Just One Night by Lauren Layne (Sex, Love and Stiletto #3)
Released: April 22, 2014
Contemporary Romance
Loveswept

Reviewed by May

Favorite quote: “This is not happening,” Riley muttered, glancing at the ceiling. “My mother is not telling me my spanking article lacked passion.”

Riley is a famed sex columnist for Stiletto magazine where she works alongside her two best friends. She’s dated scores of men in Manhattan and she has the art of flirting down. The thing is… she’s not the experienced sex goddess everyone thinks she is. Truth be told she’s been pining for one man and one man alone for most of her life. Her brother’s best friend Sam. So when new assignments come out and she feels she simply must have sex and soon (it has been MANY years for her) she decides this is her chance to make a move on the man she’s always wanted.

She watched him for a second as he tinkered with some tool she couldn’t see, gathering her courage as she debated her best opening.

I need an itsy-bitsy favor involving your joystick.

Nah, too simpering.

I can’t imagine doing this with anyone but you.

Too revealing.

Wanna hump?

Better…

Sam wasn’t my kind of guy. Oh he’s trying to make his dreams come true with his new business and I’m sure he is handsome enough… but I felt like he needed a good smack or three. His horrible mother can pull his strings still and he’s holding up “she’s my best friend’s sister” as an excuse to be a serial dater who can’t commit or make the move on the one girl he wants.

Sam had never considered himself a PDA type of guy, so he was a little surprised at the stab of jealousy he felt. What would it be like to lean over and plant one on Riley right now? God knew he wanted to.

While reading this book I was totally engrossed and really enjoyed it. Lauren Layne has a great voice for these fun contemporary romances and I really enjoy her style. The problem with this book in particular is that the characters didn’t get any chance for real development, growth, or to make a convincing happily ever after for me. After a decade of playing games with each other, toying with each other and flaunting other relationships, now they will find happily ever after?

I just couldn’t buy it and I kept thinking that more likely, the pair would continue to play silly games and goad each other in immature ways that would ultimately break them apart. Harsh for romance land, I know, but that’s how I felt as I reviewed this story. There was no legitimate reason why it took these people so long, nor was there any justification for the high school antics they were doing to each other. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, perhaps if the story had been longer and we had seen more growth from them in general and more of a true “together as a couple” setting I’d be buying them as forever kind of love. As it stands? I just can’t.

While this is third in a series it can be absolutely read as a stand-alone book. If game playing and pretending you aren’t in love with someone for many years aren’t deal breakers for you – you may enjoy this one a lot. While the entertainment factor was there with this story, by the end I had soured on the book and characters and it didn’t work for me.

Grade: C-

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