"When film location scout Ellie Summers sneaks into a colleague's hotel room with seduction in mind, she's thrilled by her own daring!
But the smug morning-after glow morphs into red-faced mortification when she wakes in the arms of a total stranger! Ruben Theroux might be fine with the situation, but a flustered Ellie most definitely is not.
"
Pages: 192 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Presents Extra on August 2012
Form: Paperback (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Amazon: Buy / $4.99 (Paperback) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $2.99 (Nook)
"When film location scout Ellie Summers sneaks into a colleague's hotel room with seduction in mind, she's thrilled by her own daring!
But the smug morning-after glow morphs into red-faced mortification when she wakes in the arms of a total stranger! Ruben Theroux might be fine with the situation, but a flustered Ellie most definitely is not.
Ellie's only defense against this very attractive guy is to insist they're friends only — strictly no benefits! But Ruben isn't a successful businessman for nothing—they'll be good together, and he's happy to play dirty to get what he wants.…" ~From Goodreads
The smile said it all and those gorgeously curved lips arrowed in on hers. The touch was firm – but not totally dominant as she’d expected. No, he held back for all of a second or two. But then his hand cupped her head, angling her slightly better to meet his as his lips plundered hers. And in another instant she plundered right back – seeking more of that strong touch, that deliciousness – the full impact of his utter masculinity. The shivers skittered down her spine, the knots coiled tighter and tighter in her belly already. His tongue swept – playful, insistent, driving. How could so much could be said with a kiss?
She had no idea why she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly, or why she had her foot pushed so hard on the brake. The car engine wasn’t even running. But she just knew she was in danger.
He stepped back. Her gaze was glued to him – to the fit, taut body and the smile that held as much rue as it did tease now. His big eyes burned right through hers.
“My regret...” he nodded slowly. “...was not kissing you. Of course now I regret not kissing you sooner.”
Breathless, she put her hand on his wrist, seeking one last touch of skin. “Thank you for being so nice to me.”
His gaze narrowed. “I’m not as nice as all that Ellie.” His voice dropped so she leaned forward in her seat, nearer to hear him. “You need to know something about me.”
She waited, lungs not breathing, heart not beating.
“I’m man enough to take no for an answer,” he said. “But I’m also man enough to fight for what I want.”
Eyes not blinking, she had to ask. “What do you want?”
“You again. Every way. Any way.”
Waking Up In The Wrong Bed was a contemporary romance with the twist of sex in the beginning, and then takes a good amount of the book of denial, snarky comments and seduction before it's given ago again. But I loved the concept! Ellie's oopsie of seducing the wrong man in dark hotel room instead of her flirty co-worker turns into a great story of sexual tension, few chosen words, lust and seduction!
Ellie's recent turn to confident woman is fun to read, she's determined not to repeat past weaknesses and live her life to the fullest, including a champagne induced chateau seduction ( of the wrong guy type ), new job and not falling for hot guys with short term plans ( the aforementioned wrong guy ). Ellie is an entertaining heroine with serious denial issue, bad case of hots for a wrong kind of Frenchman and her work cut out for her when the Frenchman decides to seduce her at any cost.
Ruben of course was hot from the beginning, fit, muscled, determined with one sexy grin - and in male perspective if you woke up with a hot woman in your hotel room seducing you in the middle of the night to some action you wouldn't say no - and neither did he. The thing is he wasn't exactly likable as his focus was only on bedding Ellie, being dead set against any relationship that would hinder his business, which was any relationship. Of course you warm up to him when his thoughts begin to undermined his words.
If you are looking for a seductive, will-they-won't-they kinda contemporary romance then Waking Up In The Wrong Bed is for you!
Oh and don't miss Natalie Anderson's Guest Blog Starting With A Sizzle below on what happens when couples get it on in the beginning of the book!
Rating :
Starting with Sizzle
- but not letting the fire go out!!!
Of the twenty books I've written for Harlequin Mills & Boon, WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED is the first to start straight into a sex scene. Yes, I do tend to write 'hotter' books and my characters are often getting it 'on' within the few half of the book at least - but the first scene in the first chapter?!
It was a great challenge and, frankly, a lot of fun! There were a number of challenges to work out - why is she sneaking into bed with a guy, how can she not know it’s the one she intended to be with, why does he let it happen… but in some ways the even bigger challenge is how you handle what happens after.
It's often stated in romance writing texts, that once the characters have gotten it on, you’ve lost the sexual tension - that delicious 'will they/won’t they/when will they…'. Once they do it, all that anticipation is released - and lost.
But is it?
One of the keys to keeping a reader engrossed in a story is to maintain conflict, tension and complication. I would argue that when a couple has sex, everything gets more complicated. So for a couple to have had sex right at the start of their relationship? Well, then it’s already very complicated!!! And then you have so many delicious questions raised again - like WHEN are they going to get it back on? Are they going to agree to a continuing fling, or are they going to physically cool it completely? ( Or try to ). What are the other ramifications of their night together - is it going to affect their work? Or other relationships?
So there can be a ton of conflict and complication right there.
And then there’s the sexual tension aspect as well. I love sexual tension - desire that a character may, for whatever reason, be trying to temper. So you can actually start them again almost fro the beginning and rebuild that tension - and doesn’t it make it even sharper now, given they know how good they are together?
And one of the fun things I like to do in my stories is show how the couple’s relationship is developing and changing through their sex life - how what they say to each other, or how they hold each other ( literally ) can reflect the growing feelings they may have for each other and at what stage they’re at. So what happens when they get it on again for the first time after that crazy night?
To my mind, starting with sizzle definitely has some challenges but it totally can work - and make for an entertaining read. What do you think?
~Natalie Anderson
Waking Up In The Wrong Bed is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
And will be on the shelves in bookstore from Mid-August.
USA TODAY bestseller Natalie Anderson writes fun, frisky, feels-good contemporary romance for Harlequin Mills & Boon and Entangled.
With over twenty books published, she’s also been a Romantic Times Award nominee & a finalist for the R*BY ( Romantic Book of the Year ).
She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband, four children and what feels like a million ducks.
Find out more at her website http://www.natalie-anderson.com and be sure to sign up for her newsletter there as she often has subscriber only eTreats! She’s also on Twitter @authornataliea and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authornataliea
