Stripped by Edie Harris (City2City #1)
Released: September 17, 2013
Contemporary Romance
Self Published

Reviewed by Mandi

So listen up. Not too long ago I read Wild Burn, a western by Edie Harris that I really enjoyed. Then she came out with The Corrupt Comte, an erotic historical that I gobbled up and made everyone read. Not long after she sent me Stripped, a contemporary book about an actor and a make-up artist. I thought, geez, will I like this? I’m not always super keen on actor-heroes and she keeps writing books in such different genres. Well it turns out I really enjoyed it and I shall not question it again!

I knew I would like it from the very beginning – “For a movie star, he looked an awful lot like a hungover lumberjack.”

Hello lumberjack! And boys and girls, he is from Ireland. Yes, yes – go swoon for a minute. Unfortunately, our heroine shaves his beard off right away but it’s okay. He needs to be clean cut for his new movie role in a film called, Vendetta. Declan gets called to star in the movie at the last second, after the original actor set to play ends up in rehab. Declan is a super fun hero, really sexy and flirty. He is attracted to Fiona, the make-up artist on set from the moment she starts to shave him. He is relentless but not pushy or annoying.

Fiona was once a great dancer, who got a little lost in life, ended up in Vegas dancing Burlesque. One night after dancing, she walks outside and meets a drunken group of men. She ends up in the middle of a fight, and gets cut very badly near her abdomen. She spends a month in the hospital and now carries scars that make her feel less pretty. She is attracted to Declan, but also tries to be somewhat professional. But he wears her down, and she must find the confidence to show her his scars and to let this sexy Irishman into her life.

Edie Harris has a way with words. She makes her books so sexy and filled with fun banter. Declan decides he wants Fiona and doesn’t stop until she says yes. While there are some really cute moments between them, there is also some really great sexual tension.

Declan scrubbed a hand over his mouth and stared. He was being rude – worse, he was being obvious, but he couldn’t help it. Her body called to him, stirring recognition at a gut-deep level and whispering, I’ll fit. Against you, atop you, beneath you. The itch in his fingertips was in no way relieved as they scraped over his bristled jaw. “I like how you move, darlin’.”

She plucked at the gauzy fabric of her top. “Most men do.”

His eyes met hers, the translucent gray piercing even in the alley’s lengthening shadows. “You weren’t dancing in there for most men.” He stepped forward until his knees brushed her leg, angled out from the wall. “You did that for me.”

“Wrong, I did that for me.” But her hands reached out to fist in the thin cotton of his tee shirt. Her knuckles brushed over his abdomen, and he sucked in a breath. “You’ll know it when I dance for you, Mr. Murphy.”

Their biggest conflict once Fiona overcomes her scars is that she wants to put roots down in Hollywood, and Declan has to fly all over the world for his job. I like how things play out with this.

Overall a very fun, sexy contemporary. I read it in one sitting and I can’t wait for whatever Edie Harris puts out next.

Rating: B+

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