Lawson’s review of Between the Sheets by Robin Wells
Contemporary romance released 1 Feb 08 by Forever

Between the Sheets asks a difficult question: what would your life be like if you were innocent of something, but everyone in the country believed you’d done the worst thing ever? Emma Jamison has to live this in the worst way possible, for she’s been accused of giving a president-elect a heart attack in the sack. Emma didn’t do it, but that doesn’t stop everyone, except her slightly dotty grandmother, from believing the worst about her. Between the Sheets is a surprising look the role a woman’s reputation can play in the modern world.

What could be preaching about the vicious media and arguing that the media is there to make money no matter who gets hurt, there’s instead a good emphasis on the strength needed live your life no matter what people say about you. Sure, the media is unfair in ways they prey on people’s foibles, especially something as juciy as a supposed president-elect’s private life.

It doesn’t help that Emma has panic attacks every time she is around video cameras and she’s got a ladder-climber of a college student working for the local paper trying to get his big break. And at her job, her boss has it in for her because she was forced to hire Emma. And when she tries to make friends with some local ladies, she gets shot down. Emma tries hard though, and even though it hurts, she wants to remake her life and that’s an admirable thing, even if these bad things keep happening to her one after another.

The hero Max is a good guy, and when he sees to his doubts about Emma and believes she’s innocent he does what he can to help her get the truth out to the public. Max and Emma are very sweet together and have some good chemistry, though it’s not a very steamy book. There’s good characterization and a believable plot, with a cute secondary story about Emma’s grandmother and Max’s grandfather who live in the same retirement home.

If there had been a little more action, er, between the sheets *snort*, it would have made this a little better read, but good characterization and a sense of social awareness without preaching helps this to be a recommended read.

Grade: B

Blurb:

     How do you have a life when everyone in America thinks you gave the president-elect a fatal heart attack during an illicit sex romp? Emma Jamison never thought she’d have to answer that question, but here she is, smack dab in the middle of a political scandal that would make Monica Lewinsky blush. Trouble is, nobody believes that Emma wasn’t the call-girl who killed the president-to-be with her, uh, carnal skills.So Emma packs up and moves to small-town Chartreuse, LA, to escape her infamy and to start over. But when her grandmother starts dating the grandfather of district attorney Max Duval, the quiet life she was seeking blows up in smoke.

     Read an excerpt.