Thrill Me by Susan Mallery 

Description: Meet the Mitchell brothers of Fool’s Gold, California—five gorgeous men who’ve left a trail of broken hearts in their wake…

Maya Farlow learned the hard way to depend only on herself, so when she fell too deeply for the bad-boy charms of Del Mitchell, she did the only thing she could—she ran. Stunned, Del left Fool’s Gold to make his name and fortune in extreme sports.

Now ten years later, Maya’s been hired to promote her hometown’s new slogan, The Destination for Romance. The celebrity spokesman is none other than Del, the man she dumped but never forgot. Awkward!

Although Del’s not the type to hold a grudge, he’s determined to avoid falling a second time for the woman who broke his heart. He’s a daredevil, not an idiot. Trouble is, in all his adventures, he never found a rush as exhilarating as Maya’s kiss. Maybe risking his heart will prove to be the biggest thrill of all…

Review: After Kiss Me, I found myself missing Fool’s Gold and was glad that Maya and Dell’s book returned to small town, with all its crazy residents and omniscient mayor. This was the heartwarming, reunion story I want from Fool’s Gold. Maya and Dell did have a nasty breakup in the past. However, Maya does apologize for the breakup and they’re able to work together and rekindle their relationship like adults. It so happens that I read two reunion romances back to back (I’m reviewing Lauren Dane’s Back to You next) and I thought both books dealt with the pitfalls of a failed previous relationship very well. Yes, Maya and Dell’s high school breakup was nasty. But they were able to move on with their lives in a mature fashion. There was no desire for revenge plot. Dell didn’t plan to seduce Maya and then break her heart so she would know how he felt. They acknowledged the past and moved on.

Side note: apparently Dell stands for Delany. Thank god they call him Dell cause the name Delany has me picturing a girl. Sort of like Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind. If I hadn’t seen the movie before I attempt to read the book, I would have mental pictured Ashley as a woman and not as Leslie Howard. Romance characters do have the oddest names sometimes. Maybe I’ll do a future post on that…

The breakup in this story was a little silly. Without spoiling anything, basically Maya kept a secret about from Dell about his mother. However, Maya and his mother were really good friends and while I understood Dell being upset, Maya was just being a supportive friend. It was nice to be reunited with the Breakup party though. It’s always a good scene in Fool’s Gold books. You get to be reunited with past characters and the heroine gets support from the town as well as hope that everything will work out.

This might be a bit of a spoiler but I really liked the ending. Dell and Maya didn’t feel like they needed to stay in Fool’s Gold. Rather, they made the decision, as a couple, to travel the world together, producing school-orientated movies about different cultures. Having been bit by the wander-bug, I liked this ending and thought it was a good break from the norm of settling in a small town and having kids.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Published by SomewhereLostInBooks

I’m Melisa! I’m an avid reader. I love romance novels and decided, hey, why not write about what I love and hate about the genre. And my favorite books. And when I get to meet authors. And all round why romance novels are awesome. Expect a lot of fan-girling, laughter, and some tears. View all posts by SomewhereLostInBooks