Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye

Okay, this is one for those who are complaining about the lack of straight contemporaries out there. I adored this book and am even thinking about rereading it. So, here's my impression of Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye.

Rosalie Ronaldi doesn't have a domestic bone in her body ...

All she cares about is her career, so she survives on take-out and dirty martinis, keeps her shoes under the dining room table, her bras on the shower curtain rod, and her clothes on the couch ...

Nick Romeo is every woman's fantasy - tall, dark, handsome, rich, really good in bed, AND he loves to cook and clean ...

He says he wants an independent woman, but when he meets Rosalie, all he wants to do is take care of her. Before too long, he's cleaned up her apartment, stocked her refrigerator, and adopted her dog ...

So what's the problem? Just a little matter of mistaken identity, corporate theft, a hidden past in juvenile detention and one big nosy Italian family too close for comfort ...

I really, really, really liked this book. It's cute and fun and really romantic. If I was reading a book for fantasy, this is what I would want. Nick's a wonderful guy and I liked how he can be caring and compassionate, yet still be very masculine. Hmmm...kinda reminds me of my husband, actually. Maybe that's why I liked the book so much.

For much of the book, Nick pretends to be a simple mechanic at the dealership that he actually owns. He does this because he's sick of being wanted for his money and thinks that he won't be seeing Rosalie for very long anyways. But she grows on him and he finds himself unable to bring himself to really tell her who he is. Of course, Rosalie has found out his identity fairly early on and deduces his reasoning for herself. I liked that this didn't end up being major conflict for the characters. Instead, it was their own fear of relationships that forms the main conflict and for these particular characters it rings true.

I also liked Rosalie. She's a workaholic and it's a true part of who she is and I liked how Nick brings her out of her shell. There's some conflict when it turns out she's working for a company that he's trying to take over and it was interesting to see how that was handled. I kept cringing, waiting for what I thought would be one or both of the characters doing something stupid, but they didn't. And like the blurb, there's corporate theft and juvenile detention, but it all works.

I hope I haven't missed anything or made anything confusing. Just ask and I shall try to explain better. Here's a link to an excerpt of the book: Romeo, Romeo excerpt

All in all, I adored this book and can't wait to read more in this Domestic Gods series.

Hint, hint to anyone reading this: My birthday is towards the beginning of May, when the next book, Too Hot to Handle comes out. Me wants. Badly.