One-Night Man, by Jeanie London

Erm, I think I forgot to enter Angie's TBR challenge this month, but here's my read, anyway. This month we had to read a category romance or a book that is part of a series. I went for a category, a Harlequin Blaze.

Title:One-Night Man

Author: Jeanie London

Year published: 2002

Why did you get this book?: I'm not exactly sure; it's been in my TBR for a while. I suspect I must have picked it up because I liked another of London's Blazes, Secret Games. I probably bought it before I read her How To Host a Seduction, though.

Blurb:

Is one night enough to cure a grand passion?

Josh Eastman is a grand passion waiting to happen. A fantasy come to life. One look at this sexy private investigator has Lennon McDarby thinking scandalous thoughts about long, hot nights. But long, hot nights with Mr. Wrong are not in her future. She's looking for a nice respectable man for a nice, safe relationship. No excess desire to make her crazy, which is what's happening with Josh! Maybe, though, her search can wait a night-or two-while she gets this irresistible man out of her system...

Problem is, this Mr. Wrong is convinced Lennon is Ms Right. He's never met a woman more perfect for him than Lennon. And he's determined to prove it to her-even if he has to use her own fantasies to persuade her that they need a lifetime of nights to explore the heat between them.

Do you like the cover?: No. The design's ok, not horrific, but nothing special, but it's printed in a way that looks dingy and low-quality. I don't know if it really shows in the jpg I've included here, but my copy looked as if there were another image superimposed on the cover.



Did you enjoy the book?: I didn't, I was extremely bored by it and irritated by the silly contrivances. I'm giving it a C-, and the only reason I'm not going with a D grade is because I reserve those for books I found offensive in some way, and this one wasn't.

One-Night Man in a few sentences:

External conflict: Lennon McDarby's helping her great-aunt put together an exhibition of erotic art, and the usual nuts are protesting and making threatening noises. So Great-aunt Quinevere asks Josh Eastman (her long-time lover's grandson) to stick close to Lennon and protect her from any danger.

Internal conflict: Lennon believes passion must be kept separate from love. Men who inspire out-of-control passion are good for affairs (and she's had and enjoyed a few), but for marriage, she wants someone who doesn't drive her crazy. She wants a relationship that will be staid and stable. Josh inspires out-of-control passion, so therefore, he's fine for an affair, but nothing more.

Both internal and external conflicts were problematic for me.

The external plot was beyond contrived and silly. Josh guarding her through all the "erotic activities" they have planned for the exhibit's promo? Typical of the Blazes I hate, those which go for ridiculous situations supposed to generate heat instead of finding the heat in more believable setups. Yawn. Like, of course the hotel is full, so Lennon and Josh will need to share their hotel room and sleep in the same bed. Can you get any more clichéd than that?

I think the more I read, the pickier I'm getting. I probably would have been ok with this a few years ago. If you look at my early reviews in this blog, back in 2002, you'll probably see me raving about books similar to this one.

As for the internal plot, Lennon's schizoid distinction between the guys who are fling- and marriage-material was idiotic and didn't make for a compelling conflict. Yet another fake conflict, and I've read too many lately.

Maybe if there had been convincing chemistry between Lennon and Joshua, the book could have been saved, but there wasn't. The love scenes were plentiful and varied, but didn't engage me. Actually, they bored the hell out of me.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?: Not new, I've read two of her books, as I mentioned above. One was very good, the other was like this one. I'm not sure if I'd read something else by her. Probably not unless I heard some very good buzz about it.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?: Passing it on. Unless anyone here wants it, it's going into the box bound for the British Hospital's retirement home.