Husband Material

When a tall, handsome customer mangles a machine at her copying business, single mom Kelly Sumners is too busy ogling him to be irritated. But five minutes later she's really freaked out when the same man unfixably mangles her car in a parking-lot fender bender. As Riley helps Kelly from her car, a sudden overwhelming premonition convinces him that Kelly is "The One." But, far from thrilled, the dogged bachelor is determined to avoid his fate at all costs. He begins by showering Kelly with expensive gifts as payback for causing the accident, but Kelly keeps refusing them all. Though it gets harder all the time. Not just because of the costliness of the gifts, but because they are so amazingly appropriate to the needs of her and her children.The book has a strong beginning, and it doesn't let up. Each new encounter between the hero and heroine sets up a zany new adventure as they negotiate Kelly's conflicted feelings about Riley's latest attempts to help her out. The hero and heroine are both well motivated, and their attraction to each other is strong and very believable. The heroine's kids are cute (but not annoyingly so), and the emotional intensity and sexual tension are very high. All in all, a fun sexy read!

Divorced Kellie Summers receives the frantic call from the All Day All Play day camp to pick up her son Trevor who was gambling and possessed a knife. Kellie leaves her struggling new business Copycat to pick Trevor and his twin sister up, but instead ends up in a fender bender with a hunk of a BMW, Riley Lombard III. He makes sure Kellie is okay, but has a flash of he and she marrying. He knows he must avoid this woman at all costs because he cannot deal with any personal emotions as he is still struggling with the deaths of his spouse and daughter. However, his efforts to escape seem doomed as fate seems to propel Kellie and Riley together. His new ploy is to find her someone else, but he soon finds himself in love with a woman who reciprocates his even though she wanted nothing to do with the other sex after the impulsive gambler of a first husband. HUSBAND MATERIAL is an amusing contemporary romance that uses misunderstandings to foster the plot. The story line is often humorous, but the problem of gambling addiction is a serious subject that is treated too lightly. Kellie and Riley are strong individuals struggling with their respective pasts and the pressure of a combined future. Her two kids are a delight especially Trevor the Terrible. Liz Ireland has written a funny relationship tale starring two walking wounded.Harriet Klausner