Lynne Connolly‘s review of Pleasured In the Playboy’s Penthouse by Natalie Anderson
Contemporary Romance from Mills & Boon Modern Heat 01 Feb 09
This is a Modern Heat story, and I really like most of those. This is no exception.
Bella is different to the rest of her successful family. She wants to go in a different direction, and although they don’t object, they’re not particularly supportive either. She’s on her own. They meet at a resort, where Bella’s sister is getting married, and hit it off from the start, sharing an almost night together until Owen is drawn away by his work. Then Bella gives him a fake phone number, because she doesn’t want to hang around waiting for a call that she believes he’ll never make. Best to get it over with quickly, she thinks.
They hook up again in Wellington, where they both live. He’s just bought a building and he lives on the top floor. She moves in with him. I enjoyed the way they were slowly drawn together, despite their intentions to make it temporary. And that nothing dramatic and artificial forces them apart. When the event that does separate them (there has to be a Black Moment, right?) it works well, doesn’t come as an intrusion.
Bella’s constant denigration of herself might not work for some, but in this story she learns to look at herself another way. Because of her affair with Owen, she reassesses and by the end of the story she’s a stronger person.
I loved that. Owen made Bella feel better about herself, not just by wanting her in bed, but by his encouragement and his interest in her. Owen is a hero you could like in real life, and he would do anything not to hurt her. And yet there aren’t any nasssty villains here.
Owen is confident, alpha and with a sense of humour I really enjoyed. Non-snarky, but when he and Bella share jokes, you can see some of the things they have in common.
But as usual, a godawful title. Not one that draws me in.
Loved this story, it flowed really well and it was a pleasure to read.
Grade: A
At the red-hot millionaire’s mercy!
Bella has always felt like the ugly duckling in her family, but after one night with super-sexy Owen Hughes she feels like a beautiful swan. Until she realises Owen isn’t the ordinary guy she thought… This struggling waitress is daunted by his multi-millionaire status – he is exactly the kind of man she avoids!
But Owen won’t let Bella shrink back into her shell. Two weeks of pleasure in his penthouse and he’ll have her begging for more…
