Monday, July 6, 2015

Her Red-Carpet Romance - Marie Ferrarella (HSE #2409 - June 2015)

Series: Matchmaking Mamas (Book 14)

Hollywood heartthrob and widower Lukkas Spader knows his women are just photo ops for the paparazzi. He's sworn off dating. In fact, he might have forgotten how to go about it But the big-time movie producer needs a gal Friday. And Yohanna desperately needs a job. So what if she's beautiful and their relationship starts out like a typical chick flick? That doesn't mean they're going to fall in love...

She's never felt the sparks between herself and the parade of potential husbands her mother's insisted she meet. So Yohanna Andrzejewski has given up on romance. But when she poses for the cameras with sexy, gorgeous Lukkas--trying to keep the gossipmongers at bay--she realizes that there's something in the air...call it sparks. Bells. Magic. Because Lukkas and Yohanna may not be looking for love, but something--or someone--is making sure it finds them.

Really fun book to read, with great chemistry, terrific romance, and moments of both laughter and tears. It starts with Yohanna having lost her job and wondering what she's going to do. Her cleaning lady, a motherly sort of person, listens to her fears and tells her not to worry. She has some contacts and will see what she can find. Unknown to Yohanna, Claudia is one of the town's "matchmaking mamas" and she does indeed have contacts. And many of those contacts end up happily married after dealing with Claudia and her friends.

Yohanna is a young woman with a talent for organizing and getting things done. It started when she was a kid, especially after her father died. She loves what she does, even though it puts her at odds with her mother, who just wants her to get married and have children. Mom's efforts are driving her crazy. Yohanna is thrilled when Claudia comes through with a chance to interview with producer Lukkas Spader. 

Lukkas is very successful, but also very disorganized. His previous assistant just got married, and Lukkas is drowning under everything that needs to get done as his mind tends to jump from item to item. He's not sure that anyone would be able to do as good a job as Jan had done, but he's desperate.

I loved the initial meeting between Yohanna and Lukkas. She is nervous at first, but becomes more comfortable as Lukkas details what he needs. At the same time, Lukkas is cautious, but impressed by Yohanna's can-do attitude. There's some great give-and-take in their conversation. When she arrives for work the next day there's an encounter with a local cop that gets things off to an interesting start. Yohanna jumps right in to learning her new job, and Lukkas is surprised by how quickly they mesh.

Lukkas also discovers that he is attracted to Yohanna, something that is unexpected and unwelcome. He lost his wife in a car accident three years earlier and is still grieving. He also feels some guilt, as he had been working a lot at the time. Having feelings for Yohanna makes him feel as though he is being unfaithful to his wife. At the same time, Yohanna is fighting her attraction to Lukkas, as she doesn't want to lose her job. She's surprised by the strength of those feelings, as none of the men she had dated made her feel this way. 

I loved the part where he asks her to go to the premier with him to protect him. It was fun to see him try to explain why he needs her. His reaction when he came to pick her up was great, and being together in a social situation brought their relationship to a different level. 

It was great to see the way that Yohanna and Lukkas got so much closer as time went on. Her ability to anticipate what he needed made his life easier. I really enjoyed seeing his reactions to the various things she did. I loved the scene with Lukkas's lead actor. Yohanna also becomes very good at reading his moods, and was there on the anniversary of his wife's death. I ached for him and his grief, and loved seeing Yohanna try to help him through it. What happened next wasn't a surprise, and it was wonderful to see that it didn't suddenly create a huge problem or awkwardness between them. 

The ending was really sweet, as Lukkas realized just how much Yohanna meant to him. He was rather adorably befuddled as he tried to tell her how he felt. I loved his line "you brought the sunshine back into my life and I don't want to go back to living in the dark."

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