I received a copy of Ros Clarke Romances as part of LibraryThing's Members Giveaway. This book featured three short stories--Reckless Runaway at the Racecourse, The Tycoon's Convenient Wife, and Flirting with the Camera. Reckless Runaway at the Racecourse is about a restrained horse trainer who finds himself coming to the rescue of a more free-spirited young woman early in the story, then he finds himself stuck with her and over time, feelings change. The Tycoon's Convenient Wife brings a pair of old friends back together again for a marriage of convenience, although one friend has been harboring her love for the other for the past 15 years. And finally, Flirting with the Camera brings two people together in an industry obsessed with what's on the surface, but they force the other to look deeper at each other...and themselves...in order to break through to another level of personal growth.
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Reckless Runaway at the Racecourse--Instead of the male being the
one in need of a grown-up wake up call, it was actually the female. I wasn’t
completely fond of Fliss to be honest; she was flighty, rather immature, and
too indecisive which led to her flip flopping on her feelings throughout the
book. She ran quicker than the horse that nearly ran her over at the beginning of the story. I thought she was a bit too persistent for someone who was intent on not having any
lasting connections, yet was still hurt by the fact that Luke didn’t want any
either. Luke, despite being rigid, brought a steadier energy to what otherwise
probably would have been an annoying read had they both been so quick to run.
His presence in the novel ended up being just what Fliss needed to grow up and
finally commit herself to something, which I liked as it is usually the female
in that role. Her more light-hearted approach helped Luke to loosen his
self-induced chains on himself and let someone into his life, and her more
family-oriented ways helped him to begin letting his father in as well. I liked
the stability Luke brought to the book, and the sense of freedom that she
brought to it. They were exactly what the other needed, even if it took one
more time than the other to realize and make peace with it. I read so many
stories where it is the man who needs the reality check, the man who puts his
foot in his mouth, and even though it was still annoying, it was nice to see
that for once it was the female doing those things. It was the man in this
story who was sure of what he wanted earlier on and battled his fears to have
it. Opposites do attract and this story showed it well. I think the story was
well-written and despite it being a bit of a short story, there was still
adequate time for both characters to grow sufficiently.
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The Tycoon’s Convenient Wife—I really liked Emma. She had a
few moments where I wanted to shake her a little bit, but otherwise she was a
really likeable heroine for this book. She was innocent in terms of not knowing
just how good of a person she was, but was still womanly enough to stand on her
own, she just didn’t realize it. I liked the growth she went through as the
book progressed in terms of wanting something more for herself than her current
level of existence, which had grown stagnant. I also like that despite her love
for Guy, she didn’t become completely reliant upon him or expect him to bail
her out of everything in her life. Guy was a bit lackluster for me; he had a
very one-track mind even though I can understand how he got to that place. I really
didn’t like that Emma used Ben’s accident and Guy being there all week as
something to throw in his face; that was a low blow. It seemed like it went
against her character and was just a shoo-in for some convenient conflict. The
main thing that stuck out for me as being a little unrealistic is the concept
of having to fake a marriage simply for the sake of one business account,
regardless of how large a coup it would be. I also don’t know that a
businessman as important as Tripp Bailey would concern himself enough with the
personal life of others to call him in the middle of the day about the latter’s
feelings (or lack thereof) for his fake fiancée. Family oriented or not, I just
can’t see the fate of a business deal that large hinging upon a person’s
ability to read his fake spouse. All in all though, I liked the story. You got
a good feel for the characters, their motivation and the reasons why they are
the people they are, and it makes sense. The story was allowed to build
gradually instead of rushing to a finish and I liked that.
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Flirting with the Camera—At first, Hattie’s inability to be
serious grated on my nerves, until I was able to see why she became that way,
why she put on such an act for others. Her flippant, unaffected attitude
disguised a perceptive and sensitive nature, and I like that she was layered
that way. She wasn’t a typical empty-headed brat or an uptight control freak,
and that was a breath of fresh air. I also really loved that she was plus-size.
Many heroines are either tiny in stature/frame or average-sized, and “just
right” for the hero. Hattie was a different shape entirely, was completely
confident in it, and that too was “just right,” which I thought was great. Neither
of them needed to come to terms with her size and it wasn’t a focal point of
the plot like it ends up being in many stories. It was an enjoyable change of
pace that instead of simply avoiding commitment because he’d been cheated on or
because it just wasn’t his style like many other men in these kinds of novels,
Tom was carrying a massive amount of guilt that held him back. He was rather bland, which I think could have been explored more so that we could see a little more of the man behind the camera. What I did like was that he wasn’t a CEO
of some anonymous big-wig business; he was an in-demand photographer for the modeling industry and
instead of glamorizing Tom’s work conditions; some of the real was explored and
I enjoyed it. I just wish I could have gotten to know Tom a bit more beyond his past guilt.
Overall:
I liked this trio of stories. I think they were all
well-written, with fleshed-out characters who all had motivations and behaviors that
made sense considering their past situations. Ros Clarke managed to cover a lot
of ground in all of these short stories and made the small amount of time seem
much longer, which allowed for a more thorough story to me. Each story brought
something different to the table and I was glad I wasn’t reading the same story
or plot repeatedly. The only complaint I guess I’d have is that we didn’t get
to see what happened after these couples got their wishes; they all ended just
as proposals were being made. I would have liked to see how Emma and Guy got on
with the kids after moving and how Emma and Marilyn made their partnership
work. It would have been nice to see how Hattie and Tom came together during
her pregnancy and seeing Hattie really let her guard down, knowing Tom wasn’t
going to humiliate or leave her. I think each of the stories had something left
in them that I would have liked to read. I enjoyed each story and was sad when I got to the end. If you're a fan of romance stories that don't ramble on forever and have a more realistic, everyday approach and characters, then I recommend giving this book a read. Intimate situations do occur, but they're more racy than erotic and not the focal point of any of these stories.
Rating:
If you'd like to download this collection yourself, here's where you can pick it up:
Amazon ($4.99) | Smashbooks ($4.99)
You can click the book links if you'd like to buy just one of them, but it's cheaper just to get all three.
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