in his life was probably a good thing for him, because she challenged him and forced him to think about the direction that his own life was taking. When they did finally 'get together' (it was predictably hot), it forced them to lay their cards on the table and get their feelings out in the open.

What annoyed me a bit about this one was the way her older brother treated her. I realize that he practically raised her from the time he was 15 and she was 9, but he acted like he was her father and she was a sixteen year old without a brain in her head. At one point, he managed to put a $10 daily limit on her bank account! She was a woman and should have acted like one, instead of running off like a flighty teenager. Ellie had a couple of huge secrets that she didn't bother to tell anybody, and I felt that if she just spilled the beans to her brother and let him (or someone else) help her deal with it, this all could have been avoided. But then there wouldn't be a book, would there?:)

One other thing disappointed me. The author teases us with a potential relationship between 30 year old Josh, and Ellie's boss and friend, 44 year old Viv. Apparently Viv and Josh had first met 4 years ago, and then 2 years later at Ellie's engagement party they shared a lusty kiss. Then Josh comes to town to bring Ellie home and tries to start up a relationship with Viv. They have a couple of hot moments with Viv reluctant and embarrassed to start up anything with a younger guy, and just as it looks like Josh's making headway, the book ends. I think this book could have used a few more chapters, because I sure would like to see where that relationship was headed.

So, not the best of Elle Kennedy, but not all that bad either. Perhaps with a little more development I would have bumped it up a half star. Right now I'd give it...3 1/2 to 4 stars. ...more

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