Brazen

I love everything that Carly Phillips writes. Brazen is one of my favorites and I have read it several times. I love that Samantha has so much love for her father that she is willing to sacrificeherself for him. I don't agree with with it, but it showed how the character was capable of love. The sparks between Sam and Mac are electric, they are one of my favorite couples. The secrets that they have from each other are the only real obstacles to their love. I loved reading them overcome them and find their way to love together. more reviews at www.thebookgirl.net

Brazen has all of the ingredients for one hot and passionate love story. When the beautiful Samantha sets out for a one week fling before committing herself to a marriage to save her father's debt, she by chance meets the handsome Mac in an Arizona desert bar. As their story enfolds, both characters not only learn about each other but also about themselves. Mac taught Samantha the meaning of love, the fairy tale type of love. Samantha taught Mac new things about himself as well, about his ability to love and give. Even though they only tell each other half truths and live in a fantasy, their love and respect for each other grows. Their journey is one you won't want to miss.

This is one of the finest books of the genre I've read in a good long time. I finished it months ago and still haven't put it away because I always want to pick it up and read it again. Ms. Phillips created wonderfully distinct engaging characters who are easy to identify with. Mac and Samantha created a bond with their hearts, bodies and souls. Even when things were at their lowest, deep down, they didn't lose faith in one another and that was the most special part. I can't wait to read the other book written under her pseudonym.

She's got one week to savor a lifetime's worth of excitement. And she knows just what, or rather who, she wants to savor - a bartender named Mac. What starts as one-last fling, becomes a once-in-a-lifetime love, if only Mac and Sammy Jo can put their fears, and their pasts, behind them. Carly Phillips blazes into the romance genre with her first book, Brazen. Make sure you check out her second book, Perfect Partners, a Kensington Bouquet written under her real name, Karen Drogin.

Give many writers the premise of a heroine seeking a no-strings, week-long affair with a perfect stranger, not to mention that both parties are not exactly being honest with each other, and what you often get is "hot" for the sake of "hot", but a love story that's less than believeable. Not so with Carly Phillips's BRAZEN. Yes, the love scenes sizzle, but within the context of a tender, surprise love affair that quickly turns into the real thing. Ms. Phillips takes great care to show the motivation for her characters' lies of omission, and well as their basic goodness and integrity, a complexity of characterization not often found in short romances. Definitely a writer to watch.