Lisa Plumley

So Irresistible is a sizzling hot romance by Lisa Plumley that is fun, flirty and just a tiny bit suspenseful.

When Gabriella (Gabby) Grimani and Shane Maresca meet at a local brewpub, they have both stepped out of their usual comfort zones. They uncharacteristically indulge in a very steamy one night stand and when they find themselves unexpectedly working together at Gabby's family pizzeria, they agree to keep their relationship purely professional. Their attraction proves to be irresistible and they are soon indulging their passion. Will their relationship survive once Gabby discovers the secret Shane has been keeping?

Financially devastated from a recent takeover attempt, all but one of the family pizzerias have shut down and Gabriella is fighting an uphill battle to keep its doors open. Neither her relationship with her parents or co-workers has recovered from a huge argument with her dad over business improvements. Gabriella is struggling to keep a decent staff and she is disheartened by her once loyal employees' hostile attitudes. Discouraged and dejected, she decides to enjoy a night out when she meets Shane and while she cannot get their scorching encounter out of her mind, Gabby does not have either the time or inclination for a serious relationship.

Shane is a fixer whose latest assignment is to acquire Gabby's pizzeria for his father's corporation. He is feeling a little discontent with where his life is taking him but he is hoping to earn his adopted father's respect with this latest acquisition. Shane half-heartedly goes about his job once he begins working with Gabby, but he unexpectedly finds himself "fixing" Gabby's problems instead of gathering insider info.

The chemistry between Shane and Gabby is off the charts smokin' HAWT! Their encounters are incredibly sensual and best of all? They share an incredible rapport out of bed too. Gabby and Shane really connect on an emotional level, and they both find themselves revealing information about themselves that they usually keep hidden from everyone else. I really enjoyed watching them discover hidden facets of not only themselves but each other as well.

While I enjoyed the overall story, So Irresistible is a little slow moving in the beginning. Most of the background information is revealed in bits and pieces which left me a little confused about what was going on with the pizzeria. While Gabby and Shane are superbly developed protagonists, the secondary cast of characters lacked dimension. With few details of their private lives ever being revealed, their connection always felt superficial. I particularly enjoyed Shane's assistant, Lizzie and Gabby's co-worker Pinkie but frustrating little information is given about either of them.

So Irresistible is a lovely romance and while it is my first Lisa Plumley novel, it certainly won't be my last. I greatly enjoyed the writing style, unique plot and richly detailed descriptions of Portland. All in all a very entertaining novel that I recommend to fans of contemporary romance.… (més)

I'll start by making two things clear: 1. There's a dog in the book, but it's an elderly German shepherd, not the cute little thing on the cover. 2. Despite his advanced age, the dog does not die. He survives the book.

Marisol Winston is heiress to the Home Warehouse DIY chain store fortune, and her main skills are fashion and shopping. She may be getting a bit bored with having no real purpose to her life, because she's conceived an ambition to start a deluxe fashion boutique in L.A. Unfortunately, her family and friends stage an intervention, and her father won't fund her start-up until she completes a stint in shopaholic rehab.

Cash Connelly is, at 34, past his prime as a quarterback, and initially retired rather than be backup quarterback to the new guy, who is also the guy his wife left him for. He has no other skills, though, and doesn't enjoy doing personal appearances promoting whatever his agent has managed to find for him. He's got one last shot at getting re-signed by his old team, the Arizona Scorpions, and he's taking it. For that, he needs a nanny, because his ex has left the kids with him to go traveling, during the very weeks he needs to be getting ready for summer training camp.

Marisol's shopaholic program includes a work assignment stint, and the only useful skills she claims are childcare, cleaning, and entertaining. She's now a nanny for the summer.

I didn't have high hopes for this, but much to my surprise, Marisol is a smart, well-developed character, and if I suspect people running real addiction-type programs may cringe at the Dzeel program, she's shown as really working at her shopping issues, and having real challenges to overcome. Cash is not quite as satisfying, but he's shown as a hardworking guy and a loving is sometimes clumsy father, who really is trying to do things right.

Of course, this includes a strict hands-off-the-nanny policy, which does pose a problem for Marisol, especially as she realizes he's more than just a cute guy.

The kids are adorable without being either too bratty or too perfect to be believed.

Recommended, with some surprise.

I bought this book at some point, and only just found it again and read it.… (més)