So Irresistible by Lisa Plumley
Contemporary Romance
Released: December 3, 2013
Zebra
Reviewed by May
Blurb: Tantalizing. Hot. Mouthwateringly delicious. The pizzas at the Portland restaurant chain Shane Maresca is secretly priming for takeover are all that and more. Unfortunately for him, so is Gabriella Grimani, the business owner’s daughter. He had no idea who she was when they had their first X-rated one night stand. Now she’s all he can think about. For someone whose career hinges on ruthlessness, that’s a slice of disaster.
Tough, take-charge Gabby intends to put her family’s restaurants back in the black, and that means no distractions. But somehow Shane keeps getting to the part of her that no one else sees—enticing her to lean on him. To trust him. That could be the biggest mistake Gabby and her business ever made…or a recipe for something truly spectacular.
From page one I felt like I had been dropped into a book that was already a few chapters in. We’re told lots of things. That Gabby is hated by her employees, is on the outs with her parents, and so on. We’re informed that Shane desperately wants his dad’s approval, but that his (adopted) dad doesn’t trust, love, or really even care about Shane.
The big issue here is, we never got deep enough into the back story for the set-up to work. I bring this up right away because it set off a series of misfires that lead to this book being a complete fail. I believe that had I not been on ordered bed rest, had my kindle not been charging at the time (in another room) I would have DNF’d this book. As it stands I did read the whole thing, and it failed.
There is no romance here, they have a one night stand and ‘like magic’ each feels like they want a relationship with the other. Like they are simply meant to be. Yes they are attractive people, but so what? What makes them so perfect for each other? We know Shane is desperate for a family and love, but is he so hard up that he’ll jump into I love you with the first Italian girl with a close family he finds?
The sex scenes are uninspired and uninteresting. Just two horny people rubbing against a convenient warm body here.
The plot never gelled. He’s supposed to sabotage her and set up her business for takeover. She’s supposed to take charge and run the business now that her dad is in retirement due to the stress of the previous takeover attempt. Instead mostly they run around having sex anywhere – including in the restaurant kitchen/prep area while employees patiently wait outside to come in and start work.
The promised “humor” never appeared. What was funny? That this grown ass woman can’t have a confrontation without running away? That she acts like a moron most of the time and trusts a complete stranger with her body and family business secrets? That our hero runs around brooding that everyone abandoned him and nobody loves him?
Yeah these things are funny, but in a “seriously, this is the story?” way that aggravated me, not entertained me.
The conclusion was painful. So glossy, so smooth, so simple and easy. Everyone gets exactly what they want because – reasons!
Bottom line, no part of this story worked. There was no sense of urgency, no emotional connection, and absolutely no depth to these characters. Due to all of the issues this story simply has to be a fail. I tried for a long time to figure out something nice to say about the story but I just can’t find a single thing about it that I liked.
Grade: F
Recommended by Lisa Plumley- Together for Christmas.
I actually tried to read a short Christmas story by her earlier this week, and I just tossed the book aside. I just can’t click with this author something is missing for me. The humor is just not fun, and well, what you said.