Simply Sexy

This was a hot, hot book. Great love scenes. The characters were a hoot. Lot's of fun. Great read. Can also recommend The Color of Revenge.

I enjoyed this book immensly. I got so involved by the end of the book that I almost forgot what the beginning was like. Instant red-hot attractions are always fun to read about, and they actually have real issues that they learn to deal with. Hurray for depth of character.

When reporter Colin Lyons learns that his beloved adoptive father suffered a stroke, he takes a leave of absence from his South American assignment to return to his Massachusetts hometown to run Joe's labor of love, Ashford Times. However, Colin learns that his mentor assigned his second wife to run the newspaper. She has converted the focus into fluff while the paper is now losing money. Colin plans to eliminate the bubbles by bringing serious news back as the prime theme of the paper and consequently out of the red.Colin realizes that he finds one of the new hires, advice columnist Rina Lowell, SIMPLY SEXY. Though he tries to avoid her, she turns the heat up, as she wants her boss by her side permanently. He cannot resist her and decides a holiday fling is just the thing, but as he falls in love he wonders how she will react to his New Year's Resolution to fire the frivolous, which includes her.Like Rina's column, SIMPLY SEXY is mostly fluff, but anyone looking for an amusing good time will join this reviewer and declare so what. Instead, the audience receives a humorous tale with some serious undertones involving coping with loss and the state of small town newspapers. The key to this novel, as with the previous "Simply" tales (being reprinted starting in April), is the two delightful protagonists, who struggle between professional desires, fears of commitment, and a growing love for one another. Readers will enjoy Carly Phillips' heated holiday romance that contains much merriment with just the right dab of solemnity.Harriet Klausner

You have done it again, Carly. I forever look forward to your Harlequin Temptation as well as Harlequin Blaze books. How you come up with those steamy scenes and put them into words to describe them so others can actually relate is beyond me! This book kept me on the edge of my seat as well as hot to where I couldn't put it down from start to finish! Thanks!

Prodigal son Colin Lyons returns from an assignment in South America where sun drenched danger was only a bullet away to a different kind of risk. In his absence, his father placed stepmother Corinne in charge of the family paper. Corinne changes the paper's focus from hard news and strong advertising dollars to fluff and near-bankruptcy. Colin does not believe that sex will sell newspapers and plans to enlist columnist Rina Lowell's assistance, courting her friendship even as he plans returning the paper to hard news at the expense of her job.After her husband's death, guilt consumed Rina. Financially secure, Rina sought more than her old career and a New York City penthouse. Drawing on her writing and people skills, Rina comes to Ashford to make a new beginning writing a weekly column for the Times. When she arrives in town, Rina establishes her reputation as quiet, inconspicuous woman. Research completed, she is now ready to strut her stuff so she can share first-hand wisdom with her readers. Her journalistic debut will consequently mark her return to the social scene. Furthermore, while she is not ready for a long-term relationship, Rina finds the idea of a fling with Colin taking on real possibility.Author Carly Phillips pens an enticing, sensual romp in SIMPLY SEXY. As Colin awakens passions Rina has never before experienced, their shared chemistry ignites. He does not mean to take advantage of her, but a simple kiss demonstrates how impossible of a position he creates for himself. Moreover, their unexpected connection adds heat, texture and intensity for which he is unprepared. Rina likewise finds it difficult to maintain emotional distance with such a profound connection between them, especially as she begins to enjoy her rediscovered sensuality. Secondary characters likewise sparkle as spunky Emma Montgomery's specialty of matchmaking adds a dynamic presence to the book. A delightful holiday romance with the joys, quirks, and uniqueness that readers have come to expect from Phillip's pen, SIMPLY SEXY comes very highly recommended.