Title: Holding Her Close (Mended Hearts #2)
Author: Lexi Ryan
She's everything he detests about Hollywood.
After spending my entire acting career being cast as the airhead, I finally have the serious role I've been dying for, and I screw it all up during a four martini dinner with my ex. Now, thanks to the morality clause in my contract, I might lose the role of a lifetime. My only hope is to convince the media (and my eccentrically conservative director) that I've entered a committed relationship. But when I use my brother's costume party to launch Operation Fake FiancĂ©, I end up in front of the camera with the wrong guy, leaving my reputation—and the fate of my career—at his mercy. Any other guy I could sweet talk into playing the supporting role I need, but not Officer Cade Watts. Not the man who hates everything about me. Not the man who would most revel in seeing me fail.
He's everything she needs.
I don't care how good it felt to have her in my arms. I don't care that I can't close my eyes without remembering the way she tastes or the sound of her moan. I want nothing to do with Janelle Crane. Her scheme to fake an engagement to save her own career is exactly the kind of manipulative Hollywood crap I left LA to escape. But when her fan mail turns threatening and the tragedies befalling her former co-stars seem to be anything but coincidence, everything changes. Now I don't just want to play the part of Janelle's fake fiancé, I demand it. I won't let my jaded heart cost me another case. I may not trust Janelle but I do care, and the only way I know she's safe is if I'm holding her close.
After spending my entire acting career being cast as the airhead, I finally have the serious role I've been dying for, and I screw it all up during a four martini dinner with my ex. Now, thanks to the morality clause in my contract, I might lose the role of a lifetime. My only hope is to convince the media (and my eccentrically conservative director) that I've entered a committed relationship. But when I use my brother's costume party to launch Operation Fake FiancĂ©, I end up in front of the camera with the wrong guy, leaving my reputation—and the fate of my career—at his mercy. Any other guy I could sweet talk into playing the supporting role I need, but not Officer Cade Watts. Not the man who hates everything about me. Not the man who would most revel in seeing me fail.
He's everything she needs.
I don't care how good it felt to have her in my arms. I don't care that I can't close my eyes without remembering the way she tastes or the sound of her moan. I want nothing to do with Janelle Crane. Her scheme to fake an engagement to save her own career is exactly the kind of manipulative Hollywood crap I left LA to escape. But when her fan mail turns threatening and the tragedies befalling her former co-stars seem to be anything but coincidence, everything changes. Now I don't just want to play the part of Janelle's fake fiancé, I demand it. I won't let my jaded heart cost me another case. I may not trust Janelle but I do care, and the only way I know she's safe is if I'm holding her close.
Lexi Ryan is hands down one of my favorite authors of all time for countless reasons. At the top of that list is her ability to write a fantastic story time and time again. She's a powerhouse with a pen (or laptop) and delivers every time she publishes. I discovered her writing long ago and have never finished a story of hers without feeling satisfied.
Holding Her Close is the second book in her Mended Hearts Series and finally gives the readers Janelle Crane's story. I have been dying to dig deeper into this character since she was introduced. After reading her story, she's easily become one of my favorite Lexi Ryan leads. Her story is one that readers will easily connect with, even if at times I wanted to shake some sense into her.
As far as the plot goes, I was hooked from the start and loved every bit of drama, suspense, and romance Ryan provided. Lexi Ryan's novels were some of the first Romantic Suspense I was introduced to and it's become one of my favorite genres since. Twists and unexpected turns are never in short supply during Holding Her Close. If you've found yourself in a book funk, I highly recommend you get your hands on this book and fall in love with reading all over again.
