Say No To Joe?
by Lori Foster
” ‘Yes, Joe.” Then she smiled. “Saying yes to Joe Winston — it has to be one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.’ “
About ten years ago I was living in a small town that was very outside of my norm. My husband at the time was given a wonderful job opportunity out of state and our family needed a change in a big way, so we made the move from big-city-living in Dallas to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Now, as a Texas girl through and through, I never EVER thought I’d come to live in Oklahoma. I enjoyed a Starbucks on every corner and a mall in all four sectors of my perimeter. Broken Arrow was sleepy and slow, and I had a hard time adjusting.
There wasn’t much to do in the part of Oklahoma that we moved to. I spent the first year feeling very much like an outsider. I had a different accent, I liked different sports teams, I didn’t go to church. I made a few friends along the way (hey there, Kristy!) and funnily enough, they were transplants too. . . so maybe that’s why we meshed so easily. The closest Barnes and Noble was half an hour away and there were none of my (much beloved) Half Price Books stores so I became a regular (and I mean regular) patron of the local library, which was surprisingly huge and stocked full of every book imaginable.
Both of my children were in school by that point, and for the first time in 7 years I actually had. . . time. I began devouring books as if there was no tomorrow, drowning myself in vampires creeping through sticky Southern nights and handsome cowboys saving damsels in distress before riding off to rob banks with their faces hidden behind dusty handkerchiefs. For the first time in my life, I picked up a romance novel. The Harlequins were out of fashion and paperback contemporary romance was all the rage, with Lori Foster leading the pack of numerous female authors who churned out spicy stories of hunky heroes and spunky heroines.
Say No To Joe? was one of those such books, and I grabbed a dog-eared copy off of a book carousel along with three or four others like it, knowing it would barely last me the week. I liked nothing better than sitting on my back porch with a glass of wine, a few chunks of cheese, some artisan crackers, and the symphony of cicadas and playing children as my companions.
I’d met Joe Winston before, in an anthology called Wildy Winston which showcased the Winston brothers in a series of four stories (all contemporary romance). Joe was a cousin of the wild four and made a cameo appearance. Lori Foster decided to give Joe his own story and The Visitation Series was born, becoming a collection of five books all set in and around the same town:
Joe Winston has asked Luna Clark out more than once, which isn’t something he makes a habit of. Usually all he has to do is flash his seductive eyes and bulging muscles at a woman and she’s ready to go wherever, whenever he chooses to take her. And if the lady in question doesn’t, well — he just moves on to bigger and better things. But Luna — she’s different, and he hasn’t been able to get her out of his head since a kiss they shared at a relative’s wedding. She’s a little eccentric and wacky, but she’s also smart and feisty, not to mention curvaceous in all the right spots and sexy as hell. She doesn’t take his nonsense which is perhaps even more attractive than the body he so readily admires whenever in her presence. But every time he’s asked her out, she’s handed him a quick and resounding “no,” so he’s given up and has relegated her to a woman of his fantasies instead.
” Under normal circumstances, Joe kept a clear head at all times. But with Luna, nothing felt normal. In so many ways, she shot his perspective all to hell. On that particular day, she’d turned to set the meal on the checkout counter, presenting Joe with a perfect view of that delectable rear end, and without even thinking about it or the possible consequences, he’d . . . touched her.
That is, if you could call a pat, followed by a full-palm squeeze, a mere touch. Soft, warm, resilient . . . He’d gotten one handful and immediately wanted more. A whole lot more.
But Luna had gone rigid, and from one second to the next Joe found himself wearing his lunch instead of getting to eat it. She’d stormed out without given him a chance to apologize or explain or coax her into a better mood.
It hadn’t been easy, but Luna had eventually forgiven him. After all, the chemistry was there, as undeniable to her as it was to him. At Zane’s wedding, Joe had finally managed to ease her into one long, wet, blistering kiss that had haunted his nights for three months now.
After that, he’d tried repeatedly to get her alone. Hell, he’d even tried being on his best behavior. Not that his best was all that good. At thirty-six, he’d had a lot of time doing just as he damn well pleased. And the jobs he’d had — bodyguard, bounty hunter, private dick — had only made him meaner, a little nastier. It came with the territory and in some cases was outright necessary.
But for Luna, he had tried and had been damn uncomfortable in the process.
And still she’d turned him down. “
When Luna’s cousin dies and leaves behind two children, she feels responsible. While she didn’t know her cousin all that well, she does know that Chloe left behind a teenager and a younger son, both of whom are attempting to go at it on their own under the careless and unfriendly supervision of an aunt. The woman currently in charge of the two wants nothing to do with the responsibility of raising two unruly children and is ready to move on with her life, leaving the kids in a lurch. No one knows who fathered the kids and as a result, they are due to become wards of the state if Luna doesn’t step in. Not able to hold that thought on her conscious for long, Luna decides to step up to the plate. She can find work anywhere and is up for the challenge, with one problem — it seems someone has been causing trouble for the children in the small town they live in, blaming them for petty crimes and the like, and it almost resembles a plot to drive the kids out of town. But who would bother messing with a couple of orphaned children? Luna knows she needs backup and she knows who she can turn to — Joe Winston.
A bounty hunter among other things, Joe has the intimidating build and menacing stare required to act as Luna’s bodyguard and keep an eye on things while she gets settled, and that’s exactly what she’s looking for. Making it clear that nothing but a professional job is on her mind, Luna persuades Joe to accompany her to Visitation, the town out in the middle of nowhere where she is going to set up shop with kids her cousin left behind. Although he is a little taken aback at her can-do-attitude and willingness to step in and become a guardian to two kids she doesn’t know, Joe is all in. Little does Luna know, it actually took zero persuading on her part to get Joe to agree. She’s the one who got away as far as he’s concerned, and he is more than willing to re-open the door she previously slammed in his face and see where it takes them.
” Imagining how young kids must feel without any stability, Joe scowled. But to have Luna take over . . .
As a bona fide free spirit, Luna was too exotic, too bold and far too sexy to be a mother. Not only that, but she worked as a psychic, or rather a psychic’s assistant. There were plenty of times when Joe thought she had legitimate woo-woo ability. On several occasions, she’d seemed to know more than she should, especially about him.
As if she’d read his mind, Luna flipped her hair and forged on. ‘I’ve already passed the background check, but I’ll have to do the home study once I’m settled there. I’m not overly concerned because while I might not be the ideal mother –‘
‘You said it, not me.’
With no interruption to her explanations, Luna pinched him on the arm, making him lurch. ‘–CPS is way overworked, and anytime kids can be placed with a relative, they tend to bend over backward to see it happen, or so the social worker told me. Even though I’m a distant, unknown relative, I’m still preferable.’
‘Yeah? Preferable to what?’
A golden fire lit her eyes, alerting Joe to the possibility if another pinch. He caught her hand to deter her. ”
As the duo willingly fall into pseudo Mom and Dad roles for the young children, they are both surprised that the the threats keep coming, even with the hulking figure of Joe around. Someone definitely wants these kids out of town, but who — and for what purpose? It’s up to Luna and Joe to figure out the mystery, and perhaps, figure out what’s going on between them in the process.
Say No to Joe? is one of those books that you can read in a day or two, and there’s something about that that I really like. Not every book needs to be deep and meaningful; sometimes you need a little junk food thrown in with your filet mignon and if it’s spicy and hot — mores the better, right? I give Say No to Joe? a 4 out of 5 star rating. I enjoy Lori Foster’s novels and her nod to the relatable working man hero who has a tough exterior but a soft core. The right amount of romance and mystery is something to enjoy, and I’ve read this book more than a few times. The entire Visitation Series is fun, so readers like this first book, I recommend checking the others out as well (outside of Say No to Joe? — Jamie is my favorite!)
