Grey Nichols wants a lover, not a wife. But after he meets beautiful Mariah Stevens, he can’t get her out of his mind. Lucky for him, she isn’t out of his bed much, either! In fact, he’s so captivated by her, he considers the unspeakable—asking Mariah to move in with him.Mariah Stevens wants a husband, not a lover. No matter how incredible the nights are with Grey, she needs more. So she gives … she gives him an ultimatum—no more private pleasures without a public ceremony. But resisting Grey is much harder than she ever imagined . . . and if she’s not careful, he might just become her sexiest mistake . . .
Originally published as “Private Pleasures” with Harlequin Temptation
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I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I’ve had it on my Kindle for about a year, and stumbled upon it when I was looking for a new read.
Grey and Mariah have been seeing each other for a few months now. She’s looking for something permanent, but Grey is just looking for right now. They both struggle with their choices. Mariah feels like she deserves a commitment, but Grey doesn’t believe that he is capable of it.
After reading Her Sexiest Mistake, I went back and noticed that this book was originally published back in 1998. It wasn’t glaringly obvious that the book was 20 years old, but there were little clues (nothing significant, I felt, though). I will certainly consider other books by Janelle Denison.
Her Sexiest Mistake is a heartfelt, emotional story of two lovers who learn to make a relationship work despite the man’s adamant disbelief in love, marriage and children. Mariah and Grey have been together for 8 months when she discovers that he doesn’t believe in love, has no desire to ever marry or have children. She’s blindsided when he asks her to move in with him, when the whole time she was thinking he was asking her to marry him. When he vehemently disabuses her of that notion, she calmly breaks up with him and walks out.
What follows is him trying desperately to get her back, and her teaching him that she won’t settle for anything less than his whole heart, his commitment, his love. Grey’s been scarred, though, by a childhood where his father abused him and his mother stood by and let it happen, then proceeded to marry 4 more times all in search of the one thing she wouldn’t give him – love. Needless to say, he’s loathe to commit his heart to anyone, even though he professes to care for Riah.
Her Sexiest Mistake is such an emotional tale. I felt really badly for Grey. It was obvious, even before he finally told Riah why he was the way he was, that he was damaged. He was obviously a good person, with a big heart, he was just scared of that heart getting broken the way his mother had broken it when she refused to love him. It’s to Riah’s credit that she tried gently, so gently, to coerce him into seeing just how much love could make his life better, if only he’d open up his heart to it.
When the big turning point came, it was a little bit trite, but probably necessary, as there just wasn’t any other way Grey would have come around to realizing that he not only loved Riah, but that he was most certainly capable of that love, and commitment and all that comes with making a commitment like that. Kudos to Janelle for this engaging, sexy, heartfelt story.
Nice story with a lovely ending. I think she was a little annoying with the marriage issue. Overall a good, lovely and romantic story.
I received a free copy in exchange of my honest review.
A heartwarming emotional story about the ups and downs of falling in love.
Falling in love is one of the most beautiful steps in life. However, when you fall in love with someone who doesn’t believe in love or happily ever after like Mariah Stevens you are heartbroken. Grey Nichols has never felt for anyone like he does Mariah. After being together for 8-months he asks her to move in with him, and Mariah declines. She loves Grey and want the whole enchilada … love, marriage, children, etc. They are both miserable without each other. Can Grey open up to Mariah enough to discover that what he feels is love. Will Mariah give him the chance to prove that what he feels is love, and that he can’t live without her. Pick up your copy to find out what Grey does so that he and Mariah can get their HEA.
I volunteered to review an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Oh Wow! What an emotional story. Whatever Mariah was feeling I was feeling too. Poor Grey. His childhood wasn’t stellar and it totally hindered his relationship with Mariah. At times I wanted Mariah to just give in and settle for Grey. Just accept him as he is but I see now that would have been a mistake. Grey had a lot of issues he needed to work through and I was overjoyed he finally did. Phew. Took him long enough. Lol. But man, it was nerve wracking for me. Rooting for them to make it but not quite sure it was possible. A highly emotional but still very sexy story. Loved every moment.
Mariah is an interior designer. Wants a family and husband. Grey owns a security company and wants nothing to do with love, marriage, and children. When he asks Mariah to move in, she tells him not if he doesn’t plan on marrying her. They break up but Grey does everything to convince her to take him back, even kidnap her for the weekend. She tells him her mind hasn’t changed and unless her loves her and wants to marry her it’s still over. Grey tells her about his childhood and why he doesn’t believe in love and marriage. They break up again and they are both miserable. Until the unexpected happens and he’ll do anything to win her heart.
Excellent story. A relationship with bumps and curves. Steamy sex. And the power of Love.
* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for the author *