Veena’s review of Lush (Delicious Series, Book 3) by Lauren Dane
Erotic Romance published by Berkley Trade 02 Apr 13
We first met Mary Whaley when Gillian Forster met and fell in love with famous rock star Adrian Brown. Since then most of the Delicious group have found love and are content in their new relationships. Mary is content to watch and share in her friends’ happiness as she concentrates on the growing success of her catering business and her out-of-the-park success with her weekly Supper Club. Is it time for Mary to find love? Well, Lauren Dane certainly thought so and brings Mary face to face with sexy rockstar Damien Hurley, and, lo and behold, there is this instant connection and chemistry between them, which pretty quickly takes them away from Gillian and Adrian’s engagement party to find the nearest bed and get horizontal. Could this one-night stand evolve into something more? It’s pretty interesting to see who really pursues whom in this newest offering of the Delicious series.
Damien has seen and enjoyed it all. Having achieved success at a young age, he and his brothers have indulged in all the vices, and, in fact, his elder brother finally paid the price and withdrew from the stage. Damien is used to fending off clinging women and perhaps Mary’s hands-off approach making him do all the work penetrates his shields. Suddenly the man is in full pursuit and there are many opportunities, as he is working closely with Adrian and then Mary is going to cater Adrian and Gillian’s reception and other publicity events. Can Mary find a way to live within the fishbowl which is Damien’s life when he’s on tour?
Mary’s friends help her work out her fear of being in the media glare and encourage her to scratch her itch to see if it has staying power. Mary’s self-possession in how she handles the relationship and holds her own is remarkable. When they’re in New York and she and Damien are coming back from dinner, he runs into some old friends and thinks nothing of a hug and a kiss and Mary sets him straight. Then the incident when she goes to watch him perform and his protectiveness and tenderness make me want to ask Mary what she’s waiting for.
There are so many things for them to work out. She has a twelve-month waiting list for her Supper Club in Seattle and he lives in Portland, not exactly easy for dating and that’s before you even factor in all the fame and hype. But at heart Damien is a family person and when you meet his family and see the closeness between his mama and his brothers, it is inevitable that love moves in a predictable way. The author, of course, keeps it all interesting by creating conflicts that need to be resolved to make the reader wonder if it will truly be a happily ever after.
I really enjoyed the book. It’s light hearted, it’s fun. The characters feel real and it’s fun to visit with the Browns and their extended family and, of course, to meet all the friends on Bainbridge Island.
Grade: B
Summary:
USA Today bestselling author Lauren Dane delivers a second serving of sexy in her new Delicious novel—in which taste and temptation make up a sweet recipe…
Mary Whaley has her hands full running a successful catering company and overseeing her supper club. She’s got everything she ever wanted—or so she thought. When she meets ridiculously hot and very dirty rock star Damien Hurley at her friend’s engagement party, the attraction she feels is overpowering—and she isn’t about to deny herself.
Damien is used to a hard and fast life. He and two of his brothers started a band when they were all in high school—then they hit the big time and stayed there. He’s also a legendary madman on the stage and in the bedroom. But when he meets Mary, something clicks, and the bad boy starts thinking he may have finally found something good.
What begins as a series of fleeting trysts soon get much more complicated. Damien can’t figure out why Mary doesn’t want more from him. And before long it’s Damien who wants more of Mary. But it turns out Mary is no stranger to the celebrity news and he’s got a very big job ahead of him—proving that he’s worth more than a one-night stand…
Other books in this series:
