ARC Review: Beguiled Again by Patricia Burroughs

The Particulars: Contemporary Romance, Book View Cafe, available as e-book and in print

The Source: e-ARC from the Author

The Grade: B+

The Blurb:

Order
Jeff shook off Cecilia and her high school crush seventeen years ago, and he’s made an orderly, boring, safe, successful life for himself as an accountant. Just the way he wants things.
Chaos
Cecilia’s taste for driven, orderly men has left her divorced with three kids and two half-incomes. But nobody’s looking over her shoulder, criticizing her for being messy and disorganized. Life is never boring, is always filled with laughter and energy. Just the way she wants things.
Disaster
From the moment she sucks him into her sticky, single-mom universe, Jeff can’t keep it together anymore. Her checkbook is a nightmare, her oldest kid hates him, and she’s lush and messy, mouth-watering and independent and annoyingly unforgettable. And he can’t stay away.
Cecilia is a fighter. She doesn’t need Jeff turning up again, making her feel like she’s still fourteen years, treating her like she can’t manage her life without his assistance. Why, why, why does he keep trying to help? To make matters worse, Jeff is hotter than ever, and a single mom can’t afford a sex life.
Plus, his parrot hates her.
In this battle between order and chaos, between hostile kids and cranky parrots, between romance and responsibility, is heartbreak inevitable?
Or this time, can love win?

The Review:

I have wanted to read this ever since I saw the blurb and cover on Patricia Burroughs blog. So when she contacted me, wondering if I would be interested in an ARC, I said yes.

And, I had a blast reading it. Cecilia's and Jeff's romance was a case of opposites attract. Jeff's life were ordered, Cecilia's were chaotic. It was intresting to see how they fought against their attraction, yet they couldn't stay away from each other. I really appreciated was that the obstacles were believable. From Cecilia's children, to Jeff's busy schedule, to Cecilia's scars after her divorce.

But,it was also intresting to see how their lives changed during the story. Cecilia slowly started to realise that she didn't have to fit the mold, that her occupation was perfect for her. Jeff started to realise that he needed Cecilia's chaos in his life, and that Cecilia needed his calm. One thing I especially liked was how Cecilia's children treated Jeff. From the wariness at the beginning, to the grudging acceptance at the end of the book.

All in all, this was an enjoyable romance. I just wish that it was longer. I wanted to stay with Cecilia and Jeff, and see how they together dealt with all the chaos created by a household full of children.