Throwback Thursday Review: Midnight Encounters by Elle Kennedy

Posted October 3, 2019 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Midnight Encounters by Elle KennedyReviewer: Holly
Midnight Encounters by Elle Kennedy
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: June 1, 2009
Format: Print
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 230
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three-half-stars

One night with him will change her life...

Between her waitressing job, volunteer work, and college classes, there are never enough hours in Maggie Reilly’s day. Especially not for a relationship. Luckily, she’s got the perfect arrangement: a lover she meets three or four times a year. But when she shows up at the hotel expecting to hop into bed with one man, she accidentally ends up with another—Ben Barrett, Hollywood’s most notorious bad boy.

Ben, determined to lay low after another scandal, just wants some much-needed sleep. What he gets is a scorching make-out session with a gorgeous, naked redhead. He won’t accept her apology, but what he will accept is a place to hide out…and if there’s some hot, no-strings sex involved, why the heck not?

But Ben soon discovers that one week with his sassy, bed-hopping waitress is definitely not enough. He wants more. A lot more.
Now he needs to convince relationship-averse Maggie that a bad boy might be oh so good for her—and the best thing that’s ever happened to both of them.

*** Every Thursday, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books. Enjoy! ***

This review was originally posted on February 22, 2009.

Last year I read a Samhain book that had an excerpt for this book in the back and just had to buy it. Midnight Encounters is a steamy contemporary romance by Elle Kennedy. I was drawn in by her writing in the short excerpt I read and wasn’t disappointed with the rest of the story.

Maggie is really buttoned down and determined to make something of herself. She was abandoned as a young child and spent her life in foster homes. As a result she wants to make a career for herself and help other young kids in the system. She has no room in her life for complications, relationships or fun and relaxation. Between work, volunteering and school, she has zero free time. But twice a year she makes time to get together with Tony for hot sex. Yes, you read that right, she only allows herself hot sex twice a year.

When an heiress socialite leaves bad boy Hollywood star Ben $10 million in her will, the media storm is overwhelming. In desperate need of a break, he seizes Maggie’s hotel room mishap as the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone: Get laid and hide out. He’s surprised at how much he ends up wanting to take care of Maggie, though. Seeing her workaholic attitude bothers him more than it should, and it isn’t long before he’s determined to get her to relax.

This was definitely a well-written novel. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Maggie was a little over the top at times, especially in her insistence that she make something of herself before worrying about the rest of her life. I understood her reasons for wanting a stable career, but all work and no play makes for a bitchy heroine, and she was occasionally that. Of course, if I only had sex twice a year and worked as much as she did I’d probably be bitchy, too, but still…

I really liked that Ben was the one who wanted to take care of Maggie. Too often it’s the other way around. I did find his arrogance to be kind of out of control at times. I wondered many times why Maggie let things slide with him instead of beating him over the head. But then..he was sexy as hell. That might have accounted for some of it.

My main issues stems from the fact that Maggie kept pushing Ben away and blaming him for things going wrong in her life. She needed to lighten up and Ben was trying to help with that. On the other hand, if a man came into my life and tried to complicate it without my permission, no matter how hot or how good in bed, I’d be pissed too. Basically, I understood where Maggie was coming from but thought she went too far.

Overall this is was a light, sexy read. It had some flaws, but I liked both characters and enjoyed the story for what it is.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

three-half-stars


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