4.5This was a fantastic contemporary romance. Treena McCall is a dancer in the show la Stravaganza on the Strip in Vegas. She has recently been widowed, but her husband Big Jim had been sick, so the year they'd been married had been taking care of him.Jax Gallagher is a professional poker player whose father Big Jim married a Las Vegas showgirl. As if that didn't strain his already strained relationship with his father even more, he found out 2 months after his father's death that Big Jim had died. The night he found out, he got drunk and ended up wagering and losing a World Series signed baseball to a Russian mobster. Unfortunately that ball was now in the hands of his father's gold-digging widow.So Jax has a plan-he will sweep into the showgirl's life, offer her money and a place in his bed, and then find the ball and give it to Elvis wannabe Sergei. But his plans go to crap when it turns out that Treena is not only not a slutty, gold-digging Showgirl, but she is actually a sweet, generous caring person, and OOPS! Jax kinda likes her.One thing I really loved about this book was that Jax and Treena were real. They weren't the steroetypes of a showgirl and a gambler. I live in Vegas so it was great for me to see local places featured, but more than that it was nice to see Treena and Jax do nice normal things off-Strip. Their tour of the dam cracked me up.I also loved how Jax figured out that Treena wasn't a gold-digger just by getting to know her, and her friends. I absolutely loved Treena. And when she found out that Jax was actually her late husband's son, she was as betrayed and hurt as I would have been. When she asked him how long he'd known who she was and he told her since before he met her, and then told her his whole plan. Oh man, she kicked him out and curled up on the floor and cried til she had nothing left. I think anyone who has had her heart broken knows what that feels like. And when Jax apologized and gave her back the baseball, the speech he gave? Even I'd have taken him back after that! But when he left her? Oh, I felt everything Treena felt. What a great couple. And I think that anyone who wants a great contemporary romance will really enjoy this one. My favorite line: He could wait...He wanted her to come first; then, like the Marines, he was going in.http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.co...
Narrated by Johanna Parker = Narration 5*sI was already a fan of Skintight by Susan Andersen when I discovered it in audio with Johanna Parker narrating and she kicked it up another notch with her superb skills adding just the right touches of emotion and feeling where needed along with excellent voicing for all the characters.The set up for Jax and Treena's romance in Skintight has "big misunderstanding" written all over it which generally sends me running the other way but as a Susan Andersen fan I stuck it out. While I was dreading the hidden identity reveal for a good portion of the book it actually added an 'on the edge of my seat' feel to the story in a good way in the end because I was pleasantly surprised to see how Ms Andersen handled that portion. I found the reactions believable while at the same time she kept the flow of the story moving without overdoing the drama. The secondary romance between an older couple who are both friends of Treena's and live in the same apartment complex she does is just as entertaining as the core tale.
What do You think about Skintight (2005)?
Showgirl Treena McCall is a sweet woman who had big dreams of opening up her own dance studio. Her dream is derailed when she takes care of her dying husband. She used up all of his fortune and her savings to care for him but she’s not complaining. After his death, she is back in the dance troupe and she just wants to do the one thing she has always loved. Jax Gallagher is a professional gambler who makes a bet and loses his father’s World Series baseball. The problem is that the ball is in possession of his father’s young, gold digging wife, Treena McCall. Jax comes up with a plan to seduce his way into Treena’s house in search of the ball because the goons who he has lost the bet to, threatens to break his fingers. Of course, Jax finds out that Treena is not the gold digger he had thought she was, but she is a down to earth woman that he is slowly falling in love with. Once he realizes his emotions, he has to find a way to tell Treena that he is really Jackson McCall. When the truth is revealed, Jax learns that Treena was planning to give the ball to him all along.I am a fan of contemporary romance stories and I wanted to rate this book higher but Jax’s stubbornness prevented me from doing so. His inner dialogue and complaining about his relationship with his father was tiring. After years of overcoming his awkwardness, he should have been more confident but instead his insecurities were shown. After a while, I just wanted him to get over it. The ending was also a bit disappointing. The so-called bad guys’ actions were unbelievable at the climax of the story. They were suppose to be big and bad but one of them was a big Elvis impersonator and I’m not sure if that was suppose to be humorous but it missed the mark. The action was severing lacking and they end up walking away.The conflict is strong and the tension throughout the book provides enough angst to the story. Secondary characters provide for entertainingly, laugh out loud addition. I look forward to Carly’s story, which Andersen nicely sets up at the end of the book.
—Samantha
this one was pretty horrendous. This is my second book from this author, and the first one was pretty good so I'm surprised with my reaction to this one. I thought the storyline was pretty mundane and not that interesting. Worst of all it was pretty predictable and from the first few pages I pretty much figured out the relationship aspect. The "action" part of the storyline was pitiful, and the "bad" character in the book who was threatening to break someone's hand if they didn't hand over a baseball, just sort of said "Ohh you've got a great girl there" and then walked away. What a waste.
—Jess
Jax Gallagher is a professional poker player but he lost to another guy one night and promised him that he would give him his father's baseball that has a signature of a famous baseball player on it. The problem is that the ball is in the hands of his father's late wife sine Jax's father died a few months ago. Now his plan is to make Treena, the widow, fall in love with hom and he takes the ball. It sounds easy but when Jax finally meets Treena, he realize that leaving her won't be easy. This book is really intense, it grabs the reader by the neck and won't let go until the last page. Many ups and downs and surprises that make this book fun and interesting to read.
—Nancy
