Kristie J’s review of Dirty Stranger (Dirty Suburbs, Book 3) by Cassie-Ann L. Miller
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 22 Feb 17
My ebook TBR pile is getting out of control now. I’m forgetting where and why I’m getting more and more of the books I’m reading. But however I got this one, I hope lightning strikes again, because it was real pleasant surprise.
Isla is having a bad go of it. She’s recently found out she has to pay alimony to the rat bastard ex-husband who cheated on her, and she’s barely making ends meet in her yoga studio. She really needs to use all her go-to de-stressing methods to achieve her Zen. One thing she simply can’t do without, though, is her daily shot of coffee from the shop next door. The story opens when she heads in for her usual coffee and there is someone new doing barista duties. Someone young and very, very appealing. He flirts quite deliciously with her, but Isla figures he’s a student trying to make some extra money.
She sees him again working as a bartender in the evening and yep, the pull is still there, but she just doesn’t have any kind of time for a dalliance. But they keep running into each other, and Isla slowly starts to weaken her defenses.
Reuben is our hero and oh, what a good hero he makes. In truth, he couldn’t be further from who/what Isla thinks he is. He sees the sadness in her eyes and he wants to see that change, and he wants to protect her from anyone or anything that will hurt her. But he doesn’t do it in a take charge kind of way. No, he respects that she has to do a lot of things for herself. He will be there to support her, though.
While Reuben is such a sweetheart of a hero and the dashing knight in shining armor kind of guy, Isla is a bit on the stubborn side when it comes to taking his help. I get that’s just the way she’s wired, and her ex did some major damage, but at times I was thinking, “Let him help. Let him help you.”
But I did enjoy this book overall and went searching for Ms. Miller’s backlist and the first two books of this series. That’s always a good sign.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Isla
I’m paying alimony to my idiot ex-husband, my business hardly makes enough to keep the lights on and I’m literally holding my car together with duct tape.
Scratch that, I’m holding my life together with duct tape.
So I won’t go on a date with the mysterious, new-in-town barista who makes my morning soy hazelnut latte just the way I like it.
He’d better stop trying to hypnotize me with those honey eyes and those bulging shoulders that stretch the jersey of his coffee shop uniform, because I have enough on my plate and the last thing I need is yet another liability.
Reuben
The cinnamon-haired yoga chick who orders the soy hazelnut latte every morning won’t give me a shot. She thinks I’m just some college boy with student loans trying to get in her pants.
Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions…
Well, she’s right about one thing. From the moment she first sauntered into this coffee shop with her long legs and her sad eyes, I’ve wanted to toss her onto the polished wooden counter and show her just how much of a man I am. There’s so much more to me than meets the eye.
I’m just trying to make her fall for me before my secrets make it to town.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
