Kimani, $6.50, ISBN 978-1-335-21658-8
Contemporary Romance, 2018
To Tempt a Stallion is the eleventh – or is it twelfth? – full length entry into Deborah Fletcher Mello’s series The Stallions, and right now, they are starting to resemble the Rabbits. It’s been eight years or so, and I swear, these bunch of folks pop out at least three more full-grown brats every year for more books, more more more. I won’t be complaining if the last few books hadn’t started to resemble one another a bit too much for my liking. Sure, the main characters’ names and jobs may be different, but they all started to become interchangeable. And given this line’s no-no for anything resembling plot above “my psycho-whore ex” or “my evil hag mother from hell”, the sameness only becomes more accentuated than normal.
And just to test my theory, I mentally exchange every “Stallion” in this story with “Goose”, and all of the sudden, the whole thing becomes a little bit more interesting. Maybe I should try this with other interminable family series out there.
So, Nathaniel Stallion. He’s an orthopedic surgeon, but his real dream is to be the owner of a restaurant. I think he just likes to collect money without having to cut people up. After the issue with his baby daddy coming back into his life, he decides to go all YOLO and carpe diem, and opens his restaurant. Of course, it is easy to do all this when he is already loaded, so folks, don’t try this at home, especially when there are bills to pay. Encouraging him to do this is his good friend Rebecca Marks, and she is there to help him get his business going with her marketing skills. There is, of course, simmering sexual tension between them, especially since he’s hot and loaded while she is the thicc goddess of every man’s dream.
Her breasts were the size of small watermelons, multiple handfuls with spillage and then some. Her childbearing hips and rotund behind were wide and full, like beach balls smooshed tightly together.
I’m all for people enjoying life with the size they are, but girl, Thicc Bec seems like she needs to buy clothes in a larger size – the description seems painful. Also, this description is followed by a scree about skinny chicks, because skinny is hateful and no, there are no insecurities leaking out from every die-twig-bitches-die word in this story, none at all. The very idea!
The author’s unintentionally hilarious use of hyperbole and simile aside, the story is familiar. Both main characters are likable sorts who seem like the perfect fit, and also who seem just like the hero and the heroine of the last few books. There are issues, like her ex and a persistent woman who wants Nathaniel bad, but the author is one of those rare few who don’t turn such characters into outright cartoon types. In this case, that’s probably not that good a thing, as I’m bored and some cartoon drama might have made things more interesting.
I’m so glad they are happy in the end, but I’d be even more glad if the next book in this series doesn’t feel this much by the number. To Tempt a Stallion not a bad read, but it’s not something to get too excited over either.
