HONK IF YOU LOVE REAL MEN

Author: Carrie Alexander, Pamela Britton, Susan Donovan, Lora Leigh ISBN: 031233916X 6/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: ST. MARTIN' PRESS

Naughty Girl by Carrie Alexander Estrella has never really taken a chance on anything risky in her life, so when her boss goes out of town and leaving her swanky apartment and her hot little sports car in her care, Estrella finds that she has also briefly developed a taste for the daring. So when she catches the of a gorgeous construction worker she has been lusting after for months, she musters up the courage to invite him to a delicious afternoon tryst that turns out to be so much more. WANTED: One Hot Blooded Man by Pamela Britton When Breanna Miller decides to cure her fear of physical intamcy by bedding a former high school flame, she gets more than she bargained for in the hot blooded hunk who has every intention of not only curing her, but exploring every erotic fantasy known to a woman's soul. Have Mercy by Susan Donovan Lucy Cunningham is a hot writer who can’t her novels to be. . .well, hot. The passion seems to have fizzled, right along with her last failed relationship. So when her agent sends her up to the Berkshires to get her head together, she feels that it is just what the doctor ordered. That is until she meets her new neighbor who sets more than her imagination on fire. Reno's Chance by Lora Leigh Raven Richards has secretly pined and seriously longed for her best friend’s older brother ever since she was a little girl and she walked in on him with his girlfriend. And when he went became a Navy SEAL, she waited anxiously for him to come home from each and ever mission. What she didn’t realize was that Reno had long ago noticed when the little girl became a woman. And now that he’s home, his only mission is to get her into his arms, his bed and into her heart.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

HONK IF YOU LOVE REAL MEN is a wonderful, sensuous set of short stories that had me alternating between holding my breath and breathing heavy.

In Naughty Girl, Estrella is a maid who is trying to impress a gorgeous construction worker named Jesse Drummond. She takes her boss's car while she is out of town and drives by the construction site he is working at trying to catch his eye—and boy, does she ever!! Estrella is very cutesy and hilariously funny, and it is great watching these two strong characters as they fall head over heels.

Wanted: One Hot Blooded Man is a little more on the serious side. I couldn't get over how very realistically Pamela Britton wrote this story. I found myself thinking that if I had gone through the things that Breanna had, I would feel exactly like she does. Trent Walker is just the man to cure her of her fears, and is a wonderful strong male, which is just what Bree needs.

Have Mercy is the story of Winifred, an author who needs to get back her knack for writing. Her agent sends her to his rustic house in the woods to try and get things together, and she finds herself falling for a "mountain man". I could not stop laughing when I read the scene where Winifred meets Vincent Macbeth. He is strong and woodsy, and would take any woman's breath away, and together Winifred and Mac make a powerhouse of a couple.

Reno's Chance was my favorite story in the book. Raven has been in love with her sister's brother for more years than she can count, except for one thing—he is a Navy SEAL. But when he comes home on leave, he can't keep his hands off of Raven and wears her down slowly, but surely, until she just can't say no to him. Reno is a total Alpha male and a military man to boot, and he and Raven have got wonderful chemistry.

This being my first anthology, I was thoroughly impressed by the depth to the stories and how much I loved them all. If you are looking for some great reading, good sex, and wonderful characters, HONK IF YOU LOVE REAL MEN is the book for you.

Kristal Gorman