Angel in Armani by Melanie Scott

Angel in ArmaniWhy I read it:  I bought this one a while back and dug it out of Mt. TBR when I was looking for something to read recently.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  WILL A LOVE OF THE GAME

Sara Charles is striking out on her own. With her dad out of commission, Charles Air has only one helicopter left—and only Sara to fly charters. With the family business in jeopardy, Sara needs all the clients she can get and the newest one is New York Saints team surgeon, Lucas Angelo. When an unexpected flirtation escalates into a night of pure blind passion, Sara is in agony over what she believes was extremely poor judgment on her part. She wants nothing more than to avoid Lucas. And keep her business her business. But she needs him—in more ways than one.

LEAD TO A FIELD OF DREAMS?

But there is a catch: Lucas also needs Sara. Spring training is upon him, and his schedule is madness. So he asks Sara to be his personal pilot. It’s an offer she can’t refuse. She intends to keep him at arm’s length—especially when she discovers just what different lives they have. Little does Sara know that, for Lucas, the only thing more important than business is pleasure. He only plays to win. And he intends to hit it out of the park…

What worked for me (and what didn’t):  I reviewed The Devil in Denim, the first book in this series, for Dear Author in August last year.  While there were some things in that book which didn’t quite gel for me, I was certainly entertained and went and pre-ordered Angel in Armani as soon as I could (I have Lawless in Leather on the TBR also).  I liked Angel in Armani a little better than the first book. The story began with Lucas and Sara together and they were in each other’s orbit for pretty much the entire book.  That’s my favourite kind of romance – lots and lots of the main characters spending time together.

Sara is a charter helicopter pilot. She left the army to come home and help her dad in the family charter business after he was seriously injured in a crash (which wasn’t his fault). Money is tight and business is not great so she really appreciates any repeat jobs. Lucas Angelo, an orthopaedic surgeon and co-owner of the New York Saints baseball team is time poor. He’s been placed in charge of spring training supervision in Florida and needs to travel a lot between there and New York (where his practice is) as well as just getting from Manhattan to Saints HQ in Staten Island.  He hires Sara to fly him a few times and is impressed with her skills.  He doesn’t like flying at all but it’s a necessary evil for him. With Sara at the joystick (oh that sounds dirty), he finds a degree of comfort (heh) he hasn’t with other pilots.

A storm leaves them stranded in the Hamptons one night and for various (mostly pretty thin but I didn’t really care) reasons they end up having amazing sex.  Unfortunately, Sara has to take off early the next morning as her one remaining helo has been damaged in the storm. In the circumstances, she doesn’t expect to see Lucas again and is very surprised when a few weeks later he offers her a job as pilot for the Saints.

The offer, as they say in the movies, is too good to refuse and Sara needs the money. This, of course (and happily) puts both Sara and Lucas in close proximity and despite her concerns that they come from different worlds (his family is very wealthy, hers isn’t), their chemistry is too strong to deny.

“Is that a yes?” His lips pressed against the curve where her neck joined her shoulder, and she shuddered.

“Hell, yes.”

“I like your enthusiasm,” he said.

“I like your hands,” she gasped as he pressed again.

Lucas is a nice guy. He’s talented and skilled, wealthy and gorgeous and also nice. He doesn’t lie or cheat and he’s his own man. His mother is a bit of a witch but, while he is respectful and polite to her, he doesn’t let her rule his life. He makes his own decisions. At the start of the book, he wasn’t necessarily looking for a serious relationship – he’s very time poor after all. However, when he starts casually seeing Sara, he quickly revises his plans to include her any way he can. The man even cooks.  Seriously, it’s a no brainer why Sara would want to be with him.

The conflict between them is essentially Sara’s own self doubts. It is she who grows and changes the most through the book. She’s been burned in love before and there is some family history of trouble with rich people but Lucas is a good guy. Judged on his own behaviour, there are no real red flags. Sara just has to learn to trust him and herself.

What else? I liked the way the novel showed Lucas and Sara getting to know one another.  And, even though the conflict seems relatively minor as conflicts go and even though Lucas is practically perfect, I did understand where Sara was coming from. She wants to be her own woman and it’s fair enough to worry about being swallowed up in someone else’s life.

I liked the way Lucas was with Sara, demonstrating his respect and affection for her. I liked that he was always supportive of her career goals and that he always, recognised her skills and talents.

You need some fun in your life.”

“My life is fine,” she said.

He shook his head and put down his glass. “I have a mother, a sister-in-law, and about twenty female cousins. Not to mention many aunts and about half a hundred female colleagues. Not one of them has ever used the word fine in that tone and actually been fine.”

She scowled at him.

The writing is clean and the banter snaps and sparkles. Perhaps the HEA came a bit too quickly but I couldn’t really feel sad about that.

Grade: B

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