In Over His Head, by Jacquie D'Alessandro

The first book I read this weekend was In Over His Head (excerpt), by Jacquie D'Alessandro.

Lexie Webster needs a fling badly. She's not looking for a relationship - her former fiancé, a daredevil with a death wish, cured her of that! But that doesn't mean she has to live like a nun, either. Especially since her newest client, sexy Josh Maynard, is inspiring some very impure thoughts.

Rodeo star Josh Maynard is hanging up his spurs to fulfill his lifelong dream -learning to sail. Only, he never dreams he'll end up in over his head before he even starts! Because it's obvious his new sailing instructor, Lexie Webster, has an agenda: to seduce him right out of his swimsuit and Stetson! And he's more than willing to go along with her. Especially when he realizes that he wants more than just a quick dip...

This was a B, a cute, but pretty insubstantial story. Simple and straightforward, with two protagonists who like each other from the start, have no problem in going to bed together the first night, and whose relationship is mostly hitch-free, except for a small hiccup in the end. There just wasn't much it, but it was just the kind of feel-good story I sometimes like to read.

Josh and Lexie were cute, and nice, and kind. Josh was almost too perfect. I loved the way he thought about his late parents; it made a welcome change from all those dysfunctional families so common in romance novels. Lexie was likeable, too, and I did understand her reaction near the end, pushing Josh away. It was a little bit exagerated, but I understood the principle. (BTW, I only wish she didn't say "Yikes!" quite so often ;-)

This book had many, many love scenes for a barely-200-pg long story (hell, it would have had many love scenes for a 400-page-long book!). They were very nice scenes, but the story was so cute and sweet that they felt a bit incongruous. I could have done with a bit less in that department.

I like D'Alessandro in small doses. A few books like this and I'd go right into diabetic shock, but one, once in a while, is nice.