GAMBLE ON LOVE & NO ONE BUT YOU by Michelle Monkou

Good morning, Blog Buddies! I've got a two-for-the-price-of-one special here for Valentine's Day.

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Isn't 'Michelle Monkou' a beautiful name? I think if I ever own dove, I will name her 'Michelle Monkou.' Michelle is also blessed with beautiful cover art.

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In fact, I think the Kimani cover art is the best Harlequin has. But, anyway, on with the books.

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I'll start with my favorite of the two, GAMBLE ON LOVE.

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On the outside and, okay, a little on the inside, Denise is a spoiled heiress. She and her siblings have had the best of everything Chicago could offer. Now she's a grown-up, her parents are buying her a house, or I should say a mansion. The parents like to buy houses and renovate them, then sell for a profit or give to one of their adult offspring. And now it's Denise's turn. She shows up to her new house, sees construction work underway, but now workers. She proceeds into her new house and does a little dance, not realizing Jaden, the dude in charge of the construction team, is there and watching.

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Jaden has no love for snotty, rich people. He's a working class hero and you can just tell he's probably got the hard body to show for it. When he finally introduces himself to Denise, he's understandably put off by her flippant attitude towards him. They both disguise their mutual attraction well. Of course, that doesn't last long.

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What I like best about this novel is it's an 'opposites attract.' She's rich, he's working class, she likes R&B, he likes country music, she's 'too good' for him, and he's afraid of long-term commitments. They're thrown together getting this house renovated and love blooms. I love to see love building bridges for people who might otherwise be too close-minded to get along.

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And the next one, NO ONE BUT YOU.

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This one has my favorite cover art of the two. In fact, it's what drew my attention to Michelle's books in the first place.

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At a time when most young women are finishing college and getting started, Sara is already the youngest professor at her college. She spends a lot of times with her sorority sisters doing all the things sorors do, things I never did because they never interested me. Life is good, though she still carries around two painful memories. One was Jackson breaking up with her because his family wanted him to marry someone as rich and powerful as them, and she's just a regular girl. The other was having her wedding to another guy interrupted by his pregnant mistress' tempor tantrum. She wasn't really in love with that guy, but it was still a horrible humiliation.

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So, Sara has gotten on with her life and it's pretty good, but then both Jackson and the ex-fiance's mistress, with baby on hip, show up pretty much at the same time and sends her into a tailspin. Jackson wants to convince her to take him back, but she's through with getting dumped on by men. And the mistress is searching for the ex-fiance because he hasn't been supporting their child. In fact, the ex conned her out of a bunch of money, just like he did Sara. Oh, what is a girl to do? Well, Sara does the right thing by the ex-fiance's mistress, but I'll leave Jackson to your imagine. You'll have to get the book.

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The Heat Level of both these books is Sensual. http://www.michellemonkou.com/