Book Binge

Tracy’s review of Whenever We Meet by Cerise DeLand

Young widow Angela Reynolds doesn’t need a gorgeous older man pursuing her while she asserts her independence professionally and personally. But hotel magnate Stephen Montoya won’t permit this sweet, vibrant beauty to escape him. When he demands she kiss him each time she enters and leaves a room, the two of them discover that some passions cannot be denied—or tamed.

When Stephen asks her to marry him, Angela knows she wants his tantalizing body inside hers for heart-pounding intimacies she’s only imagined. But she’s unsure if she can surrender completely to this dominating man…or give up her newfound freedom.

Angela is an interior designer and is chosen by Stephen Montoya to decorate his flagship hotel in Mexico. Despite her bosses reservations Angela heads down to Mexico to start the job. Angela is nervous about the job, yes, but she’s also nervous about seeing Stephen again. She was incredibly attracted to him when she had met him during the job interview and isn’t sure she can hold herself back from him. She decides that she must and puts on her invisible armor. Unfortunately for Angela, Stephen has other things in mind.

Stephen knows that Angela is the woman for him. He’s willing to wait but not too long. He knows she’s skiddish around men so he devises a plan: Angela must kiss him hello whenever she enters a room that he’s in and kiss him goodbye whenever she leaves. He won’t take the kiss farther – she’ll be completely in control, but he hopes that sooner or later she’ll ask him for more. What begins, for Angela, as just fulfilling Stephen’s requirements, soon grows into a way for Angela to tell Stephen how she’s feeling about him. I wasn’t sure how the whole kissing thing would go but I love kissing scenes and these were quite lovely.

Stephen eventually talks Angela into marrying him. She knows that she loves him but since her first marriage didn’t really work she doesn’t know how this will go. She agrees and they are married soon after.

Unfortunately this is where the book kind of took a wrong turn for me. They got married so of course I expected sex to ensue and it did for pages and pages and pages. Yes, there was some talking in there and eventually some discussion about a fettish that Stephen had but that was about it and I gotta say I was let down. I lost that connection between the hero and heroine and couldn’t get it back. So what started for me as a lovely romance didn’t end so well, imho. I liked the first half of the book but didn’t care too much for the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5