Lynne Connolly‘s review of His Little Black Book by Heather MacAllister
Contemporary romance, single author anthology released by Harlequin Blaze 1 Mar 10

This is a collection of three stories all circulating around a Houston advertising agency. The stories varied, but the storytelling was solid and they were a nice way to spend a little time.

The anthology is topped and tailed by the story of Jonathan Black, who runs one of the teams at the agency. He secures the company beach house for the weekend and sends a message to his woman of choice to meet him there. Unfortunately he sends the text to everyone in his “little black book,” that is, the list on his phone.

There’s a storm brewing, which puts everybody’s plans out.

I won’t tell you how his story ends, since it’s the conclusion of the collection, but I do have to say that I really enjoyed that part. It works out the way I wanted it to.

“Text and the Single Girl”

Adrian Dean is the inventor of a home gym and it’s made a lot of money for him, but he is considering taking a Super Bowl ad to boost his product. So the agency lent him the beach house, but he’s planning to leave early. He’s packing up his kit when Sophie arrives. Sophie is a junior on the team, and she thinks Jonathan invited her to the beach house to join a beach party. She’s ambitious, and wants to get on. Ross, Jonathan’s second, has stolen her ideas, which she knows is par for the course, but she’d hoped that would advance her career.

I liked that Sophie wanted a career and was savvy about it. And I liked that Adrian had a body to die for but an ordinary face. I loved them together. The banter is great and they stay in character. When Mia realizes something about the campaign and is angry, Adrian is at first bewildered. My only doubt about this was the instant falling in love, but since they don’t immediately want to marry and breed, I could accept that too. I had a fun time with Sophie and Adrian.

Grade: B+

Story Summary:

“Text and the Single Girl” – Junior copywriter Sophie Callahan is thrilled that Jonathan Black has invited her to one of his legendary beach parties, but a storm is approaching and when she arrives, the only person there is the advertising agency’s most important client.  It’s the opportunity of a lifetime if Sophie can resist the temptation to mix business and pleasure.

“Text Appeal”

Mia Weiss is the scheduler for the team. She is on the way to the beach house to meet Jonathan when, because of the storm, her car ends up in the ditch. She is rescued by the owner of a local restaurant, Kevin Powell, who is preparing sandwiches to take to the local shelter, since his power has been knocked out by the storm and so the contents of his freezers will spoil.

Kevin, not surprisingly, is annoyed to be asked to help by the local authorities, and since he can’t produce any ID, Mia at first refuses to open her car doors so he can help. I loved this. Just because he’s ripped, it doesn’t make him trustworthy. But eventually he persuades her and eventually Mia ends up helping him make the sandwiches – and other things.

Kevin’s reasons for holding Mia off are realistic, and thank all the gods of Harlequin, it isn’t because his mother hated him, or he had a girlfriend who was a nasty bitch. No, it makes sense. The speed of their relationship is a little too much, but I could let that pass, because I enjoyed their characters and the way they behaved. Mia wants her career. Hooray. So another B+ for this one.

Grade: B+

Story Summary:

“Text Appeal” – Mia hopes the invitation means the famously hard-to-hook Jonathan wants a commitment–which would be great if only she hadn’t been stranded by the storm and rescued by Kevin, her fantasy beach cowboy.

“Safe Text”

For me, this was the weakest of the trio of stories and it’s mainly due to the characters involved. Gil Shaughnessy is a successful creative and works with his partner, Paul, successfully. He has been in love with Cammy Philips for years, but she only has eyes for Jonathan Black. Paul accuses him of stalking her, and while he doesn’t mean her any harm, yes, I’d agree with Paul. His behaviour, things like making spreadsheets of her likes and dislikes, made me uncomfortable.

Cammy gave up a successful creative career to be Jonathan’s assistant. Poorly paid and at his beck and call, she’s mooned after him for years, but he hasn’t taken notice of her. That despite his wolfish way of life, honing the ability to pick up women and drop them right under her eyes.

So, yes, this is the story of a stalker and a pathetic heroine but because I enjoyed the other two stories, I persevered with this one. I can see what McAllister was trying to do with this story – show the way people swept things clean and got on with their lives – but I couldn’t get with the people in this one, and I can’t say that I enjoyed it as much as the others. I would have preferred it if Cammy had wanted to change, rather than been stuck on Jonathan for so long, and I did like the fact that Gil had decided to stop dressing for Cammy and pleasing her. That part helped to redeem this one, a bit.

Grade: C-

Story Summary:

“Safe Text” – Jonathan’s assistant, Cammy, has been hopelessly in love with him for three years and now he’s finally noticed her. So how does she end up naked in the backseat of a car with Gil, her former creative partner?

I can’t say too much about the epilogue, since it concludes Jonathan’s part in the story of the storm, but it was great and I loved it. Jonathan got what he deserved, which is all I’m saying.

I think that makes this an overall B. Lovely, witty dialogue and believable characters brought this book right up into the fun read for me, but I couldn’t get on with the couple in the last story.

Overall Grade: B

Book blurb:

Three women head to a luxurious beach house after a womanizing bachelor accidentally texts a sexy invitation to his entire little black book.

Read an excerpt here (scroll down).