Friday, April 13, 2018

Book Review: High Heels and Haystacks (Billionaires in Blue Jeans - Book 2) by Erin Nicholas

Erin Nicholas

High Heels and Haystacks

Billionaires in Blue Jeans Book 2

A boss-employee romance...with a twist

Only three things stand between Ava Carmichael and her twelve billion dollar inheritance:

1. A year of living in Bliss, Kansas.

2. A relationship that lasts six consecutive months.

3. A pie.

Ava has run a multi-billion-dollar company, negotiated with shark investors, and hobnobbed with business royalty, but she’s about to be defeated by her inability to turn sugar, flour, and apple pie filling into something edible.

Conveniently, the owner of the diner next door, Parker Blake, is magic in the kitchen. And he technically works for her. So she can make him teach her to bake. And, hey, if everyone assumes they’re heating up more than the oven during their time in the kitchen…well, that’s called multitasking.

Parker Blake likes his women the way he likes his coffee: not in his diner. But gorgeous, strong-willed, type-A Ava clearly isn’t going to stop messing up his kitchen—or his simple, stress-free small-town life—until the conditions of her daddy’s will are met. So, sure, he’ll teach his “boss” to bake.

But once the kitchen door closes, it’s pretty clear who’s really in charge.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I think it’s cute that you think you’re telling me to jump… It’s me who’s telling you to tell me to jump.

“What are you doing with my rooster?” Ava glanced down at the bird under her arm. “Showing him who’s boss.”

My Review:

Eric Nicholas has penned a delightfully sweet, steamy, and multi-layered tale, peppered with amusing wit, delicious steam, and expletives and bawdy talk. It was an entertaining and well-crafted story that was thoughtfully written with an insightfully observant narrative for two fascinating and rather unusual yet likable characters. I adored this book. Ava and Parker were both headstrong personalities and prone to bossiness, but they had common goals and surprisingly, many more commonalities than differences once they got past their wariness and bothered to spend time together. Their relationship was a slow process of merger and acquisition rather than an outright take-over, although that occurred as well with enough sensual chemistry to power a nuclear reactor. I enjoyed how they successfully maneuvered, accommodated, and managed each while forgetting the selfish intent they each had started off with. And I totally agree with Parker, ketchup should never defile a steak.

Empress DJ

About the Author:

I've been reading romance since my mom first let me into her book cupboard when I was about fourteen. LaVyrle Spencer, Julie Garwood, Debbie Macomber... they took my 'happily ever after' ideas from animated princesses to real people in the real world. I've been writing romance almost as long. Many a family car trip was spent with my head bent over a spiral notebook in the back seat. I'll confess that my very first attempts at fiction were fantasy and paranormals, influenced by my father's love of the Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the original Alice in Wonderland. If Harry Potter had been around, I'm sure he would have been on the bedtime story shelf as well. But it wasn't long until I started writing about true love and that's where I've been ever since.

I'm so thrilled to be able to share these stories with you! I hope that they make you smile, sigh, maybe even choke up a little. Most of all, I hope that they help you believe in magical things like first kisses, the spark of passion, and the power of true love.