Tag / Meg Maguire

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Driving Her Wild by Meg Maguire

Format: E-bookdrivingherwild
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Wilinski’s, #3
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Patrick Doherty
Heroine: Steph Healy
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 22, 2013
Started On: October 21, 2013
Finished On: October 22, 2013

She punched the button for the lobby.
And when the door slid open again, there he was.
The exactly wrong sort of man, with that smile that made her feel so damn right.

Meg Maguire is an author who writes the not so your usual variety of romances for tropes that you might have read a time or two. In Driving Her Wild, retired cage fighter Steph Haley makes her way to the Wilinski’s Fight Academy, taking those first steps towards a future that she has already mapped out for herself. It certainly doesn’t include the blue-eyed Patrick Doherty kissing her senseless and making mincemeat out of her well laid plans towards a financially secure future with a sophisticated man who would make her feel like a lady rather than just a casual tumble between the sheets to scratch an itch.

Patrick is good with his hands when it comes to carpentry but not so much when it comes to doing electrical jobs which is what he does to keep his head above water in these economically uncertain times. And when Patrick comes across the sexy Steph with that glint in her eyes from all the bodily harm that comes her way due to Patrick’s clumsiness whenever she’s around, Patrick knows that he has found that essential ingredient that has been missing from his life for over more than a year.

Steph is driven and knows what she wants and denies to herself her need for Patrick’s overly capable hands roaming all over her body, inciting pleasure of the likes she’s never had, all  because she believes in her head that Patrick doesn’t fit the mould that she has clearly made out for what her perfect partner would be like when she nails him. But every man she comes across in her perfectly well ordered dating life doesn’t come close to giving her the zing and the connection that springs forth between the two of them. And without Steph somehow being aware of it, Patrick worms his way into her heart and shows her that sometimes what seems like the the worst fit for you just might end up being the one.

To be honest, I actually didn’t know what to make of Steph’s character. Yes, she is strong, physically and emotionally and knows what she wants. Patrick on the other hand seemed mellow when compared to Steph and perhaps that’s what makes them tick together. However, Patrick has no qualms about being a bit bossy as required in the bedroom which is what Steph seemed to want out of that aspect of their relationship.

Patrick might be what you call a beta hero in the sense he doesn’t go macho all over the place, but rather it is his sweetness and open honesty that wins him the bonus points, not to mention his good looks that earns him a second glance from women. Patrick is open about his feelings as they come, there is not even an ounce of pretense and the fact that he doesn’t resort to the games that people play when they do not know how to navigate the treacherous waters of what we call the beginnings of a relationship. But what Patrick wants, he too goes after, perhaps not with as much tenacity as Steph does, but nevertheless as effective or more so when it comes to winning the affections of the woman who makes him feel alive after so very long.

Steph’s misgivings about Patrick and the lack of security that their joint lives would have stems from her childhood, but somehow there seemed to be another factor which involved a cousin who made her feel insecure throughout her adolescence years. Though that in essence provided the pivotal turn in the relationship between Patrick and Stephy, somehow I failed to see how that contributed to making the story any richer or how it made the developing feelings between the two any more real than it was prior to that. Not a bad read but certain bits and pieces in the story just didn’t work for me while the rest worked very well.

Recommended for fans of Meg Maguire and fans of the series.

Final Verdict: With a bite of sexy, Meg Maguire delivers a beta hero that you’d adore!

Purchase Links: Amazon | BookDepo | B&N | Kobo | Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Reluctant Nude by Meg Maguire

Format: E-bookthereluctantnude
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Maxence Luc Èmery
Heroine: Fallon Frost
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 5, 2011
Started On: April 5, 2011
Finished On: April 24, 2011

Meg Maguire is a totally new author for me and though I added this to my wish-list way back in February/March when this title’s blurb and release date became available under the “coming soon” section in Samhain, what really propelled me to get a copy was the rave reviews this book received right from the very day of its release. Though my reading progress has been slow with this one, it had nothing to do with the book but rather my busy schedule which prevented me from reading and reviewing this book as soon as I would have liked to.

The Reluctant Nude is the story of 33 year old sculptor Maxence Luc Èmery (Max) and 29 year old Fallon Frost who reluctantly comes to seek Max’s services to fulfill her part of a bargain she makes with the devil himself. Most of the story takes place in Nova Scotia, Canada where Max has made a home for himself after his shot to fame when he was a mere 12 years old. An only child, Max though a world renowned sculptor prefers to live his life in seclusion, taking in clients as he sees fit.

The only thing that has him agreeing to take Donald Forrester on as a client is the large sum of money that he agrees to pay Max upon completion of Fallon’s sculptor, an agreement that Max starts to regret as he chips away the resistance that Fallon hides behind so very well to reveal the passionate woman who Max comes to fall in love with.

One of the things I appreciated most about the story is the fact that Max and Fallon’s relationship wasn’t about being in lust at first sight. Rather, the story developed at a pace that was believable, lending the sexual tension that practically brought the pages alive a quality which it otherwise would have lacked. Though Max might not be an alpha hero through and through, nevertheless Max proves to be a dreamy and albeit a bit of an unusual hero who managed to squeeze a lot of emotion from me as the story progressed along.

Max’s playful nature when it comes to Fallon with whom he feels comfortable with enough to let go of his celibacy for the past 8 years is an enjoyable facet in a story where the heroine is the more serious of the two, an aftereffect of the foster care system through which Fallon  had grown up.

Both Max and Fallon are broken in their own way and come together to create scenes of lovemaking so beautiful and vivid that it just about took my breathe away and picked up my pulse damn near every single time. As I said before, its the pace that the author sets with the story and the beautiful way in which she brings to life the tormented soul of Max as well as that of Fallon’s that makes this story a contemporary romance that all lovers of this genre must read.

Though I found Fallon to be lacking in some way which I can’t really describe, I still loved the story that unfolded and absolutely adored Max right from the very beginning. The epilogue left a huge smile on my face, a fitting ending to a story that held me enthralled all throughout.

I finish off the review with a scene of seduction in the story where Max and Fallon lose themselves in a world of magic that they both can create only when they are together.

He tipped his hat to the back of his head and kissed her. His eyes shut before hers did, and his mouth burned hot and wet and tasted of the very, very fine wine. She felt his thumbs pressing into her cheeks, his rough fingertips cradling her jaw, and she parted her lips to invite a deeper exploration. He angled his mouth as his tongue slid to dance with hers, stroking the fire. His possessive hands held her head, making it seem as though he were consuming her, and each time they came up for air she wanted more.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Samhain

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