Pippa is engaged to be married to a decent, but boring and fairly unintelligent, uninspired fellow. Pippa, on the other hand, is scientifically minded and well-read. She is also not very socially adept and worries about the marriage and especially about the wedding night. Which is why she tries to get Cross, a notorious rake, to educate her about sex–although only through lecture and not the dirty deed itself. But Cross refuses because Pippa is an innocent. Plus, she’s his friend’s/business partner’s sister-in-law so it would be bad for him if he were caught alone with Pippa. But he is attracted to her–and her wit. And then there’s further complications when Cross is threatened and the only way out is for him to marry someone he has no interest in. There’s also his past and his secret shame.
I enjoyed the hell out of this one. It was a VERY fast read for me. Nice and steamy, and it didn’t make me cringe nearly so much with the male chauvinism. Philippa, or Pippa, was pretty delightful. She was nerdy, but I didn’t find her annoying. She was pretty endearing. I would give it at least a solid 3.75-4.0, so I’m going to go with a 4.0 because it was a lot of fun. I have heard that book 3 in the series isn’t any good, so I am debating book 4. It features Chase, which is tempting…. I had to go to the author’s website to find out if Chase even had a book because Amazon was not very helpful with my research. Sarah MacLean’s website made me chuckle – in large type across her screen it says, “I write books. There’s smooching in them.”
I totally don’t get the covers to this series of books though. The author describes the women as not typical beauties–and this woman isn’t even wearing glasses! Imposter! Also, my google search for the book covers had me stumble across the following pic:
Nice, but not sure what he has to do with the book. It looks like it’s attached to a review on someone’s Goodreads account. Sweet! So does that mean I can just post pics of hot men in my reviews? Excellent!
Oh I loved this one too! Ms MacLean wrote a good hero in Cross here. Such a shame the next books are so disappointing. Chase’s book may not be what you’re expecting.
I hoped that the new series would be good, but it’s really not either. You could check out some of her earlier books if you’re interested, they were pretty quick reads if I recall correctly.
I don’t think anyone will complain about the hot guy pics in the post!
lol thanks for the warning. Yep I was a tad surprised by the Amazon synopsis of book 4–they must reveal Chase’s identity at the end of book 3. I may read it anyway, but I will probably get back to some other books before I read anymore romance. Think anyone will mind if I throw hot guy pics in my reviews of more serious books? ;)
Yes, please feel free to include pictures of attractive men in your reviews. ;)
This is MacLean’s absolute best in my humble opinion. Pippa and Cross are a delight. Chase’s book is my second favorite. You can go ahead and skip Temple’s book. It’s the worst of her entire catalog, and I don’t think you need it to enjoy the last one – especially since you already know the ‘big reveal’.
Really, you do NOT need to read Temple’s book. It’s extremely skippable. Chase’s book is divisive over here on the CBR. Some of us (like me) really liked it, others did not. I thought the reveal about Chase’s identity was delightful and as someone who had read MacLean’s first romance trilogy (Love by Numbers), it was a nice call-back. If you like Pippa and Cross, you should absolutely read book 4 as well. But skip 3. It’s pretty bad.
With regards to your question about throwing in pictures of hot guys in reviews of other books – I think we can all appreciate pictures of hot guys (and gals) in reviews. Especially if they are of Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser. They liven things up. I say go for it! :D
I’m a book 4 fan, but I know many around here aren’t. Just skip 3. Also the new series is pretty mediocre, but her first (Love By Numbers) has surprisingly held up in head over time. They’re fun, quick reads.
This whole series is one that I rated fairly high at the time that I read them (4 star average) but in hindsight find rather forgettable. This is the best of the four and looking over my reviews, the last two are both frustrating. With the benefit of hindsight and having read many better romances, I’m not really sure they’re worth the time.
I think I read them through potential-coloured glasses the first time. I haven’t really gone back to them and that is always a good long term measurement.
This is my favourite of the four. I thought book one was pretty good, although the hero had his head up his @ss, didn’t like Temple’s book, and tried book 4 twice and still haven’t finished it.