Book Review: Taylor's Temptation by Suzanne Brockmann

Review of Kindle Edition, reissue of 2001 short contemporary romance

Taylor's Temptation (Tall, Dark & Dangerous, Book 10) by Suzanne Brockmann

Reading Level: Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 1, 2001
Publisher: Silhouette; First Edition
Pages: 256 pages
Source: Library
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

Bobby Taylor is a mammoth man, six-foot-six and built like a wrestler. He is handsome, with Native American ancestry, and a long, sexy braid. Though he is a fierce Navy SEAL, he is gentle and protective toward all women, but especially Colleen Skelly. Though she is a grown woman of 23, currently in law school and extremely strong and independent, Colleen's brother Wes, who is a fellow SEAL, the same age as Bobby, and Bobby's best friend for 15 years, refuses to see her as anything but a child. He is intensely protective of her, up to and including insisting to her--and to Bobby--over and over across the years that he never wants his sister to marry a SEAL, and Bobby shares Wes's opinion. Divorce rates are very high among their peers because SEALs are frequently, precipitously called from home for indefinite lengths of time, their work is extremely dangerous and classified, and to add insult on injury, they receive very low pay and can barely afford to support a family.

Unknown to Bobby, Colleen has been in love with him for years, and unknown to Colleen, Bobby has been in love with her since she was 19, but neither of them has ever made a move on the other because they have never been alone--they've only seen each other when Bobby has come with Wes to visit his family, with Wes always there as a physical wall between them. Until the day when Wes asks Bobby, who is recovering from bullet wounds in his back and leg received from saving Wes's life in a recent SEAL raid, to go to Boston and talk Colleen out of leading a civilian, orphan-saving, aid-worker mission into a war-torn, Third World country overrun with terrorists. Wes can't go himself to try and talk sense into Colleen because he's shipping out on a SEAL assignment, and he begs Bobby to go in his place.

The moment Bobby sees Colleen, he knows he's in trouble. Deep, deep trouble. Unlike Wes, Bobby has no problem viewing her as a woman--a very beautiful, voluptuous, desirable woman--even though Bobby has known her since she was a child. Not only that, without Wes around as a chaperone, Bobby is shocked when Colleen, for the first time ever, makes it blatantly clear she wants him. Bobby is terrified that, against Colleen's best interests, he won't be able to resist her. She is so intensely, impractically idealistic and so vibrantly alive, he feels jaded and ancient next to her, even though he is only ten years older. And he has no right to offer her anything but a casual affair, since he is not husband material, but a tawdry fling with the woman he loves would be a complete betrayal of both Colleen and his best friend, Wes.

This story has a very hot romance. Bobby is an extremely sympathetic hero, smart, sensitive, kind, protective--and a powerful, gifted warrior. I'm not wild about Colleen in that she often gets so carried away asserting her independence from her over-protective brother, and his proxy Bobby, that she, as the saying goes, "cuts off her nose to spite her face." She acts like a careless idiot, not doing the most basic things to protect her own safety. Other than that, though, the fire between her and Bobby is so strong, that it is easy to overlook her flaws.

As is expected in each Brockmann book based on SEALs, there is an exciting, action-packed climax in this book with, in this case, every one of the main SEALs in this series showing up in the story.

I was a big fan of Brockmann back in the days when she wrote short, contemporary romances for Harlequin's Silhouette Intimate Moments line, and I read every one of her Tall, Dark & Dangerous Series about Navy SEALs when they were first released. I have recently been rereading them in Kindle format, and so far all of them I've read have been well-formatted and edited, including this book.

It's not essential to read the 11 books in Brockmann's Tall, Dark and Dangerous series in order, but it greatly adds to one's enjoyment to do so. Each book sets up the book to follow it, introducing more intimately the SEAL who will be the hero of the next book. This is the order in which this series was first released:

1. Prince Joe, originally published June 1996
2. Forever Blue, originally published October 1996
3. Frisco's Kid, originally published January 1997
4. Everyday, Average Jones, originally published August 1998
5. Harvard's Education, originally published October 1998
6. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, originally published December 1998
7. The Admiral's Bride, originally published November 1999
8. Identity: Unknown, originally published January 2000
9. Get Lucky , originally published March 2000
10. Taylor's Temptation, originally published July 2001
11. Night Watch, originally published September 2003

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5

Hero: 5

Romance Plot: 5

Action-Adventure Plot: 5

Writing: 5

Overall: 5

Book Review: Send Me No Flowers by Trish Jensen

Fun, small-town, romantic comedy

Send Me No Flowers by Trish Jensen

Reading Level: Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Pages: 160 pages
Source: Net Galley
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry

When she was a child living in Daredevil, South Carolina, Jenny Creighton was overweight, and her peers taunted her with the cruel nickname, "Jumbo Jenny." Not only that, her mother was considered "loony." Rob Townsend was a few years older than her and very protective of the little girl, standing up for her against the bullies on many occasions until Jenny's family moved away when she was 10 years old. Decades have passed, but Jenny never forgot his kindness, and he was at least part of the reason she has returned to Daredevil and opened a flower shop.

Jenny has slimmed down greatly, not from dieting, but from loss of appetite due to grief at her husband's death. No one recognizes Jumbo Jenny in the lovely widow she is today--including Rob, who has grown into a handsome, sexy man and is the town's sheriff. Jenny doesn't rush to point out who she is, because she doesn't want to remind everyone about her unhappy past. She is enjoying too much the way everyone sees her now. In an attempt to help out Jenny's business, Rob begins ordering from her expensive flower arrangements to send to various women of Daredevil when he ends his temporary, romantic relationships with them. Rob is the local heartbreaker who has dated every attractive woman in town, and many outside of Daredevil. He never stays with anyone more than a few weeks, and women grimace and shy away from poor Jenny when she arrives to deliver Rob's flowers. The reactions are so dismayed, Jenny is worried that Rob's orders will actually harm her business. Then, suddenly, Rob starts acting as if he wants to date Jenny, and though Jenny is extremely attracted to him and respects his innate kindness, she has no desire to be just one more in a long line of his short-term lovers.

Jenny and Rob are attractive, sympathetic protagonists, and it's a wonderful ride seeing them progress from friendship to romance without rushing straight into bed. Each is vulnerable in her or his own way, and this creates believable and emotionally intense romantic conflict. There is also an important subplot about Rob's injured, ex-fireman brother that is very moving.

The entire theme of being misjudged for superficial reasons, and the journey to discover and reveal to each other their deepest, truest selves is extremely well done.

I very much enjoyed the colorful, Southern culture and inhabitants of small-town Daredevil. All of the subcharacters are vividly drawn and completely three-dimensional, especially Rob's wonderful brother, yet they never upstage the appealing protagonists.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 4

Hero: 4

Romantic Comedy Plot: 4

Writing: 4

Overall: 4