Seducing The Playboy by Amanda Usen (hot Night Series #2)
Contemporary Romance
Released: May 26, 2014
Brazen

 Reviewed by Sheena

Blurb:  The best desserts are worth the wait…

Pastry chef Jenna Cooper crushed hard on playboy chef Roman Gallagher when her older brother brought him home to share their family Christmas six years ago. Now she’s old enough to do something about it, and she won’t take no for an answer—for anything. 

Out of the frying pan into the fire…Roman has one hard and fast rule—don’t sleep where you eat. But he can’t say no to Jenna’s plea for him to help her save her family business. Soon she’s working for him, and their scorching chemistry melts Roman’s resistance.

If you can’t stand the heat…Jenna knows Roman has reservations about enjoying the heat between them, but she’s got a plan. She’s going to keep this sexy man so satisfied in—and out—of the kitchen, he won’t regret a thing. But Roman has his own ideas. He wants more than a few hot nights, and he’s going to teach Jenna a lesson about playing with fire.

Foodaphilia…no…NO.  Opsomania.   Opsomania is the abnormal love or fixation with certain foods.  This is the subculture that I am convinced this book was written to appeal to.  There was more romanticizing of cakes, cookies and pastries than heat between the hero and heroine.  I do not even know where to begin….. at the beginning where we meet characters that are as beige-bland as the day theme on my Nook e-reader?  No spice!   No hero who leaps off the page, no heroine that makes me root for her.  No. no. just no.    Did I mention the fixation on all things culinary?  I did?  Briefly?   My apologies, I will elaborate.  It drove me friggin crazy.  

I mean, come on. I get it.  The plot centers around two professional chefs and their at-long-last realized love.  But guess what? Readers do not get a chance to focus on the romance between Jenna and Roman because at any given time (every few pages) we are assaulted with passage upon passage of culinary arts terms and food expressions.  I mean for instance, just because a book is based in the highlands does not mean I want to read 100 pages of narrative /prose about grass and moss!!

Once you use a significant amount of your core body strength and  find a way to see around and past all the food ogling, you have a few stolen moments to meet Roman (who is the most wimpy hero I have encountered in a long while).  I half wanted Jenna to catch a clue and move on!

Roman with his trumped-up fear of Jenna’s brother’s (who is also his childhood friend, Cole) disapproval was extremely anti climactic. (Pause) You mean to tell me that Roman spends 97% of the book putting the brakes on his feelings for Jenna due to his loyalty and fear of her brother and then when the “great reveal” occurs,  Cole just does not give ONE little fuck?  I mean not even a cheap, bargain bin fuck.  Talk about a waste of perfectly good time!

Then you have Jenna who is so hot to tumble into bed with Roman that she feeds into his inner high school sophomore and allows him to dictate the terms of their romance.  Jenna had noble and ambitions intentions, and I liked that she was steadfast in her desire to be self made and accomplish her goals on her own, but she really came across as a little too hard up for Roman’s affections.  Essentially just taking the crumbs he offered her, only to later reject him (yes, after all those moon eyes and desperate-for-his-cock antics- SHE turns him down).  But I suppose it would not be romance without a salvaged-from- the-wreckage HEA.  *Sigh*  I suppose Jenna is to be commended for not letting a little thing like true love sway her from her original goal of proving that she could run her parent’s food joint.  Oh and Roman is tamed- naturally.

There was even some kind of shades of TMZ scandal involving  Roman and Jenna on the beach and I *think* it was supposed to drive home the fact that Roman’s antics reflect back on his wealthy family…but it backfires badly.  Aside from obviously being much ado about nothing- it annoyed me and made me think that Roman was wimpy.  I don’t want to see my hero as wimpy.  It distracts me when I randomly think “what a whimp” as I read about my guy.   Meh.

Saving grace. The sexy time scenes (sans the pastry ogling) were hot and saved Seducing The Playboy from being a DNF – given the weird food-eroticism that ruled the rest of the book:

 “Yes, please,” she whispered.

He took her hand and guided her into the bedroom where there were more candles.  Rose petals were strewn over the bed.  She was grinning like a fool, but she didn’t care.  He pointed at the pillow, and she reached for the box of truffles, setting it onto the bedside table.

“Brilliant of you to realize one truffle is never enough…”

Whoops sorry.  That was just more of the pervasive Opsomania.  Pardon.  Roman and Jenna do actually manage to steam up a bit:

“Her hips arched off the bed and he caught her, sliding a finger inside.

“…You ready for me.”

She clenched around his fingers, desperately wishing to reverse their positions and crawl on top of him, but she wanted him to possess her… He glanced up, met her gaze and stilled…her heartbeat connected them, a steady pulse she could feel…

“No more waiting.”

He grabbed her hips and settled himself between her legs…she pulled her knees up…moaned as he moved back and forth , rubbing the length of his cock along her opening- each dragging glide against her clit too her higher…and with one smooth, hard thrust, he entered her.

She lost her breath as her world exploded.”

This book never really got cooking (pun is painfully intended).   The main characters were not very interesting, with the biggest personality belonging to Roman’s mother.  Aside from some sassy text’s from Jenna’s friends, Seducing The Playboy had too many ingredients that just did not come together.

Grade: C-

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