Fans of Eloisa James & Julia Quinn discussion
Monday Puzzler
>
Monday Puzzler, November 2, 2015
date
newest »
newest »
Haven't read this one, but it sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing :-) ♥
No clue. What a dad the hero must be!
Mod
Mod
Too bad, hero might have liked it more had daughter given Him the apricot facial instead of Barbie.
It's SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE by Rachel Gibson. If you haven't read her yet, I strongly recommend her.
Mod
Dls wrote: "Wow. I think that's the only Gibson I didn't read through"LOL, Deb. That's funny. This book is another of those you love it or hate it kind. It has a few plot points that drive people nuts - the secret baby, the jerk hero, and he's a hockey player. Usually I wouldn't like it either but for some reason I love it. I really like Georgeanne, the heroine, and I love Lexie, their daughter. I think the pet shop scene is one of the funniest scenes ever.
Mod
Janga wrote: "I'm a fan of kids in romance too, Irish. Or rather I'm a fan when the kids are real and are there for a reason rather than just serving as paper doll kid #1. This authors does it right. The scene i..."I agree with your point about how children function in stories, Janga. You said it very well.
Mod
I like children in romances, especially when they are written well. I think the interactions between the child and the hero and/or heroine are great ways to show character development. This scene has our alpha hero spending time with his daughter.
“Oh. Do you want to play Barbies then?”
He’d rather sever his left nut.
“L____,” Heroine said from the doorway of the kitchen where she stood drying her hands with a towel. “I don’t think Hero wants to play Barbies.”
“Please,” L____ begged him. “I’ll let you pick out the best clothes.”
He looked into her little face with her big blue eyes and pink cheeks and he heard himself say, “Okay, but I get to be Ken.”
L____ jumped off the chair and ran from the room. “Don’t got no Ken ‘cause his legs broke off,” she said over her shoulder.
He glanced at Heroine, who stood there with a pitying look in her eyes while shaking her head. At least she wasn’t avoiding him anymore.
“Are you going to play?” he asked, figuring that with Heroine playing, too, he could quit after a short while.
She laughed silently and walked toward the couch. “No way. You get first pick of all the good clothes.”
“You can have first pick,” he promised.
“Sorry, big boy.” She picked up a magazine and sat down. “You’re on your own.”
L____ came back into the room loaded down with toys, and Hero had a bad feeling he was stuck for a while.
“You can be Jewel Hair Barbie,” L____ said as she tossed him a naked doll, then she opened her arms and pastel plastic furninshings fell to the floor.
He moved to sit cross-legged on the floor, then he picked up the doll and quickly looked her over. As a kid, he would have given just about anything to touch a naked Barbie, but he’d never been lucky enough to get within ogling distance. Now that he was afforded a good look at her, he discovered she had a scrawny ass and her knees made weird crunching sounds.
Resigned to his fate, he sat on the floor and searched through a pile of clothes. He chose a leopard-print leotard with matching leggings. “Do I get a matching handbag?” he asked L____, who was busy setting up the beauty parlor.
“No, but you gots some boots.” She dug through her stuff, then handed them to him.
He looked them over. “Just what every well- dressed woman needs, a pair of hooker boots.”
“What’s hooker boots?”
“Never mind,” Heroine said from her position behind the magazine.
Playing with dolls was a new experience for Hero. He didn’t have a sister or any close female relations his age. As a kid, he’d played with action figures, but mostly he just played hockey. He pulled the leotard up over Barbies hard plastic breasts, then reached for the leggings. As he dressed the doll he realized several things. First, getting a pair of leggings up rubber legs was a real bitch, and second if Barbie were real, she wouldn’t be the type of woman he’d want to help dress or undress. She was skinny and hard and her feet were pointed. He realized something else, too. “Ahh, Heroine?”
“Hmm?”
He turned to look at her. “You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you?”
She lowered the magazine a fraction and her big green eyes peered at him over the top. “What?”
“This,” he said, and pointed to the beauty parlor. “Something like this could seriously jeopardize my reputation as a badass. Oh, sorry,” he corrected himself before either of the two females had a chance. “Something like this could make my life hell.”
Her devious laughter filled the space between them and he couldn’t help but laugh, too. He imagined that he looked real stupid sitting there trying to shove boots on a Barbie doll. Then abruptly Heroine’s laughter died and she tossed the magazine on the end table. “I’m taking a shower,” she said as she stood.
“Do you want your perm now?” L____ asked.
Hero watched the sway of Heroine’s hips as she walked from the room. “Do I have to get a perm?” he asked, turning his attention to his L____.
“Yep.”
Hero hopped his hooker-booted Barbie over to the pink salon chair. He didn’t know much about beauty parlors, but he’d had a girlfriend or two who had spent their time and his money in them. “Could you do my nails while I’m here?” he asked, then ordered a bikini wax and an apricot facial.
L____ laughed and told him he was funny, and suddenly playing Barbies wasn’t so bad.