TANTALISER
ROSE MIDDLETON
ISBN# 1-905393-33-4
1 March 2006
Linden Bay Romance, LLC
www.lindenbayromance.com
MS Reader
$5.99
163 pages
Contemporary Erotic

Charlie Brown, ex-mechanic turned drummer of all-girl band Mystique, shoots her mouth off, speaking her mind regardless of how others, especially men, feel about that. She has been let down by men in the past; an abusive relationship almost destroyed her and she vows never to let anyone have that much power over her again.

Nik Saint Eve, lead singer of all-boy band Tantaliser, seems the a-typical bad boy of rock—long black hair, green eyes sexy enough to melt ice blocks and an impressive array of tattoos, this all-British alpha male comes across as the party animal good girls should avoid, but never do. But this façade hides the pain of his best friend Bobby’s senseless death and a secret he believes has no place in his life.

Nik holds auditions for a drummer to fill Bobby’s shoes, not expecting the attraction he feels for Charlie. He rejects her without a hearing, but not without first coming on to her sexually. While she feels sparks between them, Charlie is so enraged by his chauvinistic attitude to having a girl in his band, she sets up her own band to show him she can beat him at his own game. Two years later, not only has Mystique become Tantaliser’s toughest competition, Nik seems to appear in every city she plays. Open with Charlie about the fantasies he has of them together, Nik knows she feels the same, even if she cannot say it aloud. Can either let go of the past long enough to explore their mutual fascination? Is ‘it’ more than sexual?

I loved this book’s the ‘world is your stage’ setting; each country is unveiled as expertly as the developing romance between two supposedly ‘no hope left for love but let’s scratch the itch’ people. Everything, the dialogue, language and plot, flowed naturally. Well done, Ms Middleton!

Caro
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books