Review ~ A Friendly Flirtation by Christine Warner @ChristinesWords

A Friendly Flirtation by Christine Warner
Published by Entangled Publishing on February 15th 2016
Buy on Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Australia
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Allison Hall is fed up with being a social outcast. Even at the tech company where she works for her brother and his best friend, Jared, she's the invisible nerdy girl. What she needs is confidence—and that requires a makeover and dating tips. And she knows just the man to help…

Jared Esterly is shocked when Allison asks for his assistance and turns her down, knowing that her brother—his business partner and best friend, Nick—would kill him if he dated her, even if it is just for practice. But when Al’s attempt to make changes on her own fails spectacularly, Jared reluctantly steps in. Things heat up quickly, and soon lessons move from the salon to the bedroom.

When overprotective big-brother Nick discovers Jared is dating Allison, their friendship and business partnership sour. Allison, consumed by guilt, must make a choice: stay with Jared, even though that means ruining his friendship with Nick and possibly his career, or leave the one man who sets her on fire.

I received A Friendly Flirtation for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

 

 

What do the Kama Sutra, weddings, and penguins have in common? They are all elements in the fun and vivacious novel, A Friendly Flirtation.

Allison is an intelligent woman finally in her own apartment, yet still held tight in the grasp of her male dominated family. She works for her brother, Nick, whom she’s too afraid to disappoint so she takes his suggestions on everything. When Nick declines her plea for help for a makeover, she goes to his business partner and best friend, Jared. Jared initially says no as well, but when Allison tries to do a makeover on her own, she obtains disastrous results.

This story takes some of the same steps as the typical “in love with my brother’s best friend” stories. Where it differs is what I loved about the story. Although Allison believed she was shy and naive when it came to social situations, with her new look and Jared’s help, she has the self-confidence to show what she’s had inside all along. Once the pair move on to the physical aspects of a real relationship, they are fun, flirty, and awkward, more realistic than not.

A Friendly Flirtation is a fresh look into the joys of sex and love with a couple who are friends before lovers. Bravo to Christine Warner for another flirty success!

 

She leaned her forehead against his chin, then tilted her head back, parting her lips and inviting him in for another kiss.

And he wanted seconds. More than he’d ever imagined. The soft blush creeping over her face, the way her breasts strained against her blouse as she tried to regain her breathing only encouraged him. Holy. Fuck. With her it’d be too easy to forget where the hell they were. And he didn’t like an audience. Not now. With Allison, not ever.

But that didn’t stop him from running his thumb over her bottom lip. For a second he lost sense of where they were when her eyes grew dark and her lashes fluttered gently over her skin. She looked so beautiful, and that protective urge— or maybe he should just call it what is is…lust—overtook him. He couldn’t picture her with anyone but him. Fuck. He didn’t want her with anyone else. Screw Nick. He’d deal with him later.

If anyone would teach Allison how to please a man, let a real man do the job.

Him.

She was ready, so was he. He was willing, and so was she. And they were both adults. “Al, I don’t want you with any of these men.”

She sighed, sagging against him. “Are we really going to have this conversation again? I—”

He took her mouth in a hard kiss, parting the seam of her lips with his tongue and thrusting inside, swallowing her gasp. She melted against him. He slid his hands down her throat, past her shoulders, and lower still until he curved his arm around her back and squeezed her rear. She smiled into their kiss, and this time he melted. “Do I need to rephrase?” he whispered against her mouth.

She shook her head, their mouths still touching. “I really only wanted one man in this room, but I didn’t think he wanted—”

“You better be talking about me.” He leaned back just far enough so he could watch the way her emotions flickered across her eyes. Excitement. Uncertainty. Acceptance. She nodded, her lips parted and moist.

“Are you telling me—?”

“I’m telling you I’ve come to my senses. Or lost them completely.”