Hero: Dylan Grant
Heroine: Kathleen King
Grade: 4 out of 5

A few Texas society gals are hiding sordid pasts as strippers, pole dancers, call girls, Democrats . . . But socialite Kathleen Connor King’s secret is far, far worse. The flamboyant oil heiress, philanthropist, shopaholic, and hostess of the city’s most prestigious annual gala, Kathleen King has a skeleton in her closet that, if revealed, will obliterate her good name and cherished social standing: She’s broke!

Her longtime beau, Dylan Grant, is similarly busted, ever since his now-deceased father lost the last of the family’s oil properties to A-List wannabe Bo Harlan in a poker game. So Kat and Dylan have a plan, and with the help of a small cadre of loyal friends and allies, they’re ready to resort to outrageous tactics—not all of them legal—to keep up appearances, win back the lost Grant oil money, elude a psycho Vegas mobster…and solidify their lofty positions among the crème de la crème.

Last year, I read my very first Jo Barrett book and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I was looking forward to reading this book as well. I kind of worried a little bit on if I’d enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed, This Is How It Happened but I feared for nothing because I enjoyed the heck out of this story.

This story is about Texas living and the dirty little secrets that everyone has…most especially, the secrets of Kat King and Dylan Grant. It’s a story about two people who are fighting to keep the life they’ve always known and learning to deal with the blows that life throws at them. It’s about oil and family and proving to yourself that you’ve got what it takes to make something of yourself and Jo Barrett did a fantastic job of writing Dylan and Kat’s story.

What I liked most about this book is that it was more than a romance story because when we meet Dylan and Kat, they’re already together and they’re already blissfully in love with each other…and have been since they were children. This story shows how they deal with all of the problems that are falling down around them together as a couple. It shows the strength and the trust that these two had in each other and it warmed my heart to read through this story.

Kat is one of those strong heroines that you can’t help but admire. The work she did for her Children’s Hospital Foundation made me like her more and more as the pages wore on. The way that she ran that foundation and the way that she loved those children made you root for her as an individual because she was so far from being perfect. She did a lot of things that made you think, NOOOOO but none of those things took away from the way that you cared about her. None of those things made you want to throw the book at the wall and that’s what I loved most about this book.

Nobody was perfect in this book. Not the heroine, not the hero and neither was anyone else in this story. Not even the “perfect girl” was perfect. Everyone was flawed and it was okay because they were perfect in their flaw-ness. Each character brought something to this story whether it was big or small, each character played a roll in this story and we saw it. It was front and center and I enjoyed that about it.

The hero, Dylan Grant was a great hero. He wasn’t one of those to do for heroes that we all fall in love with but he was a hero that everyone would recognize as someone they knew in their real life. He was that star football player with the heart of gold that you had a crush on in high school, he was the hottie construction worker that is working on the hotel down the street from your work, he was someone you’ve had a crush on at one point in your life. He was real and I loved that about him. Sometimes he did boneheaded things but sometimes he surprised you with how thoughtful he could be. I very much enjoyed getting to know him and though he wasn’t a hit you in your face with his sexiness, his sexiness came from getting to know him. The more you read about him, the more you got to know him…the more you thought, damn, I want!

What a treat this book turned out to be, there was only a slight drag for me in the beginning but once you got over the beginning hump the book picks up and the laughs start and the sighing ensues. It’s a great read for those days when you want to lose yourself into a quick, witty read. Kudos to Barrett for writing a wonderfully witty book about the people of Texas. I love Texans!

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.