About the BookJago Tanner is a loner. He works up a good hunger at his outdoors pursuits centre in Wales and looks upon each female conquest as just another meal. When he’s sated, he doesn’t go back for dessert. Until Riley shows up. A Londoner hired through an agency to assist him with activities, she isn’t at all what he asked for. For starters, with the name Riley, he expected a man. But Riley is all woman—the sexiest woman Jago has ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately she dresses like a trollop and curses like a sailor. Though ignorant about most outdoors pursuits, she’s a skilled horsewoman, able to calm even his nerviest stallion. And her lively and generous nature enchants his housekeeper Emily and his ancient friend, Tom.
In short, Jago’s new employee is a bundle of contradictions. Which is why, when Jago falls for her, he doesn’t trust his feelings. Riley seems unusually accident prone, and when her brother’s shady friends menace her, she plays the innocent. But how can anyone so self-sufficient and mouthy also be so trusting and naïve? And can a man with Jago’s volatile nature endure the jealousy a woman like Riley provokes just by strolling down the street?
My Review
Opposites attract.
The dynamic duo of Riley and Jago bring new meaning to the tried and true romantic standard. She's the "cheeky, carefree, happy" one and he's the "orderly, structured, controlled" yin to her yang. She's all emotion, and he can't interpret his feelings to save his life. Their differing personalities set them on a collision course that could potentially lead to heartbreak or the greatest happiness either of them has ever known.
Riley is a spiky-haired, big-chested gal, who's candid, crude and feistily independent. She flees London after getting 'dumped by text.' She quits her bartending job at a lap dance club for a position at an outdoor recreation center in the remote mountains of Wales. She's by no means qualified, but she doesn't care. She needs a change.
Jago is a man's man, rough and course around the edges. He's a loner with a short fuse, but he's the type of guy who stands by his word. When he hires Riley sight unseen based on her name, he assumes that she's a man. When she arrives, he reluctantly agrees to give her a trial run because he expects her to fail. He wants her as far away from him as possible because it's driving him to distraction by how much he finds himself attracted to her.
Although Jago is "a flame to moths, attracting women of all ages" and "a testosterone temple that was ready for worship," he's never had a girlfriend. He's a cold one who never opens up to anyone. When Riley shows up, she confuses him and that makes him angry. He's someone who micromanages his life from his finances to his daily routine and he doesn't know what to make of Riley's "intoxicated mixture of sex and sleaze."
What he doesn't know is that while Riley may dress slutty, she's still a virgin. He unfairly judges her, hating everything her lifestyle stands for, falsely believing that she was a lap dancer just because she worked in the club. She causes "destruction like a whirlwind" around his barn, always having to get the last word in, and she fights back tooth and nail because she's mad that he always tends to think the worst of her.
But they find out they're more alike than they think. Riley starts to fall for the quiet serenity of Jago's ranch, not missing the lights and noise of the city as much as she feared. While Jago begins to learn more about her little by little and he likes what he sees. She's selfless and generous, caring about others more than herself from her no-good brother to a temperamental stallion.
When Riley finally tells him that she loves him, Jago says nothing. He's at a loss. He can't understand his feelings, so he doesn't know how to say it back. He wants to wait until he's certain about how he feels about her, letting his iron grip on his emotions control his heart.
But his selfishness could cost him everything he ever wanted because Riley's okay with who she is. She won't let him change her while he holds fast to the notion that "she had a body he wanted to fall into and a personality he'd need to climb out of." Gradually, he lets down his guard and realizes what a stubborn fool he's been, but does his transformation occur too late? Did he already lose the girl he's come to love?
***
Love on the Menu can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords
Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 244
Genre: Steamy Cowboy Romance
Release: February 14, 2015
Publisher: Fanny Press
ISBN: 9781603815680
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About the AuthorEllen March and her husband live on top of a mountain in Wales, which is ideal in the summer but not so much in the winter months or when it rains. She has three grown children, one suicidal cat--it really does have nine lives--and three Alaskan Malamutes. One of her hobbies is showing and working them. Ellen's first love, however, is reading and writing. Since childhood, she has devoured every romance and fantasy she can get her hands on and enjoys acting out her own fantasies in print. Her body of work includes erotic romance, psychological thrillers, and supernatural fantasies. Fanny Press has published three of her erotic romances--Promises, His Girl Friday, and A Ghost of an Affair--and will be publishing more in 2015 and beyond.
Links to connect with Ellen:
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