"Unraveled", by Jaci Burton – Review

One of the things I love most about reading romance is the escapism. A good romance novel allows us to leave the “normalcy” or often the stress of our lives for a while and become immersed in the fantasy of the hero and heroine’s story. We can also visit different locations in the world, see the sights, and feel the warmth of a sunny destination, for instance.

It’s been hellishly cold here this month, as in it hurts to breath when you step outside. I was on vacation from my day job the first two weeks of January and looked outside one morning to the wind ripping and the snow swirling and decided I needed to read a nice romance about a couple falling in love in a warm setting. So I turned to Jaci Burton’s novella, “Unraveled”.

“Unraveled” is the sequel to “Unwrapped”, which I reviewed here last year. Mitch Magruder, a larger than life self made multi-millionaire was introduced in “Unraveled”, and the ladies at Writeminded Reader’s Yahoo Group (to whom this book is dedicated), from what I understand begged Jaci to write his story. Obviously she acquiesced, and I have to say she did ‘Mitch’ proud.

Unraveled

Mitch returns to his hometown of Ft. Lincoln Beach, Florida, to convince Greta Mason to sell her run down motel, the “Crystal Sands”, to “Magruder Enterprises”, his multimillion dollar conglomerate. He wants to build one of his luxury hotel resorts on the property, which sits on a white sandy beach with a beautiful view. Greta had flatly rejected a handsome offer presented by Mitch’s sales team and he is unaccustomed to being told “no”, when it comes to his company’s acquisitions or anything else in his life for that matter.

Mitch is the kind of character that makes a girl *sigh*, tall, handsome, 40 something, a world-class surfer in top physical shape and a multimillionaire, underneath all that though is also a very nice man. He grew up poor and hasn’t forgotten his parents, whom he looks after very well, or his roots. Mitch, however has never fallen for a woman, and has his pick of any number of gorgeous “model types” who accompany him to business functions and satisfy his sexual needs but he never becomes attached. He prides himself on control.

Greta is a hometown girl, divorced with two children; she is struggling to make ends meet running the motel which she inherited from her beloved father. She is extremely hard working and totally committed to keeping the motel running. She is also a victim of spousal abuse and carries emotional wounds from that experience. However, I really liked Greta because she was not a whiny character in the least. In fact, she is extraordinarily strong.

Mitch was friends with Greta’s brother growing up and can’t believe what a beautiful determined woman she has become. She declines all his overtures to sell the motel even though her family does not seem overly upset at the prospect. Mitch is accustomed to the people, especially the women in his life wanting things from him. As he becomes closer to Greta and her kids on a personal level he is completely taken by surprise that she asks nothing of him. He also finds he is less interested in the acquisition of her motel, instead he wants a relationship with her and her two children, whom he becomes very attached to through his and their love of surfing. In turn Mitch shows Greta that there is life outside of work at the motel and leads her to understand that having a little fun in life is okay too. And, heck it’s not bad when your date takes you on a private helicopter ride to one of his luxury resorts for a private dinner in a beachfront cabana, then for “desert” in his penthouse suite. Not too shabby at all!

As with any Jaci Burton novel, the love scenes between Greta and Mitch are beautiful, intense and erotic, but also gentle. I’ve found that with every one of her books that I’ve read. She really sets a perfect tone during the intimate scenes she pens for her characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mitch and Greta’s love story, and my vicarious trip to a warm Florida beach, listening to the surf and breathing the warm salty air. Jaci Burton’s books never fail to make me feel better.

If you are interested, reading “Unwrapped”, first will give you a great introduction to Mitch. However, Jaci Burton has written “Unraveled”, in a way that it can be read as a stand-alone.

Both “Unwrapped” and “Unraveled”, are available in e-book format through Samhain. “Unwrapped”, was published this past December, in print format as part of the anthology “Holiday Seduction”, which you can see a picture of in my blog sidebar.