INTIMATE SEDUCTION

Author: Brenda Jackson ISBN: 9780373861200 7/2009 EROTIC Publisher: KIMANI

When a man finds a beautiful woman asleep in his bed… …he has only one choice. To seduce her with a night of lovemaking she'll never forget. Trouble is, Donovan Steele's sultry new housekeeper is just as determined not to become the legendary playboy's latest conquest. Trading the Ivy League for down South, Natalie Ford is helping out with her ailing aunt's housecleaning service. But she finds that this powerful, potent man of Steele ignites a different kind of chemistry—one that defies every law of attraction the science professor ever learned. Natalie knows she has to come clean to Donovan about who she really is…especially when he starts believing she's out to sabotage his family business. Will she lose her chance to love the real man behind the seductive legend?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Brenda Jackson sets her contemporary romance INTIMATE SEDUCTION (Book 7 in the Steele Family series) in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Donovan Steele, the youngest of “those Steele boys” is proud to be the only marriage holdout while relishing his “playa” status. He’s got a great job in the family business that caters to NASCAR, plenty of cash, lots of women willing to be his for the moment, and is safe in the knowledge that none of them have ever shared his “real” bed. That is, until his house cleaner breaks her ankle and her niece (Princeton chemistry professor Natalie Ford) steps in to help out her aunt and just has to try out the most comfortable bed she’s ever seen. When Donovan comes home unexpectedly and finds his very own Goldilocks in his bed, he decides then and there that she will be his. Sparks fly from the moment he awakens Natalie, and they are still flying on the last page of the story. Quick! Someone get me a glass of iced sweet tea!

Jackson is a brilliant creator of character. I feel like I know Donovan and Natalie as well as they know themselves. She’s been burned in the past by men who were intimidated by her intelligence, and he’s kept himself walled off from love because sex seems so much more satisfying when emotions don’t get involved. Of course, they are just the antidote they each require to have a wholly fulfilled life. Natalie delves into Donovan’s life and finds a rich history of family, traditions, and caring for each other that is sorely lacking in her own life. Unfortunately, Donovan doesn’t delve very deeply into Nat’s life until after he accuses her of being a corporate spy trying to get her hands on the formulas of their new tire product. Will he be able to reel this suddenly cold fish back in and breathe fire back into her passion?

I really enjoyed Donovan’s seduction of Natalie. Even when he swears he only wants her body, everybody around him can tell this woman is different for him. He finally gets Natalie’s heart when he’s willing to relocate to New Jersey with her, rather than deal with a prolonged long-distance engagement.

INTIMATE SEDUCTION is one wild ride for the NASCAR investor and the chemistry geek. He revs up their engines, and she sparks the chemistry between them. Readers who enjoy a certain amount of raciness will definitely find the action in this story make their heart pound.

Susan Barton