Molly Jenkins has one naughty little secret: her job as a bestselling erotic fiction author. Until her inspiration runs dry—thanks to a creepy ex—and it’s time to skip town and move back to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado.
One look at former high school hunk chief of police Ben Lawson and Molly is back in business. The town gossip is buzzing at her door and, worse still, a stalker seems to be watching her every move. Thankfully, her very own lawman has taken to coming over, often. The only problem now is that Molly may have to let the cat out of the bag about her chosen profession, and straitlaced Ben will definitely not approve.…
Sigh. I love the cover of this book. Unfortunately, that may be the best thing about it. KristieJ did a great job of summing up my feelings about Talk Me Down. This is a book that has a hot-as-hell hero and a TSTL heroine. I’m very picky about labeling a heroine as TSTL, yet Molly met almost all my requirements.
1. She says the stupidest things at the most inopportune moments.
2. She goes about her life, oblivious to her own safety.
3. When she admits she actually is in danger, she still doesn’t take it serious enough.
4. She keeps secrets for reasons that only she can understand.
Molly is an erotic fiction writer. That was the first big secret that she kept from Ben. It wasn’t that secret that I had a problem with. It was the fact that her ex-boyfriend was stalking her (and a cop to boot) and she didn’t tell anyone. She just blithely accepts the fact that she’s being stalked. It’s okay b/c it’s not the “bad” kind of stalking. He doesn’t actually hurt her. He just turns up where she is when he shouldn’t be there and sabotages any possible relationship. But it’s okay b/c he’s not violent. *insert eye roll here*
Now Ben was a hero that I could get behind. As a small town Police Chief, he has his own reasons for want to keep his affair with Molly a secret. The main reason being that he doesn’t want the possible scandal that a relationship with Molly could bring. After seeing how devastating gossip can be in a small town, the last thing Ben wants to do is get involved with someone that has as many secrets as Molly. He can’t help himself, though. Molly is hawt. He wants to [insert sex word] her more than he wants to be respectable. He can’t be blamed for that. He is a man, after all.
A part of me understood Molly’s hang-ups and her reluctance to spill everything to Ben. Yet my annoyance with everything else she did far outweighed any possibility of actually liking her. She is a hardcore, in-your-face feminist and I can respect that. I can respect her being as sexually open as she was. I just can’t respect the way she treated everyone that cared about her, especially Ben.
Bottom line…Ben could have done better.
3 out of 5.
This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I hate it when I finish a story thinking that the hero deserved better than the heroine. Or the other way around.
I’ve read enough complaints about this book to steer clear of it, but for some strange reason, I really want to read it now. Go figure.
I think calling her a “feminist” is giving her too much depth. She just knows what she wants sexually – that’s all. In any other aspect of her life, she is actually quite insecure and childish.
I read the book too. I didn’t want to kill her just gag her until she grows up. For someone that’s suppose to be liberal and independent, she hides behind too many games.
I understand her fear of sharing her secret with Ben for fear of losing him but if she was an adult, she should have just own up to it and deal with the consequence.
mph
I tend to agree with mph. I didn’t think of Molly as a feminist at all, but more of a selfish woman who needed to grow up. She didn’t consider anyone but herself.
I was especially annoyed when she took Ben out of town to avoid her ex. Not only was that ridiculously immature, but when she gets busted and she and Ben are driving back home her inner monologue was selfish gibberish. Poor me, so abused and so unloved. No one cares about me. No one listens to me. Everybody hates me. Guess I’ll go eat worms.
She never once considered how Ben felt about anything. And her actions at the end only cemented the fact that she was childish.
Her only redeeming quality, IMO, was that she liked sex and wasn’t ashamed of it. We need more heroines – real, strong women who don’t act like idiots – who like sex as much as Molly did. That was very refreshing.
“she liked sex and wasn’t ashamed of it. We need more heroines – real, strong women who don’t act like idiots – who like sex as much as Molly did.”
Holly – that was exactly why I pick the book up. I’m afraid of getting a little to Victorian in my view of sex.
mph
Gah. Hard call..I’d say Jenny. She was way worse than Molly – mostly b/c JM tried to make her so sweet and innocent and perfect we were supposed to overlook the fact that she was an idiot.
Molly is a close second, though.
I’d have to say Jenny, too.
I absolutely loved this book – thought it was a great contemporary!
I bought this book when it was released and now it’s sitting in my TBR/TBC pile. I started on the book and just couldn’t get past the first few chapters. Molly got on my nerves too much…she was abit too selfish for me to continue reading on. Lol.
As I didn’t finish this book, I can’t say for certain that Jenny was less deserving of the hero but I think I’m more than 3/4 of the way there. I remember urging Royce to forget about Jenny because she was too stubborn and blind to know what — or who’s — good in front of her but as she was the heroine I know JM wouldn’t let Royce ditch her. Bummer, ha.
I liked Molly,
yeah, she was selfish and a little childish but don’t we have enough selfish and childish and overbearing alpha males? The excuse for thier behaviour is always ‘oh they’re alpha!’
If I remember rightly Molly did try to tell people what her ex was up to but he was so good no-one believed her.
As for her being wrapped up in herself, well yeh, most people are. I can see where you are coming from….But the majority of us are self-absorbed. When you are in the middle of a crisis, do you stop and think about it affects everyone around you? Probably not if your single, you are used to looking after No.1 , you panick and have knee-jerk reactions. Were they sensible? Probably not because they were spur-of-the moment.
I thought the book had a lot to recommend it. Molly’s interactions with her female friends rang true to me. I have had a few conversations exactly like Molly had.
My only issiue was the big ‘secret’. I can see why, I just don’t think it was that big a deal. Plus, there wasn’t a huge declaration of love from either of them. I like my Declaration dammitt.
Two measley ‘I love you’ ‘s , one from either party do not a romance make!
Even though everyone complains about molly, I still think that it’s a good I want to read… but then I get to the part about Molly being this uber feminist.
Ugh.
I haven’t seen one review that lacks mentioning the feminist part, so it must be a big deal in the book.
No thanks.
I think it has a lot to recommend it too :)like Ben!! That’s why I like that people are reading it But Molly was just too self-centered for me to get past. A certain amount – fine. Or if she grew out of it through the course of the book then yes – Jane Graves, for example, has a book about a self-absorbed heroine – Hot Wheels And High Heels, but the heroine of that book really got over herself and grew as a person. And I agree 😉 Ben could have done better.
Hrm, here is a question for you.
Who is less deserving of the Hero.
1) Molly
or
2) Jennifer from McNaught’s A Kingdom of Dreams
I love A Kingdom of Dreams, and Royce was a great Hero, but he deserved way better than Jennifer.
No way is Jenny worse than Molly. The thing about obtuse, hardheaded hero/heroines is that they eventually redeem themselves at the end by coming to their senses and grovel big-time to prove their worth to their mate. Molly didn’t really have to do it – did she? She just got rescued and got really lucky. Ben understood and forgive all and even apologised (!) for her being put in that situation.
I forgave Jenny once she publically knelt to Royce. She was loyal(to a fault) and courageous. Her loyalty and love for her father/clan was blind and misplaced but it was understandable. Who can accept easily that the people you love are absolute assholes?
mph
I adored Jenny from Kingdom of Dreams! That speech she says about her dream always gets me.
I just started reading Talk Me Down and so far, so good. Already I have a thing for Ben. As for Molly, I guess I will see if I find her to be a total twit.
Well hell!
I took a trip to Walmart this morning and I ended up picking this one up.
I put it back twice before I decided to just go for it.
I figure since I was able to love Kingdom of Dreams, I should be able to enjoy this one. I trust Holly when she says that Jen was worse, so there is a point in this books favor already, LOL