I went on a Claire Kent reading binge phase towards late 2023 which sort of fizzled out early 2024. It was wonderful while it lasted, and I believe I will still pick up some of her older science fiction novels at some point when I once again hit a reading slump or get in the mood for a pick-me-up romance which I know Ms. Kent will definitely deliver.

No Regrets is an apt title for the story that unfolds between 38 year old paralegal Leslie who grapples with her grief over losing Polly, her dog of eight years, and Josh Bennett, 34 year old veterinarian, who is new to Leslie’s town. Leslie made a vow to herself on her last birthday that she would live with no regrets, and nothing has changed in the past eleven months until tragedy comes calling.

Leslie and Josh’s first encounter takes place under emotionally charged circumstances, when Leslie is struggling to get her aging and very ill dog out of her car into the clinic. Josh who has recently joined as a partner to the clinic assists her, ends up making an impression on Leslie through his kindness and sensitivity in dealing with everything.

When Josh seeks her out to spend some time with Leslie knowing that she is going through an emotionally taxing time, one thing leads to another and before they know it, their mutual attraction ends in a no-strings-attached, one-night stand. From the start, Josh makes it clear that he is not looking for any long-term commitment, and Leslie, though she is not looking for meaningless hookups, says yes believing that it would be just a one time thing.

After the initial hookup which neither believed would amount to much, Leslie and Josh reconnect by chance at a bar and gradually establish a pseudo-relationship that is purely no strings attached. While Josh continues to stress that is not looking for a happily ever after, Leslie though hesitant at first, considers the proposition as part of resolution to live without regrets.

While Josh and Leslie continue on this path and enjoy each other’s company, the emotional intimacy between them develops and strengthens, where Josh starts showing glimpses of vulnerability and Leslie starting to want more than just casual intimacy. It takes a lot for Josh to finally reconcile with his past and work for something long lasting with Leslie, upon his realization that short-term and casual does not fit the path that he and Leslie have walked on.

I liked both Leslie and Josh. Leslie for her strength and vulnerability, her determination to live without regrets (which did not amount to much at first – something we can all relate to), her humor and self-awareness, and her ability to see through Josh. When it comes to Josh, it is his empathy and kindness, his complexity, his quiet strength, and towards the end, his transformation from an emotionally closed off man to someone who is more open to pursuing love and where it takes him that made him endearing.

In signature Kent style, Leslie and Josh share undeniable chemistry rendering their moments from lighthearted banter to intense intimacy, both electric and captivating. The push and pull dynamic between the two due to the differences in terms of their expectations creates the needed angst for the story and I loved all of it.

Recommended for fans of contemporary romance who love a reluctant hero and his journey towards emotional fulfillment.

Final Verdict: No Regrets by Claire Kent is a beautifully crafted romance that explores grief, healing, and the transformative power of love, with characters whose emotional depth and sizzling chemistry captivate from start to finish.

Favorite Quotes

He gently slid the neckline of my top to the side to expose my shoulder. He smiled. “I see more freckles.”
Then he leaned down and gently nipped me, right on the hollow of my throat.
I gasped at the shocking jolt of pleasure. I’d never experienced anything like it—so completely out of the blue.
Then he was kissing me, and there was no way I could resist kissing him back.
The bar was dim and not very crowded, but the other customers hardly crossed my mind as the kiss deepened. It had been a long time since I’d been kissed, and he was somehow stronger and more passionate and more skillful and just more than the other men I’d been with.
It felt like he was everywhere. Filling all of me.

He bit down on the sensitive flesh of my throat, and I felt the sharpest jolt of pleasure I’d ever experienced in my life.
I cried out wordlessly in response, my pelvis jutting out in sudden need for stimulation.
My arousal had intensified so quickly—and with so little conscious thought—that I was losing my sense of balance and coordination. I wasn’t sure I could stay on my feet, had Josh not trapped me between the sink counter and his body. My eyes blurred over until the small, dingy bathroom faded into nonexistence.
All I was aware of was Josh, in all his intensity, physicality, and hot, hot power.

His cock drove its way into my pussy, his upper body pressing against my chest as he sunk all the way inside.
I bit down on his shoulder—my teeth against his t-shirt—as I felt his solid substance stretch and fill me.
He didn’t give me a chance to get used to the tight penetration. With a guttural sound and a jerk of his neck, he started to thrust. Fast, short, and sloppy.

Two hours later, I was in his small, barely furnished apartment. We’d gotten takeout to eat from a place halfway down the block. After we’d eaten, I’d taken a shower first, and now he was taking a shower.
He was very easy to hang out with. No demands. No deep feelings. No awkwardness. Just interesting conversation and sex.

“Fuck,” Josh said, lifting his face to capture my mouth again. His voice was thick and hoarse, the sexiest thing I’d ever heard—but somehow aching like I did. His hips jerked against my pelvis, and his body grew tighter and tighter as the frantic motion of our bodies intensified.
My head fell back as pleasure welled up inside me, Tears streamed down my face when my spine arched involuntarily. “Oh, God.”
Josh kissed me one more time with clumsy, unfocused passion. Tremors had started to run through his body as he tried to rein in his release.
Then I came, clutching him, riding out the waves of pleasure as his control broke and he fell into climax too.

He leaned in closer so his mouth was next to my ear. His murmur had gotten thicker, sexier. “You turn me on just standing there. I want to fuck you again. I want to make you come harder than you’ve ever come before. But that’s all it would be. If you want hot sex with no-strings, then I’m your man. But if you want something serious, then you should just walk away.”

“You’re sure? About the no-strings thing?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. As long as you were serious about making me come harder than I’ve ever come before.” I couldn’t believe I’d actually said that out loud. Someone else must have said that.
He smiled. Hotly. Smugly. “I was serious.”
“You were talking pretty dirty in there,” I said, feeling less uncertain as an uncharacteristic wildness seemed to possess me. “Do you always talk that way?”
He lifted a hand to stroke this thumb over my cheekbone, the way he’d done a few weeks ago when he was talking about my freckles. Then he leaned down, like he would kiss me. But he said in my ear instead, “I can talk as dirty as you want.”

He made a guttural sound in his throat as he finally got up from his chair. He moved over me, his hands sliding over my body, drawing my arms out from where they were crossed. Then he adjusted me until he was seated on the couch and I was straddling his lap.
He stared up at me for a moment—desire and need and heat shuddering in the air between us—and then he kissed me hard, deep.

“Very good. You feel so good. Your pussy is hot and tight and so wet.” He sucked in a shuddering breath as my channel squeezed around him instinctively. “Yes,” he hissed. “Just like that. You like it when I fuck you like this, don’t you?”
The coarse language from him sent jolts of desire to my center. He was hitting my g-spot on each thrust, and the shudders of pleasure made me want to scream.
I whimpered and bit down on my lower lip, my whole body slammed with carnal heat.

“Oh Josh!” The words were choked on a harsh inhale.
The smolder in his eyes turned into a blaze—like nothing I’d seen from him before. He made another guttural sound and shifted his grip on my wrists to one hand, stretching my arms straight above my head.
“Don’t move them from right here,” he said.
I kept my arms in place as he unfastened his pants and rolled on a condom. When he’d done so, he lined his cock up and thrust into me with one hard stroke.

His weight was resting on me now more fully, pushing me into the mattress, but I loved the feel of his hot, sweaty heaviness. His thrusts became shorter and faster, and I rocked my pelvis up against his motion—my clit getting good friction from his pubic bone.
“God, it’s so good,” I gasped, as I felt another orgasm building up at my center.
“Fuck, yeah.” Josh was panting hotly against the skin of my neck, holding enough of his weight on his elbows to keep me from smothering beneath him. “So good.”

He made a choked sound and slid himself very slowly—torturously slow—inside me.
I was gasping and flushed all over as I tried to soften my body against his, wrap myself around him. “Oh, fuck, Leslie.” His head had lowered slightly, and he was breathing erratically. “Sometimes I think…”
“You think what?” I grabbed his shirt with both hands and hung on.
“Oh, fuck. It’s just too good.”
I didn’t know if that was what he’d originally intended to say, but it sounded pretty good to me, and I wasn’t in a fit condition to sort out anything else.

“Leslie.” My name was no more than an inhale as he moved against me in a jerky push of his hips.
Then he was kissing me, and it was deep and hungry and needy. And it was exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I felt too.
The kiss went on a long time, until he’d turned me over onto my back, and we were rocking in a sensual rhythm together.

“Josh,” I kept saying, arching up every time his touch triggered a ripple of pleasure.
“Fuck, Leslie,” he mumbled against my skin. “You feel so good. I need you so much. Like this. Just like this.”
And I arched up at that too—because his words triggered more pleasure than his touch.

“It’s like watching the sun come out from behind the clouds,” he murmured.
“What is?”
“You. When you let yourself out, when all the passion inside you bursts out from your quiet composure. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like when your hair suddenly flames out in red when the light hits it. That’s you. All of you. Flaming out. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

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