I always seem to hold out hope for a heroine that starts off on the wrong foot with me. I try to figure out what motivates her to do what she does and I might even make a few excuses for her in my head. And even if she is still making me lift my lip in a gesture of WTF, I hope for some miraculous revelation that will make it all make sense. Maybe I just have some sort of weird dedication to feminine solidarity, I don’t know. Tessa was one of these heroines for me and her character was my main problem with what was otherwise a very fun, sexy contemporary romance.
Tessa is the youngest of the three Donovan siblings. She has two older brothers who are obsessively protective of her. Although she is the youngest, she is a bit of a care taker for her siblings. After they lost their parents the eldest brother Eric raised them and now they run the family brewery together. Tessa, who is 27, has abandonment issues due to her parents death and lives in fear that her family will eventually splinter and go their separate ways. When her brother Jamie’s tryst with the daughter of a potential client puts a big contract in jeopardy Tessa goes into fix-it mode to salvage the deal. Unfortunately she feels she has to lie and scheme to get the job done.
While Tessa’s heart was in the right place I just couldn’t get on board with her dishonesty. She’s trying to see to her family’s future, make sure everyone has what they want, and keep harmony between her brothers but she sneaks and lies to do it. Her selfless acts were negated by her dishonesty and then her hypocrisy in demanding total honesty from her love interest was annoying considering her own track record.
Detective Luke Asher is investigating a break-in at the brewery that was possibly caused by the bad, tyst-having brother. Luke’s got a bad reputation and is accused of all sorts of ugly things such as divorcing his wife while she was gravely ill and abandoning a pregnant lover who happens to be his partner. He sounds like a real winner right? But it’s clear from the beginning he is simply the target of vicious town gossip and his circumstances have been twisted and embellished. He is attracted to Tessa but her brothers will have none of it. Tessa on the other hand is not the good girl she has made herself out to be and makes a move on the detective and the sparks fly! Although Luke has a bad reputation and Tessa says she is afraid of falling for a guy that will lie to her, she is amazingly trusting of him at first. But as they get to know each other her trust waivers.
It was easy to sympathize with Luke and clear he was getting a bum rap. His refusal to defend himself only made the rumors worse however, and he didn’t seem to care. He was secure in his reasons for his silence and only cared what Tessa thought of him. In actuality he was guilty of lying by omission but the detective reserved the right to remain silent but eventually came clean when it counted.
Speaking of clean, I have three words for you: dirty shower scene. Oh yes Victoria Dahl can write steamy shower scene. I read a lot of romance and that means I read a lot of sex scenes. It takes a lot to impress me. I have to say the first sex scene on the couch was smoking HOT. Although it happens early on, the build up is intense and lets just say I paid attention. Close attention.
There is a little mystery woven into the plot alongside the romance and while it wasn’t a nail biter it provided good entertainment along with the family drama and relationships. Of course we have a couple of romances to look forward to: elder brothers Eric and Jamie. But there is also a notable secondary I hope will get a lot more page time in the future. He is Wallace, a grizzly bear of a man who swings both ways. There is just something about him that has men and women going gah-gah for him and he’s a generous, giving kind of guy. *claps hands excitedly*
So, in the end I was left is disbelief that I didn’t care for the heroine. That hardly ever happens but Tessa never fully won me over. I thought she was a little nutso and although I understood her ‘why’, I didn’t get her ‘how’. I did however love the romance between her and Luke and the story held my attention throughout and so I’m having a hard time rating this book. With several pros and cons I’m still waffling between a C+ and a B-.
With much potential for some really fun romance to come I look forward to the Donovan brother’s romances.
Favorite Quote:
He’d tell her he loved her later. It was too soon. Too new. For now, he’d just have to show her. With Batman underwear. And anything else she ever wanted.
Rating: C+/B-
Good Girls Don’t by Victoria Dahl
August 30th 2011 by HQN Books
Contemporary Romance
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About Sophia (FV)
I liked Tessa a little more than you did. For me, it was how her brothers treated her that got on my nerves, more than how Tessa acted.
Can Wallace get his own book…please? OMG – his scenes stole the show
Oh yeah, the brothers. But again, I felt like Tessa allowed it. Hopefully all their relationships will even out for the next book.
YES, I love Wallace. If he doesn’t get more page time I will be disappointed. LOL
Great review FV. I always have a problem with heroines who fudge the truth but
get pissy when everyone isn’t truthful with them.
I don’t always, like I said I cut my heroines a lot of slack but this one rubbed me the wrong way. BUT, she wasn’t awful or anything like that. She had everyone’s best interest at heart.
I did wonder about Wallace and I just could not picture him in my head either, pic needed )
My comment lost it’s point, arghhhh darn firefox.
So a
there cos Wallace 
Oh I pictured him. *snerk*
LOL!
Naughty, naughty girl.
Great review!!
(Posted too soon and t’s not letting me edit my comment for some reason)
Great review!! Sorry Tessa wasn’t a hit. Sounds like I’m not going to like her either, which is disappointing. I also have #2 in the series – do you think it’s okay to go straight to that one? Don’t want my first Dahl book to be with an unlikable heroine.
Did I give the impression I didn’t like this book? Because I did. Just a few of the things the heroine did really bothered me. I wouldn’t skip it if I were you.
No, you didn’t give that impression; from what you wrote I think I’m tougher on the heroines than you are, so I was thinking if you had issues I would definitely have some.
Won’t skip it – if nothing else, I want to see what all this Wallace Hoopla is about!
I think I must be the only one out there who wasn’t wowed by Wallace. lol.
I just got this book in the mail yesterday–someone save me, I keep buying more and more books–and am excited to see what we agree and disagree on. I’ll come back and actually read the review when I’m finished with it.
HA, what comes around goes around!
Am not in the position to save you – that would be a blind leading the blind type situation – but I’ll go to BBAA meetings with you (Book Buying Addicts Anonymous).
JK
lol. We can cry on each other’s shoulders in the meetings. Then secretly email more rec’s to each other!
LMAO!!! (Again, wedding delay).
Sounds like a plan, my partner-in-crime
Way too funny: there actually is a Goodreads Group with that exact same name: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/22225.Book_Buying_Addicts_Anonymous
I have joined!!
LOL
Okay, I read it. What? Don’t judge me! I had free time!
I had a hard time sympathizing with Tessa’s lies as well. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, but closer to the end, as everything became more complicated, I started to lose patience. Somehow I always managed to check myself before it got too bad, though. I could clearly see (and believed) her motivation, so that seemed to make all the difference to me. I guess it helped that I could see each sibling’s issue–less so with Eric. I think it might have bothered me more if I had understood her less.
Oh my gosh, the sexy in this book! I seriously loved it. And that first almost-had-sex-scene was hilarious. I even read it to my husband. lol. While I had problems with Tessa, I can’t think of a thing I didn’t like about Luke. He was an excellent hero.
I can’t wait for the next book. I had a great time reading this.
So you got her ‘why’ but not her ‘how’ too? LOL
Oh yes, the sexy was top notch in this one!! Wowza!!
Yes, that.
LOL! In no position to judge – I’m impressed actually!
Dirty shower scene = totally hot!! Great review!
Everyone’s comments are making me feel tempted to open the book and skip ahead to the unbelievably hot shower scene!!
Dahl can always bring the heat.
Don’t forget the couch scene too. Luke is a sexy lovah. *waggles eyebrows*