Sometimes Naughty, Sometimes Nice

Rating:
Summary: great, great, great!
Review: I loved this book. It was funny and hot. I love the mom and think Kimbelry Raye is such a great writer. I can't wait for book three.

Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite book...
Review: I picked this up at the store last week. I expected a Christmas romance because of the title (I was in a hurry and only skimmed the back!), but it obviously wasn't.

The story line was pretty good, but I just couldn't get into the characters. I didn't care for the back-and-forth personality of the heroine. She wasn't likeable to me at all.

This was my first book by Raye, and I'm not sure I'll try again. I might pick up another after reading the reviews.

Rating:
Summary: Good second book.
Review: I thought this book was funny and hot and sexy. I think the story line is great and love to see how it gets flipped on the men. Usually men have that thinking. I thought it was a bit cheesy at times, but this book had me laughing out loud. I liked it and cant wait for the third book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: enjoyable contemporary romance
Review: In Dallas, owner and head designer of World Women, Inc Xandra Farrel is panic stricken as she found a gray hair in a location her stylist could not dye. She learned about her graying because Xandra tests all her firm's erotic toys for women during the design stage. Adding to her woes is that her boyfriend of eight years Mark of tofu food recently left Xandra of spice food.

Beau Hollister of Hire a Hunk handyman service is renovating Xandra's home. He and Xandra shared what he felt was the greatest five minutes of his life back in high school, but believes her biggest disappointment. Xandra actually feels those five minutes were nirvana, but figured her and her family's outlook on sex drove the hunk away. As they work in close proximity and she wants to use him as a test dummy, they fall in love, but neither has the confidence that they normally have with the other sex when it comes to this particular partner.

This is an enjoyable contemporary romance starring two delightful protagonists and a fabulous eccentric support cast especially Xandra's mother. The story line is breezy as expected in a lighthearted romp that winks at so-called American family values. Beau lives up to he company's title and Xandra is a fun feminist making for a fine time while the anguish will shift to daughter number three to deal with monsoon mom and her theories on the slavery of matrimony.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Overall A Fun Story!
Review: Ms. Raye's latest offering is overall a fun story that will offer the reader not an unusual storyline. The characters are just as colorful but difficult to feel overly connected to.

Without a doubt Ms. Raye has a very good sense of humor and she exericises it in her latest book. Since I have not had the pleasure to read the previous title in this series I was able to come to this read with an open mind. I did feel though that the author had a hard time determining who she wanted her main character to be. Xandra was at turns both amusing and annoying. In any event the main characters Xandra and Beau just didn't speak to me as a reader and as a result I didn't feel invested in their growing relationship. This is the reason for the three star rating.

Overall this was a fun story if you can discount not being able to feel invested in the characters. Ms. Raye is an author I will read again but I'm not sure if I will continue on with this series.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

Rating:
Summary: Wild Woman Inc meets Hunks for Hire....
Review: Sometimes Naughty, Sometimes Nice by Kimberley Raye
October 11, 2004

Courtesy of WWW.loveromances.com

What do you get when you have a woman who owns a company named "Wild Woman Inc", a manufacturer of erotic toys? You get SOMETIMES NAUGHTY, SOMETIMES NICE by Kimberly Raye, the second in a trilogy of books featuring three sisters raised by a woman who calls herself a "womanist". Jacqueline Farrel is mom, and she's a famous sexologist with her own television show. She's the guru of the womanist movement, women who are aware of their femininity but are not dependent on men. She doesn't believe in marriage, and in fact, she is not married to the sisters' father, Donovan Martin. Both parents are busy with their own careers and don't live in the same house most of the year. In this second novel, the main focus is on Xandra Farrel.

Xandra has just lost her live-in boyfriend Mark, who had fit perfectly into the role of the "holy commitment trinity". They had great sex, respected each other, and had common interests. According to her mother, these were the perfect relationship traits, and once you had them, you could not go wrong. Obviously this didn't apply to Xandra and Mark, since he decided they were no longer a perfect fit.

The book is filled with humorous scenes, such as the opening chapter, in which Xandra is upset that she's found a gray pubic hair. She vents her frustrations on Albert, her chief engineer and close confidante, and he tries to reassure her that her life is not over.

So, she decides that her new goal in life is to have babies. However, her mother had always taught them that there is no need for marriage. Time is running out, as her body is reaching that stage in life where she may no longer have viable eggs. Mark has spoiled it all by walking out on her, so now she has to rush to find a man that will contribute his sperm.

Enter Beau Hollister, the owner of "Hunks for Hire", who is going to renovate Xandra's home. The bad news is Beau is the first boy she tried to have sex with back in high school. The key word is "tried", since Beau was over and done with his part before she had a chance to blink. The event was so embarrassing that neither Beau nor Xandra want to rehash it.

Xandra in the mean time invents a new sex paraphernalia that she thinks is going to be the biggest toy in the industry. But she needs to test it out on a few people. After trying it out with her King Kong vibrator (she always tests out all new products) she gets it in her mind that Beau would be the perfect candidate. If this new contraption can make sex with Beau exhilarating, she has it made. Her next goal - seduce Beau into wanting to have sex with her. It's not an easy task.

This reviewer had mixed feelings for SOMETIMES NAUGHTY, SOMETIMES NICE. The overall story was original and fun. There was plenty of humor to make one chuckle. The problem had to do with the characters. Too many were introduced at once in the beginning of the book. Granted, this was the second in a trilogy of books; however, the reader should not have to read the first book to enjoy the second. This reviewer feels that a good romance introduces minor characters slowly, and does not make too many of these characters as important as the two main characters, the male and female leads. The character of Jacqueline Farrel is made to be as important as Xandra. It was frustrating to switch gears from Xandra, who was looking for a love interest, to her mother's personal life and her television show. This entire segment of the novel could have been left out.

Another problem with the characters was that their personalities felt forced. It felt as if they had been created mainly to fit the story line, and not the other way around. Although the characters in some way did evolve and grow, they felt too rigid and structured in the beginning. By the end of the story, the main male and female characters had resolved their differences, as in any romance, but the jump from point A to point B did not feel natural.

Despite these negative points, this reviewer gives three stars for SOMETIMES NAUGHTY, SOMETIMES NICE. It is still a good beach read and a nice way to pass the time.



Rating:
Summary: A Delightful book
Review: Sometimes Naughty, Sometimes Nice by Kimberly Raye is a delightful, sexy romp.

Xandra Farrel thought she had the perfect relationship but when she is dumped she is not so sure. As the owner of Wild Woman, Inc. she personally tests all the new toys for women. Now she needs a test subject and sets her sights on her high school crush Beau Hollister. The man who was too quick their one time together.

Beau Hollister has been on a mission to get his renovation company on the map. He is hired by Xandra to redo her home. Xandra is a walking fantasy and something Beau feels he needs to avoid. But when Xandra decides to get her man Beau is in a heap of trouble.
Beau and Xandra both have issues from their past to work through. It was hilarious and deliciously steamy watching them become a couple.

This is the second book I have read by this author and I am looking forward to many more to come. Especially Eve's story.


Rating:
Summary: Read it in Bed!
Review: This book is very funny, very hot and a terrifically good time. It isn't hard to understand why Cosmo excerpted this novel with so many they could choose from. It is the perfect read for every woman who enjoys reading contemporary romances about smart, independent women who know what they want and go after it. My favorite part? That love strikes in unlikely ways and it isn't always having common interests that really matters-- even though this is a light funny read, there is also insight into real love and real men.

Rating:
Summary: Hot and Funny!
Review: Wow, what a great book. It made me laugh out loud. Xandra is funny and sexy. By the end of the story I felt like I was part of her family. And if anyone finds more men like Beau, just point me in the right direction so I can get in line.