The Girls Guide to (Man) Hunting (Bluebonnet - Book 1) by Jessica Clare (Jill Myles)
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Penguin USA
Genre: Erotic Romance
Pages: Paperback, 326pp.
ISBN-13: 978-0425247358
ISBN: 042524735X
(Received for an honest review from Berkley Heat)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound
Excerpt from The Girls Guide to (Man) Hunting Courtesy Of Amazon's Inside Look Feature
Synopsis:
Once, Miranda felt a little exposed...
Miranda Hill can't believe her
eyes--her cocky ex-boyfriend, pro hockey player Dane Croft, is back in
Bluebonnet, Texas, after all these years. He ditched her--and their
little town--just as some rather shocking photos showed up on the
Internet for everyone to see. Miranda wasn't so lucky. Stuck in
Bluebonnet and left to fend for herself, she's never really shaken the
scandal--or his betrayal. After nine long years, Dane's back, and she
has the chance to turn the tables on him...
It's time she gets even.
Former NHL hotshot playboy Dane Croft has returned home to open a
survival training school on an old ranch and reinvent himself. When his
former high-school girlfriend enrolls in the program, he has no idea
that Miranda's plan is to get him in a compromising position--not the
one he's imagining, anyway. But soon Miranda realizes that to carry out
her deviously sexy revenge, she'll have to get up close and personal
with Dane all over again. Being a good girl got her nowhere for nine
years; now it's time to be a little naughty. But falling in love with
the man who broke her heart was never part of the plan...
Thoughts:
Jessica Clare aka. Jill Myles takes readers into the mind of a woman with revenge on her mind. The Girls Guide to (Man) Hunting is a novel that will appeal to both erotic romance fans and outdoor enthusiasts. Set in the small town of Bluebonnet, Texas, this rollicking story of a wilderness survival school and a couple of high school sweethearts is full of fun and hot steamy romance. Revenge isn't just for men and it's Oh! So satisfying...
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a different take on revenge. Usually it's the hero that gets to exact the revenge of the unsuspecting heroine. Clare turns the tables in this one and let's the female be the one out to prove a point. Miranda is a great character. Even though she is out to get Dane, she still comes across as a caring and enjoyable heroine. She has withstood a lot in her past including some steamy photo's of her and Dane posted on the internet. In a small town, that's practically suicide. I thought she was strong and determined and I don't really think she would have followed through with hurting Dane. It was obvious she still loved him from the start and that made the scenario play out a lot differently from what readers were expecting. Clare did an amazing job with this character as well as the hero, Dane.
One of the things that I particularly liked about this one was the setting. Not only is it set in Texas, it is also set in the great outdoors. I love the outdoors. I like to hike, to camp, to fish... the whole nine yards and having this book set at a wilderness survival camp was fantastic. It appealed to a lot of different avenues in my mind. Not only do I like the outdoors, but sex outside is something of a fantasy for a lot of people. It's that forbidden aspect of things and I think Clare really used that to her advantage with this book.
Also it's set in a small town. Which made the scandal angle of the plot a lot more believable than if it had been set in a larger metropolitan area. A few photo's online wouldn't have gotten Miranda any attention had it not been for the small town setting. It was very well done in this book.
Another thing that made this book stand out for me was the relationship between the hero and heroine. Here you have high school sweethearts that end up separated and then find themselves back together after a long time. I liked that part to begin with because I think that happens in real life sometimes, so it seemed authentic and believable. A girl wanting revenge on a guy for doing something she feels ruined her life... definitely a possibility. But what I liked most about Miranda and Dane was their straight up normal sexual relationship. It wasn't about mastery or about hedonism, it was about two people who were extremely attracted to each other and that chemistry ultimately distracted Miranda from exacting her revenge.
Most erotic romances seem to think that the reader wants some kind of extreme element... whether its submission or a fetish. But that's not always true and Clare proves with this one that readers can be entertained by good old fashioned sex. The kind that curls your toes and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up... but doesn't have to shock you to death in the process! Clare also sets up the series well by introducing readers to Dane's partners in the survival school and setting up personalities and stories that will further the series with them. This is a very well written erotic romance with lots of hot and steamy moments, but it's also about love and how that love can be expressed. Revenge turns into something very different in the end!
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a different take on revenge. Usually it's the hero that gets to exact the revenge of the unsuspecting heroine. Clare turns the tables in this one and let's the female be the one out to prove a point. Miranda is a great character. Even though she is out to get Dane, she still comes across as a caring and enjoyable heroine. She has withstood a lot in her past including some steamy photo's of her and Dane posted on the internet. In a small town, that's practically suicide. I thought she was strong and determined and I don't really think she would have followed through with hurting Dane. It was obvious she still loved him from the start and that made the scenario play out a lot differently from what readers were expecting. Clare did an amazing job with this character as well as the hero, Dane.
One of the things that I particularly liked about this one was the setting. Not only is it set in Texas, it is also set in the great outdoors. I love the outdoors. I like to hike, to camp, to fish... the whole nine yards and having this book set at a wilderness survival camp was fantastic. It appealed to a lot of different avenues in my mind. Not only do I like the outdoors, but sex outside is something of a fantasy for a lot of people. It's that forbidden aspect of things and I think Clare really used that to her advantage with this book.
Also it's set in a small town. Which made the scandal angle of the plot a lot more believable than if it had been set in a larger metropolitan area. A few photo's online wouldn't have gotten Miranda any attention had it not been for the small town setting. It was very well done in this book.
Another thing that made this book stand out for me was the relationship between the hero and heroine. Here you have high school sweethearts that end up separated and then find themselves back together after a long time. I liked that part to begin with because I think that happens in real life sometimes, so it seemed authentic and believable. A girl wanting revenge on a guy for doing something she feels ruined her life... definitely a possibility. But what I liked most about Miranda and Dane was their straight up normal sexual relationship. It wasn't about mastery or about hedonism, it was about two people who were extremely attracted to each other and that chemistry ultimately distracted Miranda from exacting her revenge.
Most erotic romances seem to think that the reader wants some kind of extreme element... whether its submission or a fetish. But that's not always true and Clare proves with this one that readers can be entertained by good old fashioned sex. The kind that curls your toes and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up... but doesn't have to shock you to death in the process! Clare also sets up the series well by introducing readers to Dane's partners in the survival school and setting up personalities and stories that will further the series with them. This is a very well written erotic romance with lots of hot and steamy moments, but it's also about love and how that love can be expressed. Revenge turns into something very different in the end!
The Girls Guide to (Man) Hunting is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
Jill Myles writes under three pen names: Jill Myles, Jessica Sims, and
Jessica Clare. She lives in Texas with her husband, cats, and has a day
job in finance. Jill spends her time writing, reading, writing, playing
video games, and doing even more writing.
1 comment:
A woman scorned...I can't wait to see how this revenge turns out.
lag110 at mchsi dot com
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