TEST
I’ve read four books by Naima Simone. Both of the non-Harlequins were excellent. Both Harlequins… to put it politely, they needed help. Harlequin, what are you doing to this talented lady?
Joshua Lowell’s father committed financial fraud, and Josh abandoned his art career to dedicate himself to finance and making restitution. Heaven help me, I finished the book this afternoon, and I had to look up the heroine’s name – I thought it was Sarah or Sonia, but it turns out to be Sophie. Anyway, she’s a reporter writing about the anniversary of Josh’s father’s scandal, so her panty-melting lust for Josh is decidedly inconvenient.
I have rarely read a worse case of insta-lust. Sophie’s piece on Josh comes out without his input, because he never talks to reporters, and he’s very unhappy about it. So clearly, Josh’s next step is to invite Sophie to be embedded with his company. I don’t know. I don’t get it. And Sophie tells him she can’t believe he’d abandon his daughter, whose existence is news to Josh, but she also won’t tell him anything about her sources, which kinda invalidates her righteous outrage at his separation from his child. And what happens when Josh finds her? I don’t know! It’s not in this book!
My review of Ruthless Pride is so late because I had zero interest in finishing it, even before the we’ll only have sex once to get it out of our system scene, neatly followed by the I will totally take the word of this unreliable person so I can push you away scene, followed by the holy smokes, I just realized I loved you all along, and now must make a Big Public Gesture to win you back scene.
Books which are formulaic and forgettable but not offensive usually fall into the C range for me. I gave credit because Naima Simone is a competent prose stylist (although this book does have overuse of dialogue tags).
I’m not going to give up on Naima Simone, but I’m definitely giving up on her books published through Harlequin.
Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent bookstore
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Grade: C
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 27/06/20
Publication Date: 05/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
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Oof, never a good sign when you can’t remember the heroine’s last name.
Even worse when you can’t remember her first name!
“Harlequin, what are you doing to this talented lady?” Shoving her into an industry standard box, no doubt. I’ve only read one Harlequin Desire so far, Temporary Wife Temptation. I enjoyed it, but it suffered from the same problems you mention here: insta-lust, company entanglements, a daughter that might be separated, hero and heroine who won’t/can’t admit they’re in love with each other. I have a feeling the whole Harlequin Desire line ticks all those boxes in one form or another.