I have always been a little weary of harlequin novels. I think it's because my grandma used to read them when she would babysit me and I kind of threw that into a certain genre itself. Grandma word porn, if you will. I always pictured a half nakey woman clutching Fabio's manly chest as both of their long silky hair blew lightly in the breeze as the stood on a mountain top declaring their undying sexual need for each other. Being quite honest, I never thought I would fall into the realm of romance novels. But alas, here I am. I have a great friend on Goodreads and Twitter who is a big Jill Shalvis pusher. She has never steered me wrong in the reading department, so I went into this book with an open mind. We meet Lani, a cleaning business owner, who is the cleaning lady for the super sexy bachelor, Colin. You learn that Lani has the biggest crush on him and you also feel that he has a bit of thingie for her. Colin is an inventor working on one of the biggest projects of his life and just needs his meddling mother and aunts to get off his back about settling down. Enter the drama... he devises a plan to faux court Lani as his fiance just so he can concentrate on his work and as soon as it's completed, they can go back to cleaning lady and client. Ummm, no. We all know that's not how this would pan out. Between Lani's open sexual attraction to him and Colin's brooding denial, you get fierce sexual tension and some yummy sexy times. With this being such a quick read, it doesn't get that in depth to the characters as much as I would have liked. The story is a bit rushed and it seems a little contrived in parts, but it's effective for some swoons.All in all, I give this a 3.5 for good UST and sexiness. I look forward to more of Shalvis' work.
I read this in a state of disbelief and enjoyment. For some reason, I've been reading a lot of romance novels where the hero is ridiculously clueless of the consequences of actions. Colin just wants peace from his busybody family, which makes him come up with a ridiculous plan of pretending to get married. His plan backfired and his family is more in his hair than ever. Lani on the other hand is kinda a victim of circumstance. She's in the right place at the right time and she has a major crush on Colin. What I enjoyed about Lani is that she leaped into playing house with Colin like it was real because for her it was an opportunity to move past her fears to living life. I wasn't a fan of Colin as a character because he can't see past himself to the feelings of Lani or his family and I found that a wee bit obnoxious. Lani also has a ridiculous level of loyalty and keeping her word even when Colin is an ass. While I understood the author's reason for Lani being so loyal (Colin is used to people leaving or not following through), I still felt like it was not believable that she would. All in all, it was a fun read.
What do You think about The Bachelor's Bed (2000)?
Lani Mills had a secret crush on gorgeous diehard bachelor Colin West, along with half the women in town. But she was just his cleaning lady, so she'd have to content herself with dusting and dreaming...or would she?Colin needed a fictional fiancée to end his mother's matchmaking attempts. Lovely, loyal Lani was his first choice, and, to his relief, she agreed to pretend they were madly in love. But his relief turned to dismay when she kept forgetting the "pretend" part...The problem with this book is the lack of true chemistry between Lani and Colin. Lani is supposed to be a hardworking woman, owning her own cleaning business, but she comes of "wishy-washy." Meanwhile, Colin is too self-centered to be someone the reader would admire.
—Lisa Ann Montgomery
I have to say, this book was so simple in its storyline, HOWEVER I loved it. Lani was adorable and knew what she wanted from minute 1. Colin, the man who keeps feelings locked up deep inside, pushing love away from him, confused at how he can be drawn to someone like Lani.....nice. I have to give props where they are due...the women in Colin's life (his mom and aunts) were immediate loves of mine. I like when a writer can introduce secondary characters and make you just giggle in joy at their presence. The Bachelor's Bed was one of the faves in my Shalvis library.
—Deanna Drake
