Some fires warm you up. And some burn you down.Kevin McNicholl may be a brutal force on the rugby field, but off the field, the star New Zealand All Black is a famously nice guy. His new tenant, though, arouses more than his protective side. She sets him on fire. Pity he’s evicting her.Every woman deserves her dreams. Chloe Donaldson can’t afford dreams, though, so she’s given them up. Marriage, … given them up. Marriage, her ballet career, and now, her beautiful tower apartment with its view of the sea. Her new landlord is kicking her out, along with her three-year-old son, Zavy.
She should hate him. But when a man looks at you like that, it’s so easy to lose your focus.
NOTE This STAND-ALONE romance, like New Zealand, contains a bit of steam. If that isn’t your cuppa, maybe visit another country . . . er, book.
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4.5 stars
5 stars narration
I love this series, love the settings the people. the experience of being in Ms. James world. Her characters are always interesting, and good people. Her love on NZ shines through so well it’s like being on a tour.
This one features an All Black player (drool) my personal team of choice and a ballet dancer. He is a family man caring for his sisters, brothers and more. She is a single mother, ex dancer, retired too early from her dancing career because of life’s little road blocks.
When he buys the house she’s renting part of for his huge family and needs her to move, they get to know each other and develop a slow and difficult relationship till.
I’m not going to tell you more. There is a fabulous HEA, loads of fun, intense moments and some smexy times. Enjoy
I skipped over a lot of steamy stuff that wasn’t necessary, but for the most part, it was a wonderful story.
This one just annoyed me from the start. Trite, obvious, terrible people and situations. It feels as if there were many scenarios taken from other books and stuck together to write this one. Way too much going and most of it bad. Horrible ex who ditches his 9 months pregnant at the altar in front of everyone they know because even after planning the wedding to his specifications “it wasn’t what he planned” ,” he was too young”. 33…too young?? I think not and he wanted the visual of the perfect ballerina to look beautiful, but be quiet at his side. Ugh. Chloe needed a backbone and tell tell everyone who treated her so poorly to go scratch. Her parents (mostly her mom, but her dad was a jerk too) were horrible. And what self respecting woman would ever have said yes to a date with the man who was kicking her out of the place she called home for 3 years. Of course it is his place and his choice and there was nothing wrong with that, but him thinking about taking her right there on the floor while telling her she had to move was just smarmy and gross. I live a good romance and a HEA, but this was so not that for me.
This is the first Rosalind James novel I’ve read and I was particularly drawn to it because it was set in New Zealand (a country I love and also write about in my own Victoria in Love series) and I also have a passion for the ballet, so this seemed perfect, and although it forms part of her Escape to New Zealand series, I didn’t have any issue reading it as a stand alone.
The story follows Chloe a single mother and retired professional ballet dancer who is about to be evicted from her home which has been purchased by Kevin, a hunky All Black. No surprises as to how the story ends, the only question is how they get there.
With all books in this genre, a lot of my rating goes to how well the author surprises me on the journey of reaching the HEA (Happy Ever After) and there were only two scenes in this story that were unexpected or that I didn’t predict. I would have liked more. I think Rosalind could easily weave more twists and angst into the narrative, or the side stories.
Having said that, Rosalind’s style is excellent. Her characters are vibrant and real and she writes a secure sense of place. Her choice of vocabularly and dialogue are very believable.
I particularly loved the scene on the beach where Chloe leaps and Kevin catches her … that description had as much heat and passion as the juicy bedroom scenes.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I rattled through it in a couple of days, it just needed to surprise me more in order to earn more stars.
I don’t know how Rosalind James managed to consistently wrote these really great books. She is by far one of my favorite writers.
I loved Kevin and Chloe. The way he interacted with Zavy was so sweet. Kevin was always right there to support Chloe and Zavy. Not only Zavy and Chloe, but his whole family.
I do have to admit that I didn’t care much for Kevin’s sister in law. She appeared to be a bit pushy and unsympathetic to Chloe’s plight.
I was truly outraged on Chloe’s behalf in regard to her mother’s behavior regarding Zavy and the relationship with his father. Totally presumptuous of her. Chloe’s anger and fear for Zavy was captured so well.
I also love the way Rosalind James writes a sexy scene. The words are not extremely graphic. She manages to weave a scene with words that is sexy, steamy, hot, and oh so romantic, all rolled up together.
I did not get any sleep. I read straight through until I finished this book. I enjoyed it so much, I know I will be reading it again and enjoying it just as much. Reading her books makes you feel as though you have truly experienced romance.
I would definitely recommend this book or any of her other books