Before JR Ward decided to write paranormals about ass-kicking vampires, she wrote as Jessica Bird and wrote contemporary romances. I think I decided to buy this book based on a review over on Dear Author. I can’t quite remember. I already knew JR Ward had previously written under Jessica Bird and I was willing to buy one of her books based on a good review.A Man in A Million was a pretty straight forward read compared to some of the books in the BDB series, which can have up to five different plot threads running at once. While I often love multi-layered plots, it was also nice to just focus on the hero and heroine. Spike is a French chef with a tragic past that he keeps hidden. After getting dumped by his ex over the issue, he believes no girl would want to stay with him if she knows the whole story. He keeps things casual so no one gets hurt. Pleasantly enough, he doesn’t come off as a womanizer either, but a nice guy who cares about his friends and sister. Mad is a competitive sailor, and though she’s fierce on the water, she is still insecure after always having being verbally put down by her overbearing father and now her step brother. A lot of the book revolves around her learning to stand up for herself, which Spike supports her through. One of my absolute favorite aspects of this book was comparing it to the BDB. To begin, let’s look at the character of Spike himself.“Spike was wearing a black leather jacket, a black-button down and a pair of black slacks. His jet-black hair was sticking straight up off his head in all directions, but instead of looking unkept, the jagged peaks emphasized the hard lines of his beautiful face. His big body filled the doorway. The hall. The whole apartment as far as she was concerned.Oh, God, his eyes… Those incredible, impossibly yellow eyes were still hidden under heavy lids and thick lashes. And the tattoos… On either side of his neck, two elegant, curving designs marked his skin. In his left ear, he had a thick, silver piercing.”Let’s see, does Spike fit the prerequisites of the Brotherhood? Wearing all black, including leather- check. A very large, imposing body- check. Tattoos and piercings- check. The only thing missing is a random “h” inserted into his name and then he’d be in Lesser-slaying business. A major difference between the two books, though, was that “combat boots” was used in place of “shit kickers”. For some reason I get the feeling that Silhouette wouldn’t have gone for that…I would have rated this book a 4 just on the fact that Spike could have been a Brother, but I enjoyed it overall as well. It was fairly unique, especially for a Silhouette, which I don’t usually go out of my way to purchase.First off, Spike and Mad know one another before the beginning of the book, and are already crazy about each other. So in theory it should be smooth sailing to a happy ending (yes pun intended since Mad is a sailor), especially since their mutual friend is playing matchmaker. But of course the book has the Big Misunderstanding. And not only does it have the Big Misunderstanding, but it has quite a few little misunderstandings along the way. It was pretty easy to forgive Spike and Mad though because, unlike most characters, they didn’t let the misunderstandings simmer. They actually bothered to go talk to each other! It was nice to see two characters repeatedly working things out, especially since communication is so important in believing the relationship with succeed. Also, the sex scenes were pleasantly steamy. I will never look at a motorcycle the same way again.One touchy subject is that throughout most of the book Mad does have an eating disorder, which is not outright stated or dealt with. It seems odd that this isn’t mentioned since Spike’s profession is a Chef, ya know, food related and all. But by the end of the book Mad works out in her internal monologues that she’s going to start eating again, so in a way it is dealt with. It just seems an odd part of the plot since it wasn’t explicitly linked to her self esteem as other incidents in the book were, but rather lumped with her obsession with her training schedule.Overall, I’d recommend this to any J.R. Ward fans, or any Silhouette fans who are looking for something a little different. It was worth going a little out of my way to find online (which isn’t my usual m.o. for book buying) and I’m also considering looking up some other Jessica Bird backlisted titles.Review cross posted at The Romance Girl’s Guide to Fiction
Ok, I LOVE this book and this is going to be the most bizarre review I’ve ever written, because I’m not ashamed to say that a big part of the reason I love it so much is that Spike is so obviously somehow related to Zsadist and Phury from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (Which Jessica Bird writes under the name J.R.Ward). This was confirmed by one of the WARDen’s moderators on her forum:Posted by Lami on the WARDen’s website. Somewhere in the deep dark past of this cell the WARDen did say something along the lines of "maybe Phury's cousin" and I remember because Spike is my absolute favourite of her SSE characters.And this isn't because Spike is big and tattooed and yellow eyed and gorgeous.It's because Spike can cook.And back in From the First, Alex and Cassandra’s story, we get this little interaction between Alex and Spike:This scene takes place while Spike and Alex are sitting in the car, talking about Reese's death."....Did you try and save him, Alex? Did you try and save him, and lose him in the end?"Alex recoiled."Yeah," Spike said softly. "That's it, isn't it. You lost him out on that boat, didn't you?""How do you..."Spike's eyes flipped across the seat. They seemed to glimmer, becoming otherworldly in their intensity."We've all got demons, man. Some we work through. Some are ghosts we foxtrot into the grave with. But here's the thing. Time's short. Life's shorter. A blink of an eye and you've missed what you wanted, what you needed." Spike looked back out into the night. "Death's damn cold and it lasts forever once it shakes your hand. So take the warmth now, my man. Take it where you find it. Forgive yourself just enough to let some in, okay?"Alex stared at his buddy and frowned. "What the hell happened to you?"Spike's dark smile brought chills. "Ah, but we're talking about your curse, not mine. Now, if you don't mind, I've got a party to get back to. There are a number of women dying to take advantage of my charms, and I'm in the mood to be used."Alex got out of the car. "I just realized something. I don't know all that much about you. Where are you from, anyway?"Spike moved the gear shift back and forth in Neutral. His sun colored eyes flashed. "Oz."Alex chuckled. "Which one are you? The lion, the scarecrow?"Spike winked and put the car in gear. "The wizard." Now, repeatedly throughout the Moorehouse Legacy books, Spike’s “otherworldly” yellow eyes are commented on. His shockingly large and impressive…ummm… yeah…is large and impressive and he also has this tasty little habit of lightly biting Mad’s neck, then licking the spot. As I read it, it seemed like it was an instinctual thing for him to do, a compulsion… and who else do we know like that? Hmmm??? The Brothers, of course.*sigh* Ok, so see what I mean about a bizarre review? I should be reviewing A Man in a Million and instead I’m going on and on about how Spike might be related to other characters in a completely different series!!! Am I BDB obsessed?? YES!!!So, truthfully, all BDB references aside, Spike is a great character all on his own. He does tormented so, so well, but at the same time, he’s reasonable. He listens. He gets it when he’s wrong. And wow, how refreshing is that?? Madeline “MadDog” Maguire is a great heroine, who’s dealt with a lifetime of heartache and has had to do it alone. Always the one in the family who didn’t fit in, even though she was happy with who she was – and who she wasn’t – she knew that she could never measure up to what others expected her to be. When she finally meets Spike, she sees in him someone who is trustworthy, someone nonjudgmental, and even though they come from entirely different worlds, he’s someone she can, in an odd way, relate to. And isn’t it lucky for her that he is clearly attracted to her!While I wish there had been a little less ‘misunderstanding’ and better communication, I can clearly understand why neither of them were comfortable sharing their thoughts or feelings, but when it came right down to it, they did what they had to in order to be together, and that’s what counts, isn’t it?As always, The WARDen/Jessica Bird has given us amazing people to care about and cheer for. My only regret is that there’s no follow up book to A Man in a Million to cover Spike’s sister Jaynie’s story. It has the potential to be a real tearjerker. Maybe someday the WARDen will find the time to tie up the loose ends.
What do You think about A Man In A Million (2007)?
Spike Moriarty was fascinated with Madeline Maguire from the first moment he met her. But he knew a relationship with her was out of the question. A rich successful girl like her would never accept a guy with his past. As it turns out, Mad is attracted to Spike. But given her trust issues and his troubled past, will the two be able to get their relationship off the ground?This was a category romance with a relatively predictable story. But even with the hated "big misunderstanding" thrown into the plot, I still had a hard time putting this book down. I totally loved both Spike and Mad together and just wanted to see how they overcame their problems. My rating: 4.5 Stars.
—Robin
This is the last book in the Jessica Bird (aka JR Ward) series that she wrote in mid 2000s. This book was written about the same time that she wrote Zs story in the Brotherhood series and the parallels are uncanny....except this one lacks the whole vampire thing (although there is some neck biting....I kid you not!)."Spike" resembles Z in lots of ways (even down to his yellow eyes and I did read that there may be some fictional cross-over connection between the two - distant cousins???). Doesn't really matter though because what I liked most about this book (that was lacking in the previous three books) is that this one sounded like Ward. The banter between Spike and Sean, the writing style, the feel of it. Yep. Pure indulgence. Trashy: Yes. Satisfying: Ah Ha. Wishing there was one more book though to finish out this series - Sean (and Spike's Sister) need an ending :-).I think I have nearly exhausted my JR Ward obsession. Only four books of hers I have to read until all series are up to date and completed...let us hear it for OCD :-)
—TheMadHatter
Did anyone go into this story thinking that Spike was a BDB vampire? Except for the fact that he came out in daylight multiple times, I couldn't stop thinking VAMPIRE whenever he was mentioned. He talks like they do, he looks like the Brothers do (tall, well-endowed, he bites a lot, he has golden eyes), he came from a shady past and was freakishly insightful (like someone who had possibly lived for a couple centuries), he had an interesting accent. Just.. ERGH I TOTALLY EXPECTED HIM TO SPROUT FANGS. but he didn't, and I still absolutely loved his story anyway. :D
—Gina
