Mini review: The Blackmail Pregnancy

Oh boy. Doing grades for over 700 students really kicks my butt. You would think I would have gotten used to it by now. Somehow I always think I have more time and few papers to grade.

Since I have been neck deep in eight-beat rhythm compositions and performance reflections, I have not had much time to read and no time to blog. In my last post I teased you all with what I was convinced would be a smoldering pile of poop. The foreboding sounding category romance The Blackmail Pregnancy. (see photo is previous post)

Back cover blurb

Millionaire tycoon Byron Rockcliffe storms back into Cara's life, even though their marriage is long finished. Knowing that Cara's design business is on the verge of collapse, Byron offers to save her from financial ruin by giving her the contract of a lifetime. Although he says his proposal comes with no strings, there's a catch: he's not looking for an interior designer to complete his luxury home- he wants Cara to furnish him with a baby.

Um, no strings? Isn't that whole "You must give me a baby" thing all bound up with strings?

I started reading this book with some serious dread. I am not generally a fan of category romances. They are too short, too cliched, and are usually populated with characters I can not stand. This book somehow managed to be all of that, and yet somehow entertaining. I know! I hate to even admit that I may have enjoyed parts of it. Here's a super quick breakdown of the book:

Too short: The book was not long enough to fully develop the story line. It rushed through important moments and glossed over issues. The author could not flesh out her characters enough in the short format in which this was written. (see Character Flaws.)

Too Cliched: They first fell in love at a young age. Hot, passionate, and foolish. They made mistakes that drove them apart for years. (aka: The Big Misunderstanding) Deep down they still love one another, though neither would admit it. It is only because of their hot sex monkey chemistry that they can not stop thinking of one another. Or could it be, could it be.... LOVE!

Character Flaws: He is strong, demanding, and cynical. She is feisty, wounded, and vulnerable. Her best friend is the most cookie cutter stereotype of a gay man ever to grace the pages of a novel. (Thank God for Suzanne Brockmann!) All the children are precocious. She is wounded. She plays the victim. He doesn't know when to cut his losses. Seriously, I would have dumped her ass long before the final page.

I have to say though, the sex was pretty hawt. It was even plentiful. I would speculate that there was more sex per chapter in this 187 page story than in most of the books I have read in the past year. You get a lot of bang for your buck (so did the heroine.)

Overall, it was cheesy and occasionally annoying with a heroine I wanted to smack upside the head by the final chapter. Yet, it was hawt and often times entertaining. Considering it was a category romance that took an afternoon to read, I guess it's not to horrible.

Grade: C not wretched, not good, just somewhere in the no man's land in between