Contemporary
Pleasure Inn, Book 3:All Lit Up
By Cheryl McInnis
Mar 13, 2010 - 8:31:34 AM

After years of searching for…and failing to find…Prince Charming, successful interior designer Anna Deveau is throwing her sense of romance into her latest project; a fantasy themed room located in a new bed and breakfast called The Pleasure Inn. Anna figures that if she can’t have her romantic dreams come true, at least she can design a room for some other happy couple to enjoy. However, Anna doesn’t count on the machinations of the mysterious owner of the Pleasure Inn. When she finally meets the brick mason who will be working with her, Anna is stunned to find out that it is none other than Daniel Long, her high school crush and the boy who broke her heart. Despite Anna’s pact with her colleagues to swear off men, and despite the fact that she knows Daniel isn’t to be trusted, Anna can’t seem to stop herself from giving him a starring role in her fantasies. When Daniel makes it clear that he feels the same way, Anna knows that she is in trouble. It took her several years to get over Daniel’s previous betrayal. This time it might just destroy Anna’s belief in happy endings forever. 

Despite moving to the city, and dating just about every woman who crossed his path, Daniel Long has never gotten over the sweet girl who lived next door, the one who got away. It seemed like one minute they were on their way to what appeared to be the beginning of a wonderful relationship, the next minute Anna Deveau wouldn’t even speak to him. Now that Daniel is back home in Mason Creek, he is determined to find out what went wrong and even more determined to make sure that this time Anna wants to stay right where she belongs, in his arms.

Working closely together to make sure Anna’s fantasy room is finished on time ensures Daniel the time he needs to convince Anna to give him another chance. It isn’t long before Anna remembers what it was that made her fall for Daniel in the first place. But when another misunderstanding threatens their bright future together, it might take a little magical intervention from the Pleasure Inn’s mystical owner, Pamina, and her equally mysterious cat, Abra, in order to make Anna see that things aren’t always what they appear to be.

ALL LIT UP is the third and final story in author Cathryn Fox’s PLEASURE INN series, and although I really enjoyed the previous two; ALL TIED UP and ALL WORKED UP, ALL LIT UP is my favorite by far. I am a sucker for second chance stories and this one delivered in spades. The characters of Anna and Daniel were very likable and very real, and the misunderstanding that drove them apart years before was certainly believable behavior from two teenagers experiencing their first taste of love. As always, Ms. Fox has written love scenes that are very hot and explicit, but also exquisitely tender and loving. I am sure that any fan of sexy romance will enjoy reading this fantastic story. ALL LIT UP can certainly be read on its own, but I highly recommend checking out ALL TIED UP and ALL WORKED UP as well. You won’t be sorry that you did.