Sizzling by Susan Mallery

COPYRIGHT: 2006
SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Straight Romance
PAGES: 384
SERIES: 3rd book in the Buchanan family series

REASON FOR READING: I got hooked after enjoying the first book in the series, Delicious.

SUMMARY:[from Mallery's website]

A spiteful article about the former pitcher and current playboy questions his talent. And the newspaper’s just the first bad news. Reid’s grandmother Gloria’s broken hip means she needs constant care—and she’s going through nurses as if they were Kleenex.

Reid hired nurses 1 and 2 for their bedside manner with him. So for number 3, he chooses Lori Johnson, the first candidate who seems immune to his brand of charm.

Lori considers herself inoculated against amoebas like Reid Buchanan. So why are her well-fortified defenses starting to crumble under the force of Reid’s sexy smile—and the kindness he shows her at every turn? There’s only one explanation for the feelings flaring between them—chemistry.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
The Buchanans are a family of restaurateurs in Seattle. The family is comprised of three brothers; Cal (from Delicious), Walker (from Irresistible), and Reid, half-sister Dani, and their mean evil grandmother, Gloria. This is Reid's book and I was looking forward to the continuation of the series, but I was a bit disappointed with it. Reid is an ex-baseball player who runs a sports bar. He's rich, handsome and thinks he's God's gift to women. I usual like stories where the hero who is a womanizer/slut/playboy type and the heroine is a strong woman that doesn't take any of his crap, but I never felt an emotional connection between Reid and Lori for most of the book. Reid came across as very shallow and self-absorbed and I didn't like him much. I did enjoy the embarrassment that a former girlfriend causes him by writing an article about his lack sexual prowess. Took him down a peg. But Reid does care about his grandmother. She is injured in a fall in the last book and now is ready to come home from the hospital, but she still needs nursing care. So Reid hires a nurse, Lori, to care for her in his home. Of course, Lori has an instant attraction to him but thinks he will never notice her.

Gloria has been a bad tempered tyrant in the previous books and now that she is sick and depends on others to take of her I thought she would mellow out a bit, but no such luck. She's still a mean old bitch and I never sympathized with her for an instant. Lori was convinced that she was just lonely, but I wasn't buying it. I couldn't stand the witch. But Reid cared about her so I give him points for that.

The plot was rather thin and I didn't like the characters much so I was about ready to give up on it, but somewhere past the halfway point I started liking Reid, Lori and Gloria more so I finished it. I ended up liking it a little bit more than Irresistible but not as much as Delicious. Now I can't decide if I will read the next book (Dani's story) Tempting.

GRADE: B-