New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter introduces the Original Heartbreakers–beginning with a ruthless businessman about to break his own rules–in this special prequel novella! Rich, powerful and utterly untamable, Dane Michaelson is every woman’s darkest fantasy. When he returns to his hometown to witness his father’s upcoming nuptials, he is unprepared for the redheaded beauty soon … beauty soon to become his stepsister. He’s never wanted anyone more.
Kenna Starr has no desire to join the long list of women on rotation in Dane’s bedroom. The single mom learned the hard way–bad boys do bad things, and someone always gets hurt. But Dane isn’t fighting fair. With every heated look, stolen kiss and illicit caress, he melts her defenses.
Soon, the girl with the rep and the man who claims to be heartless are locked in a passionate affair. But when trouble arises, will they stand together or fall apart?
Look for the next books in the Original Heartbreakers–The Closer You Come, The Hotter You Burn and The Harder You Fall–from HQN Books!
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The One You Want is a novella in The Original Heartbreakers series by Gena Showalter. It introduces us to Strawberry Valley and several of the townsfolk and new residences.
I really enjoyed this novella more then I expected too. I can’t wait to continue into the series.
Kenna is a hard working single mother who has had to deal with town gossip and labels that aren’t true.
Dane used to live in Strawberry Valley, but his family left and now he’s back and boy has he grown up, in all the best ways.
Dane and Kenna both have issues and things in their past that they haven’t dealt with. I fell in love with both Dane and Kenna at the start. Kenna held her ground throughout the book. I liked the friendship Kenna has with Brook Lynn and that crazy silly bucket list was just too much fun. And, Kenna’s daughter was just wonderful. She has no filter and with kids it’s so true. They say anything and everything.
The setting and characters were so reminiscent of what people go through when they think they know your past, what you’ve done, and how you’e acted.
I adored this novella, I loved the setting, and I loved the characters.
Audio Review: This is my first experience with Savannah Richards. She brought this novella to life. Everything felt more real and intense. I thoroughly enjoyed all the voices. They came across clear, crisp, and well defined. The audio was pleasant and comfortable to listen too. I plan to continue the series in this formate.
Rated: 4 Stars
Wow, Just wow!
Love this story. I had a bit of a problem with the narrator in the beginning. I normally listen to a book at 130%. Once I slowed it down to 105% I enjoyed it a lot more. Then I had to reconcile the narrator’s voice with the one in my head. With that taken care of, I restarted the book. I hadn’t even finished the first chapter so that didn’t take too long. Afterward, it was clear sailing and I was quickly immersed in Kenna’s life. There were times I wanted to wack Dane on the back of his head. Other times I couldn’t stop laughing, a few times I needed a fan as things got so steamy, and maybe a time or two that my eyes leaked. I absolutely adore Kenna and her daughter. I love the things that come out of her six-year-old mouth. I love the fact that Kenna makes Dane a better man. I can’t wait to read more in this series. I really hope that West will get his own story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance where the heroine knows her own worth and won’t be with anyone who doesn’t appreciate her.
Audio Review:
Overall – 5
Performance – 5
Story – 5
Loved this audiobook!
I don’t read a lot of M/F romance these days but Gena Showalter will be an attending author at the 2021 virtual Coastal Magic in February so I really wanted to read one of her books. Well, I ended up listening to one instead and loved it.
The One You Want is my first Gena Showalter book and the first audio performance I’ve listened to by Savannah Richards. I am very picky about female narrators; most of them I’ve listened to don’t do a very good job with the voices for male characters, so I was thrilled with the performance of this book. The various voices were all easy to distinguish and keep track of who was speaking. I will definitely give other books performed by Savannah a try.
As for the story, I really enjoyed it. It’s not a real long book – 121 pages/4 hrs 24mins – but it had a lot of meat to it. There was ample super-hot, sexy time. Both of the lead characters suffered emotional damage in their past. His father and her mother had an affair while married to other people. They haven’t seen each other for years and now they are about to become step-siblings.
I really liked how all of the characters connected with each other. It’s a small-town romance and everybody kind of knows everyone’s business. Unfortunately for Kenna she hasn’t been able to completely overcome her (undeserved IMHO) bad girl reputation no matter how hard she’s tried.
Dane has everything that money can buy except a committed relationship – he just doesn’t do them. In particular he never dates women with children – until he can’t resist Kenna.
This audiobook was a great way to pass the time while I was doing chores around the house and I’m happy I listened to it.
Another great installment from Gena Showalter I didn’t think her books could get any better but apparently they can. This is the first book in the Original Heartbreakers series and what a way to start off a series. This book just had me engrossed and my emotions were all over the place as I saw what each character was going through. I absolutely fell in love with Dane and Kenna and I absolutely can’t wait to see where this series goes and who I will fall in love with next.
bookshelves: romance, contemporary, 6-edit-review, 0-n-order-by-athr, shared-2-amazon, shared-2-facebook, 2shr2bkbub, 2shr2google
A sweet, funny, little romance. Even though that is not really my ‘Cup of Tea’, I did enjoy it. It’s a very quick read. There were some editing problems & the end seemed a bit rushed & gooey to me. But all in all, if you like sweet romances with some definite humor & the prince saving the day kind of thing….This is the book for you.
Gena Showalter has always been a gem and I sure do enjoy her books. This book I thought was a little different for her but I did enjoy it and look forward to reading the Heartbreaker’s Series.