The Romance Reader: With a Twist'
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RESENDING TO CORRECT BOOK TITLE IN HEADLINE
By Lezlie Patterson
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
(MCT)
"With a Twist" by Deirdre Martin; Berkley (2009), 351 pages, $7.99 (paperback)
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Take an overindulged French woman who prefers caviar and coq au vin and match her with a rumpled, middle-class newspaper reporter who opts for beer and burgers and what do you get?
A sweet love story, "With A Twist."
Fans of Deirdre Martin and her series about New York Blades' hockey players will recognize Natalie and Quinn from her previous book, "Just A Taste."
Natalie was the snobby sister of Vivi, the bistro chef who fell in love with Anthony (brother of Blades' star Michael) in "Just A Taste." Quinn was a regular customer who enjoyed taunting the snobby French woman by teasing her.
Of course a newspaper reporter just wasn't in Natalie's league.
But a few months later, that has all changed.
Natalie still has a touch of snob in her, as even she admits, but most of it has faded away. She a waitress in Vivi's bistro when the book begins, fighting the shopping addiction that put her in near crippling debt.
But the quiet neighborhood where Vivi's restaurant is hampers her social life, and she wants to move to Manhattan where there is more going on. Her goal is to one day manage a restaurant, but finding such a job isn't easy.
Quinn offers her a job as a waitress at his parents' Irish pub. The French snob becomes surprisingly embraced by the quirky customers there, but Quinn's mother isn't so impressed — especially when Quinn and Natalie start dating.
As is the formula in many of Martin's other books, this one puts the couple together early on after a brief spat of resistance and antagonism, then breaks them up with seemingly irreconcilable differences. The reconciliation in this book is a bit abrupt, but you will be cheering for the apparent odd couple to reunite.
Vivi and Anthony get married in this book, and Michael and Theresa as well as Gemma and Sean ("Total Rush") make appearances.
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HOW IT STACKS UP
Overall rating: 3-plus of 5. This is best described as light and fun. The characters are engaging, and the romance has a real feel to it as Quinn grapples with balancing his job and relationship. You feel Natalie's hurt when Quinn continues to prioritize his job over her.
Hunk appeal: 10. Quinn is a good guy who makes bad choices in love. While you'll respect his drive and dedication to his newspaper reporting job, you'll share Natalie's frustration that he can't take even a few hours off to focus on her.
Steamy scene grade: XXX. He does take a few un-interrupted hours off.
Happily-Ever-After: Good, but a bitabrupt. And the marriage proposal could have been much, much better.
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Also this week ...
"Heaven, Texas," Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1995) 5 of 5 hearts. This book probably has one of the best endings of any romance book you'll ever read. This was one of Phillips' early Chicago Stars' books that put an end to philandering playboy Bobby Tom Denton's inglorious fast-and-loose lifestyle. The NFL superstar suffers a career-ending injury and decides to star in a movie. Problem is, he's not taking it very seriously and seems reluctant to leave his playboy lifestyle to go home to his hometown, Heaven, Texas, where the movie is being shot. The movie studio hires Gracie to corral Bobby Tom and get him to the set in time. Bobby Tom doesn't make it easy for her, and shamefully uses her, and works to manipulate her into seduction once they get to Heaven. Gracie succumbs because she loves him, but by the end realizes she has to leave because to him, she's just one of many. Bobby Tom doesn't take it well and acts appallingly. But by the final pages, he's given Gracie the apology and declaration of love scene she deserves. And in Cal Bonner's story, "Nobody's Baby But Mine," readers are treated to a glimpse of Bobby Tom and Gracie's happily-ever-after.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Lezlie Patterson is a former columnist for The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. Readers may send her e-mail at lpatterson@sc.rr.com. To read more of her romance reviews go to http://lezlie-romance.blogspot.com.
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(c) 2009, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
