Review: Thrill Me, by Susan Mallery

susan mallery, thrill me, book reviews


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Maya Farlow learned the hard way to depend only on herself, so when she fell too deeply for the bad-boy charms of Del Mitchell, she did the only thing she could—she ran. Stunned, Del left Fool's Gold to make his name and fortune in extreme sports.

Now ten years later, Maya's been hired to promote her hometown's new slogan, The Destination for Romance. The celebrity spokesman is none other than Del, the man she dumped but never forgot. Awkward!

Although Del's not the type to hold a grudge, he's determined to avoid falling a second time for the woman who broke his heart. He's a daredevil, not an idiot. Trouble is, in all his adventures, he never found a rush as exhilarating as Maya's kiss. Maybe risking his heart will prove to be the biggest thrill of all…

Genre: contemporary romance

Publishing date: July 2015

Offensive content: nothing too much, just a few hot kisses and one sex scene.

Review: I loved the romance side of this book. As contemporary romances go, this is probably one of the best. 

Del and Maya have a past together. They were first in love ten years ago, both just barely adults, and it didn't work out. Not because they wasn't enough love, but because they were just too young. Maya accepted Del's marriage proposal but then got scared and realized that maybe she needed more in life than just a loving husband, a white picket fence and 2.4 kids. And Del thought he wanted to settle down, but deep down he had a relentlessness and a desire to see the world first. 

Ten years later they meet again in Fool's Gold, the small town where it all began and realize that, more than anything, they are good friends, not to mention a great work team. And yes, they are still in love, though they both avoid acting on it, afraid to spoil the friendship. 

Of course this no-action policy doesn't last and things progress, through a slightly bumpy road, onto happily ever after. They are just right for each other. But I liked the aspect of friendship before love (or because of love) instead of the instant attraction or lust-at-first-sight that we see in so many other romance novels. It adds credibility, while still leaving you feeling warm and fuzzy as the story unfolds. 

Like in the previous book I've read by this author (Kiss Me), I also liked the fact that we get to see the story from the point of view of the different characters, as well as the captivating side stories, such as Del's mother struggle with breast cancer and the thing between Madeline and Jonny Blaze (which isn't really a "thing" but I'm sure hoping to see it featured in one of the upcoming books in the series...).  Oh, and there's also a TV contest featuring naked butts. Naked male butts, to be exact.

What I didn't like was the repetition. There are certain ideas repeated far too often in the book, almost down to the same words. While I don't mind the repetition of concepts per se, using exactly the same words is kind of a distraction. It makes me go back in the story to check where I've read it before. Letting us know that all Mitchell brothers are alike, with dark hair and dark eyes, but that the two oldest take more after their mother and the rest after their father, could have been said just once. And Del's insistence that he doesn't want to start something with Maya because she left him in the past and he can't trust her again is repeated over and over. 

I don't know if this was a conscious effort by the author to increase the length of the book or if it was just an editing problem. After all, publishing two books in less than a month must take a toll (Kiss Me, the previous one in the series was published right at the end of June 2015). But this is why I'm giving Thrill Me 4 stars instead of 5. 


However, if you can ignore that repetition issue, Thrill Me is still a great summer summer read (well, actually, a great read in any season) and I would still recommend it. Not to mention that now I'm feeling like I have to read all the other books in the series...

Have a great week!



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