Guest Reviewed by Ami
Title: One Night More
Author: Mandy Baxter
Series: U.S. Marshalls #1
Heroine/Hero: Galen Kelly/Harper Allen
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 Pages
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp./Zebra Books
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Available at: Kensington Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Savvy, hard-riding, rule-breaking—they’ll go anywhere and do anything it takes to protect and serve. But this U. S. Marshal has just met his match—and playing for keeps is one sizzling game…
Getting saved from disaster by a handsome stranger—Harper Allen has no problem with that. But when he leaves without a word or a clue to his real identity, the newbie reporter writes it off as the best one-night-stand she’ll never have again. Until a year later, when Harper comes face to face with the man assigned to hide her from a senator’s killer…
Galen Kelly hasn’t forgotten a single sensual minute of his night with Harper… or that she betrayed him. But with the FBI also on their trail, he’s got to pretend he’s never met her or risk both their lives. But as danger closes in, Galen may not be able to protect himself from taking the biggest risk of all…
Review:
I requested the ARC of this from NetGalley with blind eyes – I never read anything from Mandy Baxter before – simply because I thought the blurb sounded promising. Well, one thing is for sure, this book was pretty entertaining.
The opening of this book was fun – Galen saved Harper when a creep at a bar tried to secretly drug her drink. Right after that, they went home together. I am not a big fan of a romance that starts immediately with hooking-up or one-night stands. However, there was a strong chemistry between Galen and Harper – and their bonding over superheroes, along with some fun banter, made it enjoyable. The whole misunderstanding after that one night was, well, quite acceptable due to circumstances.
After a one-year separation, they met again when Galen was assigned a protective detail on Harper. Galen had to pretend that he forgot about her, because well, Harper clearly had been haunting his dreams, and if Galen told his boss that they were both involved at one time, he would be taken off the assignment in an instant. It was a sign of Ms. Baxter’s good writing that I was fully entertained with reading Galen and Harper pretty much having sexual frustration over the whole thing!! Especially because, for both, that one night was incredible…
Soccer. His grandma. Gunshot wounds. Damn it, he needed to get his mind off the thick locks of her auburn hair. A tangle of curls he wanted to bury his face in . . . Landon in a bikini. Okay, that would be straight-up hilarious.
The mystery/suspense portion was pretty light, in my opinion, even if it started with a senator being killed within inches of Harper. I had to admit that Harper did several things that tipped into a criteria of being “too stupid to live” – especially when she was trying to do some risky things in the name of the story. But, I guess with Harper being a reporter – and you know how sometimes they prefer story over their own life – made me able to forgive her. Yes, she did some stupid things, but she also admitted that it endangered her life and Galen’s. So I couldn’t completely be angry towards her.
Still, she wasn’t going to disrespect him by running off without a word, or ditch him at his sister’s bakery like she’d originally planned. Not after everything that had just happened. And she’d much rather be reckless with Galen at her side than go it alone.
Galen, on the other hand … well, let’s just say that as someone who was handpicked to be apart of the elite Special Operation Group, Galen didn’t impress me with how he handled things near the end. But again, it was proof of a good storytelling that I couldn’t find myself truly annoyed with the fact either. Probably because I kept smiling at the idea of Galen being a sucker for Harper for the rest of his life *laugh*
So, all in all, it was a fun romance with a dash of suspense (I said ‘dash’ because again, it was pretty light) with likable characters. I didn’t care much for the flimsy plot here and there, because I was enjoying the characters and their banters. One thing, I sure will be there for the next book which will feature Galen’s friend, Landon.
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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