HANDSOME DEVIL - Delaney Diamond
A Guicksilver Story (Book #7)
Garden Avenue Press
BUY
Cheryl McNeil (A)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
A Guicksilver Story (Book #7)
Garden Avenue Press
BUY
Cheryl McNeil (A)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
REVIEW: HANDSOME DEVIL is Book #7 of the Quicksand Series. Annabelle Buchanan and her ex-husband, Dante Escarra, have been divorced for ten years. Annabelle wants to take over as CEO of her father’s real estate company. Dante also has a successful commercial business he built from the ground up since coming to the States from Venezuela. Annabelle shows up to Dante’s office and makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Due to her father’s old-fashioned values, she would be in a better position as CEO if she was married. In exchange, she would help Dante gain access to the right people to get a piece of property he has coveted for years.
When Dante first thinks about Annabelle, it’s with fondness of her soothing voice. He could lay his head in her lap and tell her his dreams. In the next sentence, the reader realizes that time has not healed the wounds of their divorce and those feelings have turned into an extreme dislike by Dante. Annabelle also has feelings of regret. Even still, his body reacts to her and deep down she feels the same as he oozes sex appeal. A kiss at their engagement party brought all sorts of feelings back and the attraction is still there.
Dante thinks Annabelle left the marriage because he was starting from scratch, and she was used to having the world at her feet. At the time, Annabelle was dealing with the death of someone very close to her and didn’t feel Dante’s support, as being successful was the most important thing to him. Over the years, he has become known as “the handsome devil”. People admire him but have equal amounts of fear. The reader sees an example of that when someone gets too close to Annabelle. Ms. Diamond explores how the couple has matured. They are growing past prior insecurities and have learned more about themselves. One thing hasn’t changed: They are explosive in the bedroom. Dante knows that “no one makes his blood boil” like Annabelle.
I enjoyed the ‘second chance’ and ‘enemies to lovers’ themes of HANDSOME DEVIL. The physical scenes are spicy. Secondary characters like Dante and Annabelle’s best friends and their family round out the story. Food is its own character as Ms. Diamond provides vivid descriptions, like the blend of Venezuelan and Texas cuisine that is featured at a dinner party and central American and southeast Asian cuisines at one of Dante’s favorite restaurants. This is a great read and I highly recommend it.
5 March 2024 | romcol@caribsurf.com
When Dante first thinks about Annabelle, it’s with fondness of her soothing voice. He could lay his head in her lap and tell her his dreams. In the next sentence, the reader realizes that time has not healed the wounds of their divorce and those feelings have turned into an extreme dislike by Dante. Annabelle also has feelings of regret. Even still, his body reacts to her and deep down she feels the same as he oozes sex appeal. A kiss at their engagement party brought all sorts of feelings back and the attraction is still there.
Dante thinks Annabelle left the marriage because he was starting from scratch, and she was used to having the world at her feet. At the time, Annabelle was dealing with the death of someone very close to her and didn’t feel Dante’s support, as being successful was the most important thing to him. Over the years, he has become known as “the handsome devil”. People admire him but have equal amounts of fear. The reader sees an example of that when someone gets too close to Annabelle. Ms. Diamond explores how the couple has matured. They are growing past prior insecurities and have learned more about themselves. One thing hasn’t changed: They are explosive in the bedroom. Dante knows that “no one makes his blood boil” like Annabelle.
I enjoyed the ‘second chance’ and ‘enemies to lovers’ themes of HANDSOME DEVIL. The physical scenes are spicy. Secondary characters like Dante and Annabelle’s best friends and their family round out the story. Food is its own character as Ms. Diamond provides vivid descriptions, like the blend of Venezuelan and Texas cuisine that is featured at a dinner party and central American and southeast Asian cuisines at one of Dante’s favorite restaurants. This is a great read and I highly recommend it.
5 March 2024 | romcol@caribsurf.com
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