Be Ready to be HOOKED!!

Love at First Sight
Cupid Texas #1
Lori Wilde
Releasing May 28th, 2013
384 Pages
Avon
Gifted by: Publisher/Edelweiss
Reviewed by: Kerrie Strong (Avon Addict)


From the author of the Twilight, Texas books comes the first in a dazzling new Cupid, Texas series. Lori Wilde welcomes us to Cupid, where every wish for love comes true...

Natalie McCleary couldn't believe her eyes-a lean-muscled, darkly tanned, nearly-naked man stood in her path…and then it hit her: love. Everyone always told her it'd hit like a thunderbolt, and she never believed them. But now she knew: practical, sensible Natalie was head over heels in love-with a stranger.

But ex-Navy SEAL Dade Vega wasn't about to be a stranger for long. He'd ridden into Cupid on his motorcycle, vowing to keep a promise he'd made to a military buddy. But a single glimpse at Natalie-soaking wet and unexpectedly tempting-changed his life forever.

But how can he offer her is love, when he can't even promise to stay in one place for longer than a week?

*****

In one of the first boxes from Avon when the Avon Addict program began, there was a book by a new-to-me author, "Cowboy Takes a Bride" by Lori Wilde. I was charmed at once by the cover, and by the end of the book (which I think I read in a day) I knew two things:

1. Lori Wilde was an author from whom I needed to read more, and

2. I freaking love contemporary Western romances!

After reading the next two books in the Jubilee, Texas series I was definitely hooked. By the late fall, I'd had to go back and buy the Christmas Cookie Chronicles, and by the way-- loved those, too. I am a huge sucker for Christmas-themed romance during the holidays.

So when I received the notice from Avon that the first of her new series was available for review, I had an undignified "squee" moment and downloaded it immediately.

Natalie is an almost-thirty-year-old virgin, waiting for that thunderbolt. Injured in a tragic accident that took her parents' lives when she was a child (and was THAT a heartbreaking scene to read!), she has taken care of her little sister ever since. Too busy to take the time to find love in their small town, she wonders if she ever will.

And then there's Dade. I love Dade. I adore that he's not afraid of love, just afraid that he wouldn't be any good for Natalie. He's come to town in search of his foster brother and SEAL buddy, who has disappeared, and immediately finds a reason to stick around.

I was a little leery at first about the "love at first sight" concept. However, I thought it was a very cute story idea for a contemporary romance. So often, we read about that sort of thing happening in Regency-era ballrooms, but it's a rare thing in a modern-day romance with our jaded heroines today. I didn't find it at all unbelievable, and thought it was very sweet.

Naturally, there are still obstacles our hero and heroine must face in their journey to happily-ever-after. Family obligations, personal baggage, a great cast of well-drawn supporting characters both helping and hindering in their own ways.

And this novel has a mystery-- some intrigue to really spice things up.

I hope you add this to your TBR list; I definitely recommend it. And just a few weeks after its release, there is a novella coming, One True Love, that explains more about the Cupid back story and the role Natalie's grandmother had in the Dear Cupid letters (though you don't need to have read that before this one; she explains it all very well).

Here's a clue about how much I enjoyed it: I read it several months ago, so I picked it up the other day just to review the first couple of chapters so it would be fresh in my mind while I wrote the review. Yeah, you guessed it: I re-read the whole darn thing, despite my mile-high TBR list.

Enjoy. :)

~Kerrie~