Rowena’s review of All I Want is You by Sherrill Bodine.

Hero: Connor O’Flynn
Heroine: Venus Smith

SHE’S STEALING HIS HEART . . .

Vintage boutique owner Venus Smith is stunned to realize her newest acquisition comes with a larcenous legend. Stolen years ago, the antique mermaid brooch belongs to the Clayworth family. The right thing to do would be to return it, but that means facing Connor Clayworth O’Flynn, the sexy department store heir Venus has had an unrequited crush on since childhood-and the man who helped ruin her father.

ONE KISS AT A TIME

Connor knows that Venus has never forgiven him for what happened between their families. But business isn’t personal, even though Venus’s father’s betrayal still cuts him like a knife. So when Venus proposes a deal-she’ll return his family’s brooch if he helps clear her father’s name-he reluctantly agrees. As action-packed days turn into flirtatious fall nights, it isn’t long before old memories resurface . . . and new desires ignite. Can two young lovers leave the past behind? Or must they first admit that all they’ve ever really wanted . . . is each other?

When I picked up this book to read, I realized that I didn’t read as many romance novels last year as I had hoped so this year it’s going to be all about the romance novels (well, at least that’s my hope). I went into this book thinking that I really want to read a contemporary romance and I’m not mad that I chose this one to read.

First, I should say that this book is the third book in this series. I’m not sure what the series is called (couldn’t really tell from her website either) but suffice it to say that this book is the third in that series. I know this because I was hecka confused in the beginning of this book and it took a few chapters to clear away the confusion clouds from my mind. This book follows Venus Smith and Connor O’Flynn as they bicker their way to their happy ending. There’s history between Connor and Venus that goes back to when they were teenagers and Connor saved Venus from drowning in the lake (she swears she didn’t need his help) and then again when they were in college and Connor got kicked off the swim team for punching her then boyfriend and breaking his nose.

Their history is not the reason that Venus hates Connor’s guts. It’s the firing of her father from his company that heads up Venus’ list of reasons she hates Connor. Venus has a million questions about her father’s firing and she knows that if she has a prayer of getting any kind of answers, she’ll have to get them from Connor and she’s going to have to be nice. She gets her opening in the try to woo Connor into telling her the truth about her father’s firing (because of course she believes he’s innocent of all charges but Connor has evidence that he’s guilty) when his Aunt asks for her help in cleaning up her closet and getting some stuff for her vintage store.

While Venus is helping Connor’s aunt clear out her closet, she comes across a mermaid brooch that is a copy of an original that is worth big bucks. The copy she finds in Connor’s aunts closet is worth about $2,500 and Aunt Bridget doesn’t want it so Venus offers to buy it and when she does, things get real interesting.

This book was a light and fluffy with characters that had me laughing all through out the story but it was also very cheesy. Not that I minded much since I’m all about the cheese from time to time. Connor’s reasons for wanting to get closer to Venus and Venus’ initial plan to get closer to Connor were very high school-ish but it was still an enjoyable story. I enjoyed getting to know both Connor and Venus even though Venus was hard to take at times. Their romance was the right amount of steam to keep me interested in what was happening between them two. Reading this book has definitely made me curious about the other two stories but I’m not in any rush to read them just yet.

While it wasn’t the best read of my life, it was still a delightful read. It’s definitely made me want to read more romance novels and that’s a good thing. It’s a light read so if you’re looking for something light contemporary romance, this book fits the bill.

Grade: 3 out of 5.

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