Harlequin Blaze, $4.99, ISBN 978-0-373-79380-8
Contemporary Romance, 2008
My Wildest Ride is, if I’m not mistaken, the second book in the multi-author series called The Martini Dares. The series revolves around three sisters reuniting with a sister that their mother gave up for adoption once upon a time and these women daring each other to do outrageous things. Perhaps I should have read the previous book first, because this one leaves me feeling as if I’ve walked into the middle of a movie and even when it’s over, I still have no good idea as to what the story is about.
Lindsay Beckham, the sister that was given up for adoption, owns a martinis-and-bikinis club called Chassy. Her dare is to seduce her assistant manager Danver Langston. Here’s what I’m still not sure of. I don’t know why Lindsay has to fulfill her dare if she fears that doing so will jeopardize her friendship with Danver. And seriously, Lindsay makes a big deal here about that particular worry of hers. Will her sisters tie a rock around her neck and throw her off the Boston Harbor if she chickens out? All I know here is that Lindsay feels that she has to fulfill the dare and I don’t know why.
Lindsay is also being blackmailed by someone because she once killed an old boyfriend and this person will tell the cops if Lindsay doesn’t pay the person lots of money. Now, you’d think that Ms Sharpe will clue me in more on Lindsay’s homicidal tendencies since that subplot plays a considerable part in this story, but no, details remain vague. The old boyfriend was an abusive bastard and there was a staircase involved, but that’s about it. Am I missing something here?
The fact that there seems to be missing pieces in the jigsaw puzzle that is this story isn’t helped by the fact that poor Danver is a complete doormat in this story. He’s an emo through and through, still getting weepy-eyed over his old girlfriend from ten years or so ago. When Lindsay offers him hot sex, he tells her that he’d like to know her first. This guy is all about love, emotions, and cute puppies that it makes me wince when Lindsay treats him like a punching bag in this story. All he wants is for Lindsay to share her feelings with him and let him know whether she’s willing to make a commitment, but Lindsay just has to be a Harlequin Presents hero here and be a complete asshole to him.
My Wildest Ride therefore has two strikes against it – the “non-standalone sequel” feel and the fact that I don’t enjoy seeing the heroine kick the poor wounded-eyed sensitive emo hero whenever she gets into her raging bitch mode, which is often. I have nothing more to say, really, other than to stop the ride because I want to get off. Poor Danver. It’s not every day that I encounter such a sensitive new age emo hero, so it’s really a pity that the poor guy is stuck in a dysfunctional relationship with a raging nitwit bitch. Oh well, Danver will always have his LiveJournal, I suspect.
