Sweet Romance

I rarely read straight forward romance novels, but the many recommendations and reviews influenced me to give it a go. The story gets going early on... the inner conflicts, insecurities, and personal issues facing Tamara & Elec are unveiled and explored within the first few chapters in concert with their first encounter. Tamara is a strong, independent, decent person who allows herself to get involved with a slightly younger man despite her many reservations. Elec's character is certainly mature, romantic, and equally decent. The plot seemed to flow naturally... not forced. Honestly, their journey was rather sweet.

My 3 star rating isn't a measure exclusively of the story or narration but also because I find that romance ONLY novels aren't really for me. I crave the romance but seem to need some other subplot to be enveloped... a mystery, conflict, etc. I have enjoyed many a highland romance. Though I don't expect to go any further in the series, "Flat Out Sexy" was an enjoyable distraction.

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3 people found this helpful

Cute story

This was pretty cute and had some really nice romance scenes ;)
Tamara is a widow with two children who meets Elec, a young race car driver who sweeps her off her feet. I definitely understood why Tamara would be hesitant to jump into a relationship with Elec, she worries about her kids and her deceased husband was also a driver who died in a race, but sometimes I think she overreacted and needed to chill a bit. Elec was adorable, I love how cute he was with Tamara's kids and how much he cared for Tamara. They're a good couple and have good friends to support them.
The narrator for the audiobook was okay, but I would've liked it more if they also had a male narrator to offset her.

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Pretty good start to the series :)

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I liked Elec and Tamara and liked their story. This was the first story I've read by this author. I liked it enough that I plan to try the next book in the series some time in the future.

Tamara is a college professor, the mother of 2 kids and the widow of a race car driver that died 2 years ago. She has just started trying to date again and decides she doesn't want to get involved with another NASCAR driver. She mistakenly tries dating another professor, a man who she has no physical attraction to and doesn't even have that great of a personality. She's starting to realize her mistake as the book begins.

Elec is a rookie NASCAR driver. He's 25 (almost 26) and isn't much for the limelight but has dealt with it all his life because his dad was a famous racer. Both he and his brothers now race and their sister does their PR. Elec hasn't found any women that struck him as special and up to now has tended to gravitate towards blond NASCAR groupies but Elec is the marrying kind and wishes to find someone with more substance.

Tamara has invited her date to a NASCAR event and race weekend and at the event the night before the race, she's realizing that she can't stand the thought of him touching her and they're supposed to be sharing a bedroom. Tamara ends up meeting Elec at this event and feels more for him in a 10 minute conversation than the previous month of being with her current date. She and Elec go their separate ways but Tamara realizes that she has to break things off with her date. She does and his reaction to her breaking it off convinces her that she was right to do so. Unfortunately, Tamara loses her purse and ends up without a room (because that went to her date) and no purse. She ends up getting the loan of a bed in Ryder's coach (one of her late husband's best friends and another NASCAR driver) and Ryder gets her a ride to his coach in a cab with a friend of his, who ends up being Elec. The chemistry in the cab is sizzling and by the time they get to the place the racer's coaches are parked, they're about ready to jump each other. They both end up staying in Ryder's empty bed and have a great night together. The next morning they have a little more fun and Elec is all for them seeing each other again. Tamara is a bit freaked and doesn't think it's a good idea but ends up agreeing in a post-orgasmic haze. Unfortunately, shortly after this, Tamara talks to her BFF and gets the news that Elec tends to date bimbo blonds and that convinces Tamara that Elec can't be serious about anything with her and she breaks her date with Elec...via text. :P

Elec isn't thrilled that Tamara broke their date and since he knows that Ryder knows Tamara well (he's the godfather to one of her kids) he asks Ryder for advice. Ryder thinks it would be good for Tamara to find happiness so he agrees to host a party where Elec can "run in to" Tamara and try to get another chance with her. The party happens and it does have a certain amount of success as Tamara decides she's unwilling to push Elec away any more. However, Tamara is very good at clutching fear close to her heart in this story so of course she's unwilling to go public with their relationship and insists they're not serious but are just having fun. They both have hectic schedules and they try to spend time together when ever they can but it's hard at first because she wont admit the relationship to her kids. Eventually, (after a few weeks at least) Elec gets trusted with being around the kids more and does very well with them. In some ways, it felt like Elec and Tamara's relationship crept along because of her fears constantly making her hold back on things, yet the main part of the story only took place over around 6 weeks to it wasn't really that slow at all. Just when things seem to be all good, a bit of drama drops in and causes a big ripple in the pond. This ripple causes Tamara to freak out and things almost turn out very badly. Some well timed advice from a very unexpected source saves things before they go completely haywire and Elec and Tamara are able to get their HEA back on track.

This was a very enjoyable story. To be honest, The story is pretty predictable but that didn't make it less enjoyable. I really liked Elec, he was a nice guy that saw a good woman and wanted her regardless of the minor issues. I liked Tamara but got a bit annoyed at her insistence at letting fear rule her life. I was happy that she was able to get past that in the end. I'd recommend this story. :)

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2 people found this helpful

{Sigh} Can I place an order for one of these???

Tamara is a widow with two young children trying to please everyone while doing everything and placing herself last. (Every mother can relate to this!) Then she stumbles into the younger Elec and....well...[sigh] She attempts to claim a little piece of time for herself with a secret relationship with Elec; of course, the "secret" doesn't last long. I really enjoyed this story and the compassion and understanding shown by the characters. Sometimes Tamara got a little irritating going back and foth-I mean my gosh the man was even cleaning up after himself!- and she continued to vacillate? ..But she was very easy to relate to (indecision and all).

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3 people found this helpful

Ladies and Gentleman, start your engines...

This is my first Erin McCarthy book and series. I've been waiting for this series to come to audio. The narrator Emily Durante is very good and the characters are fantastic. Ms. McCarthy writes erotic romance so this series is not for those who like "vanilla' or "classic" romance novels. The language and the writing is very sexy but romance theme runs throughout. Tamara and Elec's love story was sweet and hot.

I would recommend this series for those who are fans of erotic romance or for those looking for more spicy, sexy romance story with plenty of wit and laughs.

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5 people found this helpful

Buying the next in series now!

I love finding a new series I can enjoy! If you like the contemporary romances of Susan Andersen, Linda Lael Miller and Susan Mallery - you'll enjoy this book as well.

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2 people found this helpful