LynneC’s review of Seduced: the Unexpected Virgin by Emily McKay
Contemporary Romance published by Silhouette Desire 1 Feb 11
Silhouette Desire has a new series about a takeover of a company and the people involved. It looks as if the title similarity will be the colon. I read both books, and, as usual, I read them in the wrong order. It didn’t really affect the way I felt about the books.
Seduced: The Unexpected Virgin is about a Latino woman and a rock star. Not that you know it from the picture. I’d love it to have been a cover that reflects the story more, rather than picking the one scene where the hero wears a tux. and please, please, not a ponytail (I can’t really tell – what do you think?) Interestingly, when I Googled the title to get the blurb for the story, Google’s auto complete didn’t kick in. Censorship, methinks? Because the title does have a couple of buzz words in it!
I welcome the idea of a musician hero. At one point, Silhouette used to have heroes and heroines a little different from the norm, but now many of them have turned into Presents clones. While I enjoy the Presents series, it would be nice to have these slightly quirky characters return.
The hero, Ward Miller is described as a rock star, but his name and his appearances on his own makes me think much more of a country star. Rock stars tend to come in bands, and it’s the amalgam of musicians that makes rock great. This excludes the pseudo-rock stars like –cough- Kid Rock, of course. Even Alice Cooper has worked with the same musicians for most of his career and they add to his distinctive style (actually it was the band that was first called Alice Cooper, but Vince kind of adopted it for his very own). Ward just has himself and his guitar and untold millions. He is investing in the heroine’s charity. She is Ana Rodriguez, a woman who gives up a career costume designing in Hollywood to work for a charity set up by her foster sister’s husband (in the other book I read). I still wasn’t clear why she gave it up just because a star came on to her. Someone as savvy as Ana surely should have been able to cope with that? But when the incident recurs, she copes with it badly, and it didn’t ring quite true to me. However, it’s a small thing, and it might not bother you. As it was, with me it chips away at the doubts I have with Ana’s character.
I never really get to grips with Ana in this book. She has a well-paid job in Hollywood and yet her family isn’t living in affluence and her brother is in trouble. She has great difficulty coping with some of the aspects of the charity, and, quite honestly, at times seems more concerned with the décor than the actual reasons for the charity. Her efforts are a little piecemeal, and she’s easily distracted when Ward appears on the scene. I couldn’t believe that she’d give up costume design so completely. It’s an art, something you have to train for years to do effectively (these days it’s unlikely you’d get a foot in the door without the right qualifications) and it does get under the skin. My mother is in her eighties, and although she retired years ago, she is still at her happiest in front of her overlocker and sewing machine combo (a professional wouldn’t dream of working without an overlocker!)
And Ana moans, oh how she did complain! Nothing and no one is good enough for her, so much that I feel sorry for Ward at some points in the story and begin to wonder why he bothers. Surely he could do better than this woman? She niggles and complains and it never stops coming.
The sex didn’t really register for me in this book. There isn’t a lot, and it doesn’t mean a huge deal. I’m not convinced that they ever get to consummate properly, and we didn’t really get to read a satisfactory scene.
I did enjoy the presence of Ward’s guitar, the one he composes on. When he gives up composing and performing after the death of his wife, his guitar is shut in its case in his offices. I wonder why Ward has an office at all, since rock gods don’t generally go in for them or they use their agent’s or manager’s, but Ward has more interests than his music, so that works okay.
I like Ward and mentally took him out of the rock category and into the country or folk slot, as it works better for me that way. He’s patient, kind, and waits for her to come to him with alarming restraint.
But I expected so much more from this book. Perhaps that’s my problem. I would still love to read a book with a real rock star hero in this line. Alpha to the max!
Grade: C-
Summary: Nothing could tempt widower Ward Miller from his self-imposed seclusion. Until the private celebrity met his new “handler,” the beautiful, no-nonsense Ana Rodriguez. While he’d only stepped back into the spotlight for the worthy charity Ana ran, having her by his side was the benefit he truly wanted.
She claimed she’d never fall for a musician – being starstruck wasn’t her style. But that wouldn’t stop Ward. Ana made him want things he hadn’t wanted in much too long. So he’d pursue her.and with one kiss turn the tables on this innocent, leaving her begging for his touch.
Read an excerpt.
