Confessions of a Lingerie Addict

Brenda Scott lives in San Diego working as a DJ for a station mired in the middle of the ratings pack. Her crazy boss tries all kinds of stunts to improve the ratings, including having the DJs broadcast in mid-bungee jump. Brenda can live with the silliness at work, since she loves her job, but her personal life is in a muddle on several fronts.

She has just broken her engagement to the very rich, very stuffy, very controlling Larry (aka Mr. Perfect). Larry constantly tried to make Brenda over, so she decides to make herself over by buying and wearing sexy lingerie. Sure, she still has uncontrollable red hair and freckles, but there's nothing like a nice silk camisole to make a woman feel empowered. Brenda's brother, David comes home with his friend Jerry. David has lost his job, his wife has divorced him, and he's bankrupt and poor as can be, and when he introduces Jerry to his mother, sparks fly and they become lovers despite the almost twenty-year difference in their ages. Brenda and David are shocked and appalled.

Oh well, there's always Clarissa's party to take the mind off problems. Clarissa is Brenda's roommate. She's kind of eccentric, seemingly has no job, and has some really odd friends, but she pays her share of the expenses, and she and Brenda get along pretty well.

Brenda imbibes too many martinis at the party and wakes up with a golden god in her bed. Embarrassed, she runs away, but later meets the man at a store. He turns out to be Nick Jordan, a DJ from another radio station. Brenda's crazy boss decides to try a stunt where Nick and Brenda will let the radio broadcast their first date, but they have other ideas and I'll let you discover the rest on your own.

Confessions of a Lingerie Addict is told in first person by Brenda. Whether or not I enjoy first person narratives depends on how well I like the narrator, and I liked Brenda very much. She is smart, and very endearing. Her problems and insecurities make her vulnerable, and even though I am no lingerie addict, I could indentify with her. Her relationship with her mother and her brother is very well done, and their intital estrangement and eventual reconciliation is believable and heartwarming.

Nick is perfect. Almost too perfect. He seemingly hasn't a flaw at all, neither physical nor emotional. He's handsome, he's a wonderful lover, he can cook, he's neat, he's a good housekeeper, he had a perfect childhood, and he's kind and empathetic to a fault. I almost wanted him to belch, scratch, leave dirty socks on the floor, or do something guy-like, but he remained perfect. Not that I'm really complaining, but he was really such a paragon of perfection - every woman's wish fullfillment - that there were times he was almost a Stepford Boyfriend. But I swooned over him nonetheless.

I enjoyed the secondary characters as well, especially Brenda's brother David. Realistically flawed, and with an intriguing backstory...I'd like to see more of him, in his own book. Brenda's boss Tony is funny with his crazy stunts, and he and Brenda's banter caused me to crack up more than once. The romance between Brenda's mother and Jerry is sweet and very believable. They are great characters who really deserve their HEA.

This is a great book. It's serious, but it has some laugh out loud comedy in it as well. Brenda is a throughly likable character, the secondary characters are well deliniated and help move things along, and if Nick is too perfect, well so what? There's nothing wrong with a fantasy man, is there? If you enjoyed Jennifer Ashley's historical romances, give this one a try. And if you haven't, what are you waiting for? Like I said, the woman is a buried treasure.

-- Ellen Micheletti

Order this book from Amazon Books

To comment about any of these reviews on our reviews forum