Review: Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl

It was meant to be a one-night stand. One night of passion. Scorching hot. Then Beth Cantrell and Eric Donovan were supposed to go their separate ways. That’s the only reason he lied about his name, telling her he was really his wild younger brother. Hiding his own identity as the conservative Donovan. The “good” one.

But passion has its own logic, and Eric finds he cannot forget the sable-haired beauty with whom he shared one night of passion. When Beth discovers that Eric has lied, however, she knows he cannot be trusted. Her mind tells her to forget the blue-eyed charmer. If only every fiber of her being did not burn to call him back.

Eric Donovan hasn’t seen Beth Cantrell in 6 months but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought of her often. When she shows up at a party that is being held at his family brewery he gets a bit nervous that she’s find out the truth about exactly who he is. He lied and told her that he was his brother and still had sex with her.

As with most lies the truth come out and Beth is more than pissed. It doesn’t stop her, however, from inviting him over and having the hottest sex she’s had since she was with him last time. But she’s a bit torn. You see she runs a women’s lingerie and sex shop (high end and tasteful, of course) and she’s seen as a completely knowledgeable about sex woman. She’s not. Yes, she’s done research for her job but she’s really not all that adventurous – or hasn’t been until Eric. He relaxes her and she can be herself with him. But they both keep telling themselves, as well as others that sex is all they want and they don’t either really like or trust the other.

They each have their own issues beside their relationship. Beth’s father doesn’t have a clue where she works and her mother wants to keep it that way. Because of an incident when Beth was in High School she’s on tender ground where her sexuality and her father are concerned.

Then there’s Eric and his feeling of losing his grasp on where the brewery’s headed in the future and what that means for him and his place in it. When he finally comes clean about his feelings to his siblings they are shocked and they all have to figure out their places.

I have to admit that while I really liked Eric in the Guy Next Door anthology I really didn’t care for him all that much in the following novels. He seemed like such an ass to Jaime and while we had a slight clue as to why, we didn’t know for sure what his true feelings were. This book obviously shed some light on his thoughts and concerns and his insecurities but he still didn’t come through in the end as a completely likeable guy for me.

Beth was definitely more of a character that I could like. She was confused about her job and while she loved it when she had the opportunity to completely change things she did. It took some time for her to decide what to do but when she did she wasted no time and got to work.

I wish there had been a bit more in the romance department in this book. Yes, there was a relationship and yes there was sex but I found myself longing for the aspect of the book that would have the h/h really getting to know each other.

So while I liked to book, I didn’t love it. I did like the conclusion to the series, that’s for sure as I thought it brought the Donovan siblings closer together in the end and that was a definite bonus.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Victoria Dahl
HQN Books

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