Fantasy Girl by Carole Mortimer

Synopisis

"I always get what I want."

Adam Thornton's words struck fear into Natalie's heart. For the survival of her modeling agency depended on keeping him and his company happy. Her own sister--Thornton's Cosmetics' Dream Girl--had put her firm in jeopardy.

And Adam Thornton, her irate client, was not a man to be trifled with.

Ruthless in business, he was also dangerous to love, as Natalie discovered. For what he wanted most of all was Natalie--as his mistress!

Review

Rating: 2.5-3 stars

And I get duped by goodreads ratings - AGAIN!. I'll list things I learnt from this book:

1. BEWARE of this in the synopsis: "I always get what I want."

2. Two sisters may have the same upbringing and still have completely different morals (TRUE).

3. Apparently the culture in London is like Asia where elder sister takes care of the younger one, no matter what...It wouldn't have grated on me if I hadn't watched a Tabatha takes over episode where  sisters operated Mia Bella salon. Talk about dysfunctional.

4. Women dig passive aggressive men (apparently true in lala land).

5. A man can "brutally kiss" a woman for having a genuine friendship with another guy but never tell her clearly that he's not sleeping with his 'mistress' anymore while getting it on with her.

6. Outbursts like "You sold yourself to me", "I don't trust love", " I never want to see your beautiful face AGAIN" and "I don't trust you" from a man may be totally forgotten when he says he does love you (without trusting that feeling) and wants to marry you.

7. After reading Walk by my side by Sandra Field (Review Pending), I have a need to read about unconventional heroines. who're not all gorgeous and dependent on the hero to give them an identity.

(Sigh).

If you want to add this book on goodreads: Click: HERE . You can rate my review there as well!]

Her Best Friend (More Than Friends #1) by Sarah Mayberry

Synopsis:

What's a girl to do when she's secretly in love with a friend and he's married to someone else? She gets over it. That's what Amy Parker has done. Rather than lose her best bud Quinn Whitfield with an ill-timed, crazy confession of affection, she's taken the smart route. She's eased away from him. Just enough to get past the unrequited bits. And you know, it's working. 

Until the day Quinn announces he's now single. That's right. He's single. And he wants to hang out. With her. Get reconnected the way they used to be. 

Oh, this is so not good for Amy's equilibrium. Daily doses of Quinn remind her of everything she loves about him. But if he's free...and she's free...well, maybe the time has come for one of those crazy confessions. 

Review:

Rating: 3 stars

Okay so here's the beef:

I keep complaining about how the HQN books are not 'real' enough. Well, I've been pwned cuz they don't get any more real than this. And that's a problem.

BECAUSE:

1- When things get too real in books, you feel like it's happening to you.

2- Any woman who has ever been in a relationship, even one-sided one, will be upset when her guy has been/is involved with someone else.

3- I didn't feel any chemistry between the H/h...And I'm a great appreciator of friends-to-lovers but because it dragged so long, I still kept thinking of them as  friends more than lovers.

4- These books have (sort of) the same theme but here's why I love them more:

a) Crazy for you (Jennifer Crusie): The H married the h's sister but the icky and jealousy factors are much-reduced by the time-lapse: It's been 16(if I rem correctly) years since the hero was last married so you don't feel like the old relationship's that heavy, involved and emotional. Plus, the hero realized right after he got back from the honey moon that he'd made a mistake but kept quiet about it to preserve the friendship. That's the guy feeling something. We women don't get that emotionally attached to the story when that happens apart from saying: 

The heroine felt something too but she just didn't pay attention to why she felt happier with the hero until the story starts.

b) Waking Up (Amanda Carpenter): Again, a story with unrequited love but no third friend to interrupt the flow. 

I think generally (for me, at least), friends to lovers stories work only if it's initiated by the guy....if its from the girl, it hits too close to home. I don't wanna get upset over some non-existent person... 

One more thing, I kept wanting to remember, why I don't usually like Super-romances and Silhouette and it's because: they're too long! It starts to grate on me :(

If you want to add it on goodreads, here's the link: Her Best Friend