Title: Charitable Giving
Series: Part of the Office Affairs from Amber Allure
Author: Heidi Champa
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella
Publisher: Amber Allure (March 25th, 2013
Reviewer: Thommie
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts
Blurb: In his job as a fundraiser for Diggerson College, Mitch Harmon hears the word “no” a lot. Getting people to part with their hard-earned cash isn’t easy, no matter how good the cause and the constant rejection is starting to wear on Mitch. The only bright spot of his job is Cal Marlow, a successful software developer and alum of Diggerson College, who has been generous with his donations.
When their relationship goes from strictly business to physical, they agree it should remain no-strings-attached. But, Mitch finds himself falling for Cal, despite his vow to keep things simple. When he finally gets the courage to tell Cal how he feels, Cal has an announcement of his own—he’s met someone, and wants to put an end to their fun and go back to being “professional.”
Has Mitch missed his chance at happiness, or can he find a way to get the love and the life he wants?
Product Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/CharitableGiving.html
Review: Honest confession. When I saw the cover of this book I so didn’t want to read it, don’t know why it gave me a negative feeling. And then the blurb seemed so dull. Well thankfully, the book was more than what I expected and I ended up pleasantly surprised.
Mitch has a job he doesn’t quite like and dear Lord I don’t blame him at all. But the one bright prospect is Cal. Their chemistry instant the moment they met leads them to having a no-strings-attached affair. Totally unprofessional of Mitch, but hey, you can’t resist a man like Cal.
Their relationship, no matter how shallow it seems, slowly develops to something deeper and Mitch is feeling drowned and trapped. He wants thing to get more but he’s afraid that if he pushes for it he might lose Cal altogether. After finally making up his mind he’s beaten to punch by Cal announcing that he met someone and their attraction is so good, that he doesn’t want to jeopardize it by continuing the affair with Mitch.
And at this point, I’m flabbergasted, because I had only read half the blurb and I didn’t see this coming. The thing is that the way the story is written it totally leads you on into believing that the guys will go for it after this dinner and the story will be about the difficulties of balancing work and relationship. I know. I should pay more attention to the damn blurb.
As it was I was surprised; the angst and intensity skyrocketed for me for this point on. I literally gasped and groaned with how the story floated and the rest of the book flew by in a heartbeat. The last twist in the plot, while expected, was still executed amazingly well and the writing itself was lovely. The characters were both very charming and I couldn’t help not to feel sorry for Mitch on more than one occasions. I wanted his happy ending so badly that when it came it was like “it was about damn time already.” Bah the frustration.
Anyway, a lovely read with a bit of angst and heartbreak specially ordered to keep you on your toes Charitable Giving is a book I wouldn’t hesitate recommending.