Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: Out Now
How I got this book: eARC from publisher
When a stranger walks up and punches him, Ryan Kaye assumes there’s a good reason. But he’s stunned to learn it’s over a one-night stand that never happened —with his friend’s sister, straight-laced Amanda Dixon. When Ryan confronts her about the lie, Amanda apologizes, but Ryan realizes he doesn’t want her to be sorry…he wants the night they supposedly spent together.
Amanda’s not looking to add anyone to her long list of commitments, so she was only trying to let a nice guy down easy by telling him a fling with Ryan broke her heart. So what if the fling only happened in her dreams? But when Ryan Kaye tempts her with the chance to go crazy and fulfill a few fantasies, she can’t resist. Thank goodness one night isn’t enough time to fall in love…
Product Warnings
Contains a hot paramedic who knows how to get a girl to let her hair down, a girl who thinks she prefers her hair up, some naughty laser tag, some naughty role-playing and a lot of falling in love.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
I am a newbie to Nicholas’ work, and I am so happy to say that after reading only one book by her, I’m thinking I need to add her name to my list of auto-buy authors. I absolutely adored this book!
Amanda has a wild side, but after her older brother witnessed it first hand, she does everything she can to suppress it. But when her brother’s best friend and star of her fantasies propositions her with a wild night together, Amanda can’t hold back that part of her any longer. She takes Ryan up on his offer, and although they only plan for one night, Amanda finds herself going back for more.
Ryan is the king of laid-back, easy-going, so when the straight-laced Amanda shows interest, he jumps at the chance to be with her. But the last thing Ryan ever expected was to have Amanda pull him in so much, he starts to debate the merits of happily ever after. But between Amanda’s overprotective older brother, three crazy and wild younger sisters, and their very different backgrounds, will Ryan and Amanda ever be able to make it work past the weekend?
Since this was my first book by Nicholas, I will admit to being a little bit confused in the beginning. It wasn’t until I stalked her website after putting the book down that I realized this series is a spin off from a popular and long standing series Nicholas has been writing for years. So while fans of her books will fall easily into the groove with this, I felt a little confused as to what was going on in the beginning. It seemed as if the characters had all been introduced in a previous chapter and I was left in the dark. Fortunately, that one little mishap didn’t change the fact that the rest of the book had me falling in love.
I’m a big fan of the older brother’s best friend stories, and this was so well done! I loved the way Ryan and Amanda danced around the issue of revealing too much to her brother, and how her sisters were all-too-willing to keep secrets. The family dynamics between them was so wonderful, so potent, so realistic I couldn’t put the book down once I started. The minute I was finished I wanted more, and the thought of waiting until September for the next book almost made me cry.
The romance between Ryan and Amanda was so amazing. Although Amanda was thought of as the perfect sister, her wild side had a way of overriding her common sense and made her do some pretty stupid things. The stuff she said to Ryan in the beginning of the story was pretty insensitive, and I loved that Ryan was quick to put her in her place. It was fun to see the tables flipped on the characters, and I loved the way they went about rebuilding their friendship and relationship. Plus, the sexy times between these two was SMOKIN’ HOT. Between the role-playing and the crazy anything goes nightclub, these two heated up the sheets, the walls, the laser tag playing field… Wowza!
Another aspect I thought Nicholas did incredibly well was the secondary characters. While I’m sure many of the characters will be familiar faces to long-time readers, everyone was new and fresh for me. I have to say though, Amanda’s sisters and brother might be my new favorite fictional family. They teased and tormented each other without mercy, and yet it was so obvious how much they loved and adored each other. If I could be a part of any fictional family, I think I’ve found my choice! I am so excited and anxious to read more!
All in all I absolutely loved my first Nicholas book, and have already budgeted out buying up her backlist. I thought Amanda and Ryan were fabulous characters with a phenomenal romance and a supporting cast of characters that kept me smiling and laughing and hoping for more. I can’t wait to read the next in the series, and am so glad to have found a new-to-me author who has a lot of books I can go back and glom onto.
I give She’s the One an A
Nice review, I am tempted to add her to my wishlist 🙂