Overall Grade: A- / B+
Tropes: ONS to more; surprise baby; doctor/patient; workplace romance; found family; pro football romance; hate to love; insta-love
J. Saman’s Irresitibly Risky feels lighter than its predecessors even though its themes lean towards the serious. Two words: Asher Reyes. Saman’s MMC brings light into the dark of its FMC’s life. Asher’s ability to win Wynter’s love acts as the driving force of Saman’s book, and it’s slid into the top spot of her Irresistibly Yours series. To be fair, I suspect that my favorite story will be the forthcoming one, Irresistibly Dangerous, with a broody hero such as Lenox, but that isn’t the point of this review.
Instead, Saman has wielded her pen to create a story where her MMC falls instantly for his FMC and spends much of it chasing her. This is the dream of many a romance reader: a “golden retriever” of a man who falls hard and fast and uses his riches and influence to win her heart. Women want to be pursued and adored, and Saman grants that wish in Irresistibly Risky.
What I loved about the journey of her characters is Wynter’s path. Like Wynter, my biological father left my life with many questions and few answers. The pain of that experience forever marks your soul, and Saman has captured this through the difficulty of Wynter accepting Asher’s interest in and love for her. The juxtaposition of Asher’s easy adoration for Wynter with Wynter’s inability to accept his love for her creates tension that breeds a rabid need for their happy ending. I loved sitting in their tension even though I wanted Wynter to give her heart to Asher easily. But that wouldn’t be true for someone such as Wynter who gave her heart to the first man in her life, and he obliterated it. It’s difficult to give it away again because that pain never leaves you. Saman captures Wynter’s internal struggle well, and even if you become frustrated by her willingness to run from Asher, you at least understand it well because Saman draws it with skill.
The ups and downs of Irresistibly Risky and the underlying story behind Wynter’s father drive the story forward. I found one moment in the story where Saman should have provided more of the story because a gap was created. She didn’t acknowledge that pocket of time, and I wanted her characters’ actions. That moment is the reason for my lower grade; however, Wynter and Asher’s chemistry and story arcs make up for it. The inclusion of Asher’s found family, Zax, Greyson, Callan, and Lenox, as well as their respective significant others, adds humor and wisdom to its main characters, providing a reminder of the power of their connection to the entire series.
J. Saman’s style is simple: she creates characters who set the pages on fire and make us fall in love with them. Irresistibly Risky is a perfect example of this.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 