Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster
A vacation from her no-strings romance with her sexy next-door neighbor. That's what Natalie Alexander needs to get her head—and heart—together. But her solo trip south turns into a disaster when gorgeous Jett Sutter turns up with another challenge.

Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan
Single mom Gail Chapman insists on chaperoning her teenage daughter's spring-break trip to Key West. But she never expects to face temptation—in the hunky form of Jesse Batista, the mysterious man in the cottage next door.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl
All-work-and-no-play businessman Eric Donovan won't be distracted by a "businesswoman" who's all wrong for him. Beth Cantrell owns a women's erotica shop! And she has a juicy little secret. Can she tempt him to put pleasure before business for once?

Title: THE GUY NEXT DOOR
Author: Lori Foster, Susan Donovan, Victoria Dahl
Series: Lori Foster’s story is the prequel to her new series “Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor”. Susan Donovan’s story is standalone and Victoria Dahl’s story is a prequel too, to her “Donovan Brothers Brewery” series.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Year of release: 2011, February 15
Format: Mass Market Paperback, Anthology
Source: Requested from the publisher via NetGalley


READY, SET, JETT by Lori Foster

Neighbors Natalie Alexander and Jett Sutter have been seeing each other for a while but where Natalie only wants the sex, for Jett it’s turned into wanting more than that and taking the next step to make it an official relationship.

Natalie has her reasons for keeping the relationship strictly physical, even though she’s slowly but surely falling for Jett. Her past bad experiences with men and love hold her back from giving into those feelings and develop a more intimate emotional relationship with Jett.

I enjoyed reading this story, especially reading about the contrast in the people surrounding Natalie and Jett. Natalie’s dysfunctional family was the complete opposite of Jett’s loving and caring family. I’d take his nosy and meddling sisters over her cold and distant father and stepmother any day.

The end of this novella felt a bit rushed as after Natalie’s doubts and hesitation her declaration of love and agreement to marry Jett came a bit quick and out of nowhere. Still, it was a nice and entertaining anthology story that made me curious about the first full-length book, in this new series, which features Natalie’s sister Molly.

READY, SET, JETT was a very nice introduction to a new series that promises to be both hot and action-packed. I do hope to see a little more depth in the characterization and story-development but I really can’t hold those things against this story as it was a short one and I had a nice time reading it.

Rating:
7.3 out of 10 - GOOD READ!

GAIL’S GONE WILD by Susan Donovan

Gail Chapman accompanies her 17 year-old daughter and daughter’s best friend on their Spring Break to Key West and they end up neighbors to a local celebrity, the well-known author J.D Batista (Jesse Dominic Batista). Jesse’s been burned by money-grabbing, fame-seeking women before and is very cautious even though he’s very attracted to the fascinating woman next door.

Gail is an English professor. I loved her character. She’s soft-hearted, protective of her daughter and a little insecure. But she’s also honest, quick-witted, direct and a little geeky. Jesse was sweet, big-hearted and self-assured despite his trust issues with women.

I loved this story! It was fast-paced, well-rounded and I liked how the story was set up and wrapped up. It also was a little steamier and more erotic than the first story and that always works for me.

GAIL’S GONE WILD was an easy and quick read and I was fascinated by the vacation (spring) fling storyline and Susan Donovan’s humorous writing style. I’ve read a book by Donovan before and it made me buy up her entire backlist so I should’ve known I was going to love this story as much as I actually did.

Favorite Quote:
It was the small hoop earring that sent her over the edge. It caught the sunlight and zapped her like a laser. Later she would convince herself that the bright flash had short-circuited her brain.
“I haven’t had sex in two years,” she blurted out, breathing hard. “I’m a wreck. I came here hoping to meet a man of dubious character who could make my knees weak. I’m sorry but it’s the truth. I’m unstable and very, very deprived. You should probably stay away from me.” (Gail to Jesse)

Rating:
8.5 out of 10 - GREAT READ!

JUST ONE TASTE by Victoria Dahl

For the record: JUST ONE TASTE is the first and foremost reason I pre-ordered the print paperback of this book and requested the galley at NetGalley. I’m addicted to Victoria Dahl’s writing and any book she writes or any anthology she contributes to must be added to my bookshelves. That being said…I do have a bone to pick with Ms Dahl but I’ll get to that later, in the actual review of this story.

Eric Donovan is at a local business convention trying to strike some (distribution) deals for his brewery. Beth Cantrell is at the same convention for her sex shop. A case of mistaken identity (Beth thinks Eric is his ladies’ man brother Jamie), a sinfully delicious torte and instant chemistry leads to an explosive encounter they both want to keep private. Unfortunately they’re small-town people and in small towns nothing stays private for long.

In this novella, the prequel to Victoria Dahl’s new series centered on a family-owned brewery, we’re introduced to the Donovan siblings. The hero of the story is Eric: the eldest Donovan brother and “behind the scenes” business manager at Donovan Brothers Brewery. He’s smart, dependable, cautious and staid. From these adjectives you’d think Eric is a little boring but nothing is further from the truth. You know what they say about the quiet and staid ones *wink* and hey, this is a Victoria Dahl story… boring is NOT in her vocabulary.

Beth may seem the total opposite of Eric as she’s the manager of a boutique erotique (doesn’t that sounds so much more sophisticated than a sex shop? LOL), but she’s a levelheaded, composed and analytical woman who’s not so very different from Eric. Beth is the typical Victoria Dahl heroine I love so much: unapologetic, independent, wicked and not afraid of expressing her sexuality! I loved her. I loved Eric too, despite him not telling Beth he wasn’t Jamie right away.

JUST ONE TASTE is the steamiest, hottest of the three stories in this anthology (want to guess which one is my favorite?). Victoria Dahl doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the heat in her contemporaries. The scene in the winebar was scorching!

As steamy and fun as this read was, I wasn’t completely satisfied when I finished it. At the end I realized this was a prologue to Beth and Eric’s story and not the full story. So there was no resolution/closure to their story and in the end Beth still doesn’t know Eric isn’t Jamie.

After finishing JUST ONE TASTE I immediately went to Victoria Dahl’s website to see which of the Donovan Brothers Brewery books continues to tell Eric and Beth’s story and damn, crap and other expletives I cannot use as this is a civilized blog. It’s the effing last book of the first three coming out this Fall. It’s not that I’ll mind reading Tessa’s and Jamie’s stories but still, Ms Dahl, the strain this puts on my patience is not welcome and waiting for this until November is going to be the death of me! Thank you very much for that!

Favorite Quote:
Eric had a sudden fear that this night would turn him into a pervert who got off on fondling used underwear in his darkened living room.

Rating:
8.5 out of 10 - GREAT READ!

Overall rating for entire anthology:

Jacket Copy:
WHEN YOU MIX ONE PART BUSINESS
Autumn Adams never planned to follow in her mother's footsteps as Chicago's answer to Martha Stewart--she can't cook, doesn't clean, and would rather play soccer than discuss the joys of white bathtub grout. Then some lunatic starts sending her threats in the mail and Audie finds herself under the protection of simmering, sexy Detective Stacey Quinn, a man determined to examine her every nook, cranny, and ex-boyfriend in his effort to find the stalker. A disarming combination of macho cop and sweet charmer, Quinn is hard to resist. But with Audie's bad luck at finding and holding on to Mr. Right, she think it's best to keep her distance...

WITH ALL PARTS PLEASURE
Quinn soon discovers that the real Audie is an alluring blend of fantasy babe and tender-hearted female all wrapped up in what he can only hope is leopard-print underwear. She's not what he's always pictured for himself, but could she be everything he'll ever need?

THINGS CAN GET DOWNRIGHT DELICIOUS
Digging through Audie's many layers could turn out to be the hottest, craziest, sexiest bit of detective work Quinn has ever attempted...if it doesn't kill him first.

The ingredients for Susan Donovan's KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET are a hunky, Irish police detective and threats by mail to a Martha Stewart-esk columnist who'd much rather spend her time on the soccer field. Furthermore, there is mention of kilts and what is worn beneath them and bagpipes and their possibilities, there’s a bunch of ex-boyfriends who are suspects, an associate with a questionable taste in clothing, lots of bed talk by the otherwise quiet detective, quite some touching and feeling and a smoking hot scene on a porch.

Stacey Quinn is a Chicago PD detective. He is Quinn to his friends and family and if you want to stay on his good side, you'd better not call him Stacey. He is straightforward and direct but not very talkative, however, there are some nice exceptions to the latter, which I will address later in this review. Subtlety is lost on him and he oozes masculinity. He is a confident and sweet man who’s a bit rough around the edges but has a heart of gold.

After her mother’s death, Autumn (Audie) Adams took over her “Homey Helen” column. It is something she does out of guilt towards her mother, although why she felt guilty is beyond me after reading how Audie's family life was while she grew up. Audie is clumsy, disorganized, outspoken and impulsive. She would rather play women soccer than give homemaker tips. She is lonely and sometimes lashes out because of insecurities that come from her messed up childhood but considering her upbringing she turned out pretty well and she too, has a heart of gold.

Audie and Quinn are really sweet together in the way that, despite their immediate attraction, they both take their time to gradually open up to each other. They are opposites in many, many ways, which causes a lot of awkward situations and fun dialogues between them to go along with the fiery and instant chemistry. He is neat, she's messy. He grew up in a warm and close family, she grew up in a dysfunctional one. He is very much in control of everything, she is clumsy. He is the silent type, she is talkative. But I do need to rectify that last one a bit because Quinn can be talkative on a few subjects. One is his family, he can talk a lot about his family when he's gets into his stride and he is also oh so very talkative in bed and I loved that. My dear old heart goes into overdrive when a hero talks the talk during love scenes and Quinn definitely talks the talk and he does it quite well. My favorite talkative hero used to be Butch (J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood) but Quinn has definitely dethroned him.

There are enough secondary characters to provide a nice number of suspects for the suspense thread of the book, but still it is Quinn and Stacey who take center stage in this wonderful contemporary story. Supporting characters like Quinn's partner, Quinn's family and Stacey's friend Griffin are essential for the humor that runs through the book. I especially liked the scene with brotherly talk at the pub with Quinn and his brothers and the banter between Quinn and his partner. Actually, in all the dialogues, no matter in which situation and no matter between which characters, the humor shone through. Sometimes it was subtle and in the background, other times it was laugh-out-loud funny.

Susan Donovan is great with humor and wit. Her writing is easy to grasp and fluent. She fleshes out her characters in a thorough way, making it able to really get to know them and go through all the motions with them. She provides her hero and heroine with extensive backgrounds and although I had some trouble with the pace of the book in the beginning, when it seemed like the book was crawling forth, it is that slow pace that makes it possible for the romance to develop gradually in a realistic way and for the characters to really grow on you as the reader.

Having read some extremely fast-paced paranormal and suspense books right before reading this book, I think I just had to make a little adjustment in order to appreciate the slower pace in the beginning of this book. And rest assured that Susan Donovan does make up for the slow starting pace because what starts as a mellow, slow paced and sweet romance novel changes completely and for the better when Donovan takes it up a notch both with the pace and with the romance. When Quinn and Audie decide to act on their mutual attraction and budding feelings, it really changes the tone and pace of the book. It turns sizzling hot when Quinn starts to get all touchy feely and talkative and when Audie lets her inhibitions and insecurities go. It was an unexpected change that gave the book an extra dimension and which made it shoot a few places up my list.

Susan Donovan sure knows how to write sensual build-up and how to heat things up in the bedroom to such a peak that if I wore glasses, they would've steamed up real good. She proves that explicitness doesn't equal hotness because one of the hottest scenes in the book is one where Quinn and Audie aren't even having sex, though they are talking about it.

In the beginning of the book Donovan tricked me into this comfortable, non-too impressive lull, just to end it with very hot romance and some surprising twists in the suspense plot. She did have me sweating for a bit with the suspense plot because I thought there was going to be an unforgivable plot inconsistency but she saved it just in time to give me the great ending she had been working up to.

KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET is a contemporary romance just the way I like them. Smooth and fluent and filled with fun, chemistry, the right amount of resistance to the attraction and a suspense plot that stays in the background just enough not to make it a romantic suspense. I will definitely be reading more of Susan Donovan's work soon.

Quotes:
Oh, and let's not forget the best part about her life --Stacey Quinn! The intensely sexy cop who kissed her until her spine fused, then disappeared with some lame excuse, then sent her a gift so inexplicably sweet and personal that it made her cry.

He wanted what his parents had and he decided early on that he'd settle for nothing less. He wanted the kind of love that was beautiful and resilient and funny. He wanted passionate love. He wanted love that would challenge him, complete him, make him a better man.

Audie watched him do the one-handed macho T-shirt removal thing and toss it to the chair. And there he stood in front of her, wearing nothing but the kilt and a muscular chest, trim abdomen and strong arms. Audie knew she might very well be drooling, but she didn't care. His body was exquisite--powerful, sprung tight, ready for whatever might be required. (...) He was the most exquisite male specimen she'd ever seen, and beneath the hard-ass cop routine, he was the kindest man she'd ever known.