Pearl's World of Romance - Reviews with a Passion: Catch a Mate

March 9, 2008

Catch a Mate - Gena Showalter

6:31 PM |

Jillian Greene is always getting caught in the act—it's her job! Working at Catch A Mate, Jillian gets paid by suspicious wives to smile, flirt and prove that no man can be trusted around the opposite sex. Her only ground rule? She never gets physical. Until a heart-stoppingly gorgeous male walks in…

Marcus Brody has just been hired as bait to test female fidelity. But the last thing Jillian needs is a partner…especially an infuriating, irresistible man who's got her fantasizing about tearing off his clothes.

Can a savvy modern woman find happiness with the most tempting man she's ever known? Is there such a thing as a totally monogamous male?

Gena Showalter did it again! I should have known but again she surpised and amazed me by taking a questionable concept and turning it into a wonderfull book that was beyond my expectations, which were set pretty high already. The concept of two people working for an agency to expose cheating spouses falling in love is a risky one but she pulls it of and even pulls of the "I-can't-stand-you-but-you-really-turn-me-on" attraction between hero and heroine.

Jillian and Marcus really start of on the wrong foot, taking each other on in a verbal fight that has no comparison. But underneath the animosity that seems to lie on the surface, there's an inmediate and smoldering attraction between them. All their bantering and verbal battles are a very stimulating and thrilling form of foreplay leading into a burning desire that combusts in a sensual climax, literally and figuratively.

Both Jillian and Marcus were amazing characters. Despite their fighting and their outspoken opinion on some things, they are both characters you can both relate to and identify yourself with. Not to mention that Jillian is actually a nice woman behind the walls she has pulled up around herself and Marcus...well suffice to say he's one hot piece of maleness who has his heart in the right place.

Now this was what I call topnotch entertainment combined with genuine emotions that made me swallow the lump in my throat a few times, especially at the end. It was refreshing, touching, sensual, moving and absolutely out of this world fun! Every chapter starts with a real bad come-on or pick-upline. Each one more cheesy than the next and just too corny for words but so funny you start every chapter with a smile plastered on your face. Just for collecting these lines Gena deserves a star.

This book just oozes with humor, wit, sarcasm and agressive banter. The quips fly around so fast it's dazzling, making it an easy and fun read.
It kicks into gear from page one and never slows down. Even without a real actionplot it was fast-paced and mind-blowing.

The secondary characters are as yummie and scrumptious as the hero and as fun and flippant as the heroine. Even one secondary character who annoyed me a bit in the beginning of the book, really got redeemed in the end and won my simpathy. There is also a secondary romance that's nicely mixed into the main story, lovely and complementing and never taking the focus of Jillian and Marcus.
Deep down I'm hoping for some sequel books featuring some of the other employees of the agency. I'm thinking Jake, Selene, Amelia, Matt....

This book kept me glued to the pages loving every page, every paragraph, every single letter! A contemporary romance of which I haven't encountered it's equal.
The combination of verbal fights, the intense underlying emotions and the passionate attraction is something that could have be totally unreal and not believable but it wasn't. With me it all went in like candy. And it was the combination that made the book great for me.
This book proved for me once again why Gena Showalter is on the top of my auto-buy, auto-read and auto-anything list and will certainly stay there.
I'm starting to sound like a broken record but I love, love....love Gena Showalter's writing. It has this magnetic pull on me and I can't even pinpoint what it is exactly. It doesn't matter if it's paranormal, futuristic or contemporary, her writing style, worlds, characters and humor pull me in and keep me captivated throughout the books.

Quote:
The door opened completely and those five godlike creatures entered the room. Peeping Tom, followed by a blond Adonis and a mocha-colored muscleman. After him was a redheaded guy who was burly and rugged.
Last, there was a dark-haired. blue-eyed platter of deliciousness.

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