by Diane Alberts
Synopsis
Samantha Taylor turned her back on her wealthy family to focus on social work. Those who know her think she’s the heart of kindness. Those who know her really well know she’s in a never-ending battle to make up for the harm her family’s companies inflict on the world. Which is how she finds herself at a charity bachelor auction of all places.
But oops, she was supposed to bid on her bff’s brother as a favor and accidentally bid on the wrong guy. Sue her for not being able to tell one stick-in-the-mud CEO from another.
Backstage, she goes to tell him not to worry about having to go through with a date or anything, but the oafish billionaire cuts her off dismissively. Looks her up and down, hands her a card with his assistant’s contact details, and reminds her that sex is definitely off the table.
Oh, she’ll call the assistant all right and have her make sure he wears jeans and comfortable shoes and to pick her up at seven a.m. The only “hammering” this guy is going to be doing is at Habitat for Humanity.
Too bad he turns out to be nothing like she expected.
This is the first work I read by Diane Alberts and it will not be the last. Granted, if you are the kind of reader that cannot CANNOT suspend some disbelief, first of all, why are you reading romance, and two, get over it. The truth is that no, it's not a good idea to do A LOT of the things Sam lets herself do in this story, but you gotta put all that to the side and really pay attention to what the story is saying.
This story was sexy. SEXY. Steamy. Lovely. There is no denying any of that, but what I enjoyed the most was Alberts' way of creating flaws in her characters - real flaws. The hesitation and downright inability to trust, and the stubbornness to the point of OCD-ness of wanting to remain in control of EVERYTHING. These are real honest-to-heaven flaws that humans have to live with and Alberts' allows her characters to have them (and so much more, really). The absolute cherry on top for me (aka my FAVORITE THING) was *SPOILER OMG DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU* that Taylor was able to throw caution to the wind with Sam and be able to live in the moment instead of having every moment planned and counted for. He was able to BE PRESENT and strive towards having what he wants instead of believing he doesn't love or need love or want love. It was truly a wonderful transformation to read about. Yes, I liked Sam to an extent, but Taylor was the character I most enjoyed and found myself being so proud of.
Read this and enjoy my dear readers.