For the most part, I loved it, and heartily recommend it to those who enjoy this sort of sub-genre of romantic fiction. The author’s ability to create a very likable heroine and infuse charm into her romantic/heat stories is growing, and I found this to be accomplished and enjoyable. I found myself smiling through much of this short read, which is something you aren’t prepared for when reading something in this vein.

Dare Me leaves you wanting more, and hoping they’ll be more for the very sweet and sexy - almost adorable - Misty Morningside, and Adam.

A bit too much of should-we-shouldn’t-we all through the steamier scenes was a bit annoying to me, but I suspect most female readers will enjoy that aspect too. A wedding photographer still pining for his grade-school crush - a Barbara Eden type in a real love drought - loads of charm and a few fun steamy scenes are ingredients that help make this a delicious treat sprinkled with powdered sugar. Written and marketed as a Valentine’s Day bauble, Dare Me succeeds because of the nice way author Debra Druzy has blended the sweet and the sexy. Also a huge plus is Misty and Adam have a backstory that is engagingly rendered for the reader so that by the time they make it to the big romantic encounter, we’re hoping it turns into something greater than just a one-night-stand. There is a sweetness to Misty Morningside that gives the set-up to the big encounter an I Dream of Jeanie feel to it. Stuff like this which you know is going to have some steamy scenes - usually crudely done, with nothing akin to “romance” - rarely is prefaced with the kind of warmth and charm author Debra Druzy has infused Dare Me. It turned out to be a very nice surprise. After picking up a nice Christmas story yesterday evening on Kindle because it was free, and I wanted to have something light in tone on hand to read during the upcoming season, I decided to also get this short - 55 pages - little story aimed at the light romance/heat market.

Dare Me by Debra Druzy