Nina Forrester wants to become an editorial staff of Attitudes, a magazine that caters to young women (think Cosmo). She decides to write an article on personal ad romance, and her friend and co-worker Lizbeth writes the ad for her. At a coffee shop, Nina spills coffee all over a handsome stranger (no big surprise here, it’s the hero), and they stare at each other and go through all the necessary things that all heroes and heroines found in romance novels do. That itself is fine. It’s what comes after that bothered me.

Cameron Ryder wants to buy Attitudes. He’s a former-geek-turned-Internet-tycoon. He wants to buy Attitudes no matter what it costs. For a businessman, it is the stupidest thing to do - acquire a company no matter what. He instantly lost credibility as a “millionaire”. A guy who can’t even execute acquisitions right can’t be much of a businessman.

Furthermore, Cam wants to get close to Nina and lies to her about his identity because Nina happens to think that Cameron Ryder is a no-good SOB. This bothered me on two levels: Nina doesn’t like Cameron Ryder just because her boss, who by the way can’t even remember Nina’s name, doesn’t like him, and Cam decides to lie because he knows what Nina thinks of him. Can we say “a big misunderstanding coming your way”?

The rest of the novel is devoted to Cam and Nina’s heavy petting, not-so-hot love scenes by Temptation standards, and a string of misunderstandings. The entire storyline is predictable, and I lost respect for Nina when she tries to make Cam jealous to see where her place is in his life - and folks, this happens in the latter half of the book. Inciting jealousy on purpose is juvenile and unheroic in my humble opinion. A relationship should be based on mutual trust and respect, not testing others with scenes with ex-lovers.

Despite all my problems, I genuinely liked Cam. He may not be the most astute businessman, but he’s the most decent person in the entire story, and I felt bad that he got stuck with a woman who doesn’t deserve him. His insecurities and fears are more sympathetic than the constant griping and whining from Nina.

This is the last one in The Personal Touch! series, but you don’t have to read the previous stories to read this one. If you kept up with the series, you might want to try this, but if you’re looking for something spicy, hip, and fun (which is what the blurb promises), look elsewhere.

--Stella Knight