Play with Me by Janice Maynard--coming January 2007




Tender and passionate and everything I love about romance!

A champagne toast between three beautiful best friends—and a pact to make their fantasies come true before their thirtieth birthdays. Catherine, Kellie, and Gina, three very different women, but with one goal and the race is on.

As I read these three stories my initial reaction is that Ms. Maynard has a created a very nice mix. She didn’t go into the more wicked world of erotic romance but it’s still not your granny’s romance either!

The first story in this trio…mmm, very hot. I know these stories don’t have the Scimitar flavor behind them, but they aren’t tame either. In Still Waters, Catherine is a painfully shy Archivist in a local Charleston museum and completely fascinated by the hard working, wealthy Phillip Trent. Feeling a moment of brevity, Catherine decides to stop by Phillip’s office, only his secretary lets her know in no uncertain terms that he’s busy and has no time in his schedule to fit her in. She leaves feeling downhearted and uncertain she’ll ever work up the nerve to talk to Phillip. Just then, Phillip comes running down the street after Catherine. He asks her out. She accepts and this story gets emotional and steamy from there. A masked ball. A promise of passion. Glorious! Catherine pulled at me the most, because I know how it feels to be so painfully shy, esp. around men. It reminded me of a modern day version of Prince Charming.

My favorite story is the second, however. This one is about Kallie and Beau. Big huge sigh here, ladies. I do so love the friendship type romances. In Skin Deep, artist Kallie Bradshaw has had a thing for restaurant owner Beau Donovan for a very long time, but she’s been too afraid to act on her feelings. Fear of ruining a great friendship while getting her heart crushed has kept her from making a fool of herself. Fortunately, Beau isn’t so immune to her as she thinks he is and he’s not plenty ready to change their friendship to something much deeper.

The last story, Party Girl, was a perfect way to wrap up this anthology. Gina is very hardened, but with such a sensitive core. Trey is the perfect man for her. He’s so kind and yet so anxious to make her his and his alone. To make up for the past. To let her know just how stupid and wrong he was about her. I love a hero like that! And when he keeps getting jealous over the two guys staring at her chest when they go parasailing, he’s also very much the typical guy--possessive and predatory. I love it when an author throws those types of feelings in there. Vulnerability, protectiveness, and a need to forget the past and start fresh. Do you see now, why this is a great way to conclude these three stories?

~It’s a truly excellent trilogy. Gentle and romantic. It’s a fairy tale/prince charming tale--only with HOT love scenes! Oh, and I loved the epilogue! What a great surprise for Gina! You’ll have to read it to know what I mean!