Close to Perfect

by Tina Donahue

Book Overview

Real estate mogul Josh Wyatt, plagued by the tabloids and lust-crazed women, hires ex-cop and bodyguard Tess Franklin to pose as his girlfriend, an assignment that takes an erotic turn when he falls in lust, and slightly in love, with his beautiful new protector.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758213190
• ISBN13: 9780758213198
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Brava
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Great Pool Read

This is a great pool read! A great story, although not the best I've read! I would suggest Janet Evanaovich if you like Tina Donahue.

Light fun reading

Josh Wyatt is a "zillionaire" real estate mogul. Somehow the paparazzi have gotten pictures of him stepping out of his pool as he was swimming nude. Now, he's got women hounding him - wanting to touch him and generally, being annoying. His attorney recommends that he hires a bodyguard. Josh is against the idea until he meets a woman in a gorgeous peach suit that wants the job as his bodyguard. Tess Franklin is that woman in the peach suit. She works for her father and thinks this job is a great way to increase her Dad's business. But one look - and one kiss - and Tess wants Josh too. For her, meeting him reminds her of how her parents met - one look and they knew they were meant for each other. She feels that way about Josh, but thinks that he's just interested in a short fling. I had a couple of problems with this book. I had a hard time believing the basic premise of this story. [...]. Seems more likely the attorney would want to sue the newspaper (though they do explain why they don't sue in the book, I couldn't buy it). I also had a problem with what keeps the characters apart after Josh admits his feelings for Tess. When Tess talks about how rich Josh is, how they come from different worlds, it seemed almost forced. But it's easy getting past those problems as there's a lot to like in this book. I liked the author's writing style. And I liked Josh and Tess. I didn't feel that Josh was an idiot or a humiliated male. Most of the time, he seemed like an ordinary guy trying to figure it all out. Tess, of course, is an ex-cop extraordinaire (it would have been nice if she was just an ordinary ex-cop) but she's likable. And when the two finally do "get together", it's nice and steamy. There's not much plotline there (320 pages basically for a bodyguard protecting someone from women hounding him) but there were many times I found myself reading the dialog between these two characters and just smiling. By the time the ending came and the characters finally got together, I could believe that it could happen. No mystery or anything complex in this story - just a novel of two people falling in love.

Sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife

When a zealous photographer splashes his rear end over the tabloids, hunky businessman Josh Wyatt is besieged by women. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except Josh's attorney reminds him that some of those women will be looking for a chance to sue--and Josh has lots of money to be sued for. They settle on hiring a bodyguard--although Josh fears the onion-breathed types who respond to his ad. All, that is, except one. Tess Franklin, a beautiful ex-cop and current bodyguard, sends his blood temperature rising. She's the perfect solution--she can pretend to be his girlfriend so he won't even have to look like he's the kind of wimp who has a bodyguard. All Tess wanted was the job. Okay, so she wouldn't mind working with a guy with a butt like the tabloids show, but really, she wasn't looking for anything else. The second she sets eyes on Josh, though, she's a gonner. Just as her parents clicked when they first met, something in Tess snaps into place when she sees Josh. She knows she is just a way-station for him, that he has too many women, too much temptation, and that her bodyguard job will be over all too soon. For her, though, this is love and a life-altering event. Fortunately, Tess doesn't have to do much actual bodyguarding, because both she and Josh are so intoxicated by the desire flowing between them like an electrical short-circuit that she hardly notices anything around them. Still, she is his employee. A few stolen kisses, a moment or two alone in an elevator, a shopping trip where Tess shows that she's all girl despite her weapons and her H2H (hand to hand) training are all that actually happens--but every moment they're together, every moment they're apart and Tess doesn't know why, is a combination of torture and sensual delight. Still, the original problems remain--the two are from different worlds. Ultimately, Tess is looking for more than she knows Josh has to give. Author Tina Donahue delivers a sizzling story. Building on the familiar sexy bodyguard hook, Donahue ladles on the sexual tension. She details every groin-straining erection, every bounce of Tess's curvy bottom--carefully bringing in bits of Tess's family to let us know where she comes from and to give Josh a chance to be just folks (admittedly just folks with multiple zillions of dollars). If you're looking for a complex plot, tricky espionage, or technical information about the bodyguard (or tabloid) businesses, run-don't-walk in another direction. But when it comes to sexual tension that just doesn't let up, CLOSE TO PERFECT is, well, close to perfect.

engaging contemporary romance

The paparazzi salivate over obtaining photos of Florida real estate hunk Josh Wyatt. When some enterprising member of that tabloid photo club gets pictures of a naked Josh leaving his secluded Florida Keys swimming pool and prints them in the Keys Confidential, he feels his privacy has been invaded. The moments he is not irate Josh wonders how the photographer accomplished the feat. However, his biggest concern is he is now the pin-up of women across America; some of whom seem to be stalking him to set him up for a lawsuit. He hires a bodyguard from Privacy Dynamics, Inc, former police officer Tess Franklin, who is to pretend that she is his girlfriend. The job is a snap to keep the mogul safe from the "badder girl" crowd wanting to either go naked with Josh or compromise him in such a way that he would have to pay them off. However, no one warned her that his nude posing does not do justice to the real thing. CLOSE TO PERFECT is an engaging contemporary romance starring a beleaguered likable but humiliated male and the woman hired to protect his body from opportunist females. However, Tess after meeting the hunk wonders who will protect him from her while Josh debates how she could hide a gun in the clothing that outlines her perfect body. Readers will enjoy this fun romp that showcases the impact of the media on the privacy of celebrities even those who prefer not to be in the news ever. Harriet Klausner