Sex and the Single Braddock

Reviewed by Miss Lady Rae on August 7th, 2008, 5:12pm

by Robyn Amos

Format:

Series: Kimani Press

This book not only has a gorgeous cover but a great story within its pages.

Thanks to Sparkle for posting this over at IMRR. :-D

I
was excited to see Harlequin releasing another bwwm IR novel. They seem
to come out like Haley's comet over there so fellow fans like myself of
this subgenre have to grab em while they can.

I'm happy to say
that S&SB does not disappoint in all aspects of telling a great
story. If you're like me and haven't read all of the Braddock series,
you won't be lost a bit as all the Braddock siblings are explained in
detail.

I won't rehash the synopsis as it is available in the
link below on the HQN book page, but I will say what I really enjoyed
about the book.

First of all it's characters. Shondra is a
strong female without being too close offish. Due to her father's death
she's a bit vulnerable and although she is really attracted to the hero
(who's seriously a babe, who can blame her?) she wants to tread lightly
considering his status in their company. I gotta say much props for the
intro of the story to Ms. Amos. I love how the hero and heroine first
meet and how they interact right from the beginning. The hero is strong
minded, driven and also sensitive and romantic: everything the perfect
hero is made of (where can I get me one of him?). I love how they play
off each other and the sexual tension is there right from the start. I
had to fan myself off now and then!

The loves are hot without
being too overly sexual, so if any readers out there are a fan of hot
loves scenes without being in your face, you'd be happy here. The race
situation is mentioned but doesn't get in the way, which I think is a
good thing. During the rise of IRs many bwwm romance books used to
place race as a major obstacle and I'm glad it's mentioned here but not
the driving force of their problems. Shondra and Connor are mainly
treated as a man and woman trying to find a way to each other's hearts
despite the workplace and despite the recent death in Shondra's family.

Ms.
Amos had me laughing at the interaction between Shondra and Connor,
especially over music: he loves hip hop (she's not too familair with
it) and she loves country (he's not too familiar with it) and during a
private jet ride to Monte Carlo they discuss this. One of the best
lines of the book are in this scene and it's a cheeky one that comes
from Connor after they realize the music difference:

"I think we both owe it to our people to fit our assigned stereotypes better."

LOL
she had me rolling during this scene and I can could so imagine the
facial expressions and voices as they verbally sparred back and forth.
And just like a great storytelling, a few moments later she nearly had
me in tears right there with the hero and heroine as they relived their
respective familial losses.

If I had to gripe about one thing
I'd say I was kind of bummed about the ending being a happy for now
rather than happily ever after. I guess I'm kind of traditional in that
I like the couple to make it official with a wedding down the road or
at least an engagement. And the two characters felt like they were
happy just being physical with each other for now.

Overall,
I'm really thankful I came across this book cause it seriously rocks
and I highly recommend it for a nice breezy romance with a side of
mystery in your late summer reading. This book gets added to my list of
the best of 2008!

Sex & the Single Braddock is not available in print until September 1st, but you can buy the ebook which is available now from the Harlequin site.

Go forth and read!

Everyone needs a lil romance & adventure in their lives. ;-)
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