Speed Dating

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Review:
Speed Dating is certainly speedy. I found this book on Kindle as I was browsing through titles one day. I hadn’t heard of Nancy Warren before, but the story seemed intriguing enough, so I decided to give it a shot.

Basically Kendall has her whole life laid out in front of her. She is about to receive a prestigious award within her profession when her fiancé drops a bomb and tells her that he’s been messing around with a co-worker and, surprise, she’s pregnant. Not shocking that Kendall immediately begins to re-evaluate some of her life decisions. And certainly not unexpected that show more she sheds her cool exterior for a more daring persona – at least for one night when she accidentally encounters Dylan.

Dylan is in need of some luck. He’s been loosing races left and right. After a night with Kendall that deviates tremendously from his average night, he decides that he needs her longer to play a part. This part involves posing as his girlfriend not only for the cameras, but also to dissuade Dylan’s ex-wife from getting any ideas involving leaving her new husband in an effort to rekindle a relationship with Dylan. Sound confusing? Well, there is a lot going on in this book.
Eventually Kendall has to make a decision. Stay with Dylan, or return to her demotion at work thanks to her philandering ex-fiancé. The two have come to care for each other, but it is not enough for Kendall despite considering trying to make it work. Dylan is set against a permanent future with anyone and his stubbornness threatens to cost him the one thing that could be the best thing that ever happened to him: Kendall.

While I moved through this book quickly, I found a few aspects annoying and repetitive. First, Kendall is almost too sensible. She needs to take it down a notch. While she knows nothing about NASCAR, it seems odd that she seems to “get” Dylan right off the bat. And Dylan – let’s just say that I didn’t fall in love with him as a character. He takes dense to a whole new level. The most annoying aspect is the flighty, snobbish ex-wife. Get a clue Dylan! Sheesh! I felt like the book could have easily been a novella had the secondary characters of Ashlee and Harrison been cut out completely. Ironically, I ended up liking Harrison. Odd, that. Also, there is absolutely no SMEXY in this book! A couple of kisses that could have been promising, but then … crickets. Zero heat. The reader is left to conjure whatever thoughts he/she can based on the book, which will be less than stellar, I do assure you. And what fun is it when we have to conjure our own images of smexy? This is what I read for – it is my quest! Well, maybe that is a bit much, but don’t leave me hanging on the smexy!

Overall, the book was a fun read. I have never read a book centered on the NASCAR sport prior to this one. Knowing nothing about the sport other than you need quick pit stops, and you need to drive very fast (avoiding collisions, of course), I found that I enjoyed the alternate backdrop from the books I usually read. I imagine that many of the details within the book concerning the life of a NASCAR driver are factual as they are very believable. Should I come across another book involving NASCAR, I will likely give it a try just to see what the differences are from author to author. So, liking the characters, not loving them, and totally bummed that there is nada for heat level. But if you are looking for a book to pass the time, Speed Dating would certainly accomplish such a feat. I just doubt that anyone would choose this book for a re-read. *whispers* It’s currently FREE on Nook and Kindle – it’s at least worth free. Might as well give it a shot while the giving’s good.

(Kindle downloaded from Amazon) show less

Kendall Clarke is an actuary, she’s engaged to a co-worker and she is 20 minutes away from winning the most prestigious award at her company. Her scumbag fiancé shows up at her hotel room to tell her that he’s been cheating on her with a fellow co-worker – who’s now pregnant- for several months. He’s breaking the engagement and he’s sitting with his new fiancé.

Kendall is shocked, embarrassed, and hurt. In her anxiety she manages to lock herself out of her hotel room, dressed only in an expensive slip. By chance she sees a man walking out of his room just as her bosses are walking around the corner. She slips into the room just in time.

Dylan Hargreave is a famous NASCAR driver who is in the middle of a losing streak and show more has an ex-wife – Ashley - who believes that they are meant to get back together. Ashley has invited Dylan to wedding #4 and he asks one of his buddies’s to hire an actress for him to take to his wedding. When he walks into his hotel and sees a half naked woman he assumes that it is his date. Kendall is feeling crazy so she goes along with him to the wedding. This starts a long relationship between Kendall and Dylan that lasts for several weeks, as Dylan kisses Kendall right before every race as his good luck charm.

I really enjoyed this book! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The story is well written, the characters have clear reasons for their actions, and the relationship is well developed. It’s certainly a page turner – I finished it in one night!

My biggest issue with this book is Dylan’s actions. He claims that he wants Ashley to leave him alone. In fact, he claims that the major reason he spends so much time with Kendall is to deter Ashley and her reconciliation plans – but every single time Ashley wants him to do something, he does it. Dylan goes to her wedding; he drags Kendall on several double dates with Ashley and her new husband; he makes time to go to children’s hospitals because Ashley wants him to. I was sick to death of Ashley rather quickly and felt that if Dylan wanted to get rid of Ashley he would have grown a pair of balls and told her “No” for once. I realized that she was used as plot movement but she was over-used.

All in all, this was a good book and I really enjoyed the relationship between Kendall and Dylan, the story felt very believable and rather touching. I enjoyed watching the characters grow – especially Kendall – throughout the book. I can’t this is my favorite book but I would have no issue recommending this book to contemporary romance lovers. Solid 3.5/5 show less

Kendall Clarke is an actuary, she’s engaged to a co-worker and she is 20 minutes away from winning the most prestigious award at her company. Her scumbag fiancé shows up at her hotel room to tell her that he’s been cheating on her with a fellow co-worker – who’s now pregnant- for several months. He’s breaking the engagement and he’s sitting with his new fiancé.

Kendall is shocked, embarrassed, and hurt. In her anxiety she manages to lock herself out of her hotel room, dressed only in an expensive slip. By chance she sees a man walking out of his room just as her bosses are walking around the corner. She slips into the room just in time.

Dylan Hargreave is a famous NASCAR driver who is in the middle of a losing streak and show more has an ex-wife – Ashley - who believes that they are meant to get back together. Ashley has invited Dylan to wedding #4 and he asks one of his buddies’s to hire an actress for him to take to his wedding. When he walks into his hotel and sees a half naked woman he assumes that it is his date. Kendall is feeling crazy so she goes along with him to the wedding. This starts a long relationship between Kendall and Dylan that lasts for several weeks, as Dylan kisses Kendall right before every race as his good luck charm.

I really enjoyed this book! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The story is well written, the characters have clear reasons for their actions, and the relationship is well developed. It’s certainly a page turner – I finished it in one night!

My biggest issue with this book is Dylan’s actions. He claims that he wants Ashley to leave him alone. In fact, he claims that the major reason he spends so much time with Kendall is to deter Ashley and her reconciliation plans – but every single time Ashley wants him to do something, he does it. Dylan goes to her wedding; he drags Kendall on several double dates with Ashley and her new husband; he makes time to go to children’s hospitals because Ashley wants him to. I was sick to death of Ashley rather quickly and felt that if Dylan wanted to get rid of Ashley he would have grown a pair of balls and told her “No” for once. I realized that she was used as plot movement but she was over-used.

All in all, this was a good book and I really enjoyed the relationship between Kendall and Dylan, the story felt very believable and rather touching. I enjoyed watching the characters grow – especially Kendall – throughout the book. I can’t this is my favorite book but I would have no issue recommending this book to contemporary romance lovers. Solid 3.5/5 show less

I was presently surprised by this book. I'll start off by saying I'm not a romance reader, but the kindle edition was free from Amazon, and since i had just purchased the kindle, didn't have much money left over for books. I am a NASCAR fan, so I decided to try the book out, if I didn't like it I would only be out a couple hours of reading, and I was fine with that.

For the genre and type of book I felt it was decently written, I did like characters, and chuckled to myself at the obvious commonalities of Dylan to certain famous drivers. I really enjoyed that there was a decent plot, and it wasn't one of those over-the-top bodice-ripping type books, the kind I always get talked into reading by friends and don't enjoy. I'm all for sex in show more books, but It needs to be part of the story and not just thrown in every 2 chapters just cuz.

This probably isn't a book I'd read over and over again, but I enjoyed the time I spent with it. show less

Probably one of the worst Harlequins I've read, and I've been reading them for about 25 years. When the book starts, it has the potential to be a great story. But there's very little romance in the book, and the only relationship seems to be between the "hero" and his ex. I'll read just about anything, but when I read a Harlequin, I expect it to be an actual romance novel.

This story had a good beginning but midway is started to drag when the main characters mostly ruminate. The hero fought the relationship so much that I didn't believe him in the end. Kendall's fiance breaks up just before she accepts an actuary award and she accidentally ends up as fake girlfriend of famous race car driver Dylan.

This is my first book of Nancy Warren and it was a fun read. I have read a few others in this series and they are usually light hearted and humorous. This one is no exception.

The hero was funny and reminds of the guys back in the midwest though a little shallow. The heroine will definitely bring depth to his life. She was a surprising firecracker.