Tag Archives: Lass Small

dedicated man

Category Romance Review: The Dedicated Man by Lass Small

category romance
The Dedicated Man by Lass Small
Rating: four-stars
Published: 1983
Illustrator: Unknown
Imprint or Line: Candlelight Ecstasy Romance #192
Published by: Dell
Genres: Category Romance, Contemporary Romance
Format: Paperback
Buy on: AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader


Category Romance Review: The Dedicated Man by Lass Small

SPOILER FREE REVIEW 😊

“Well…I suppose we could have…one for the road.” Garret’s breath was quick, his hands hot. How hard he felt against her softness. He thought she was being flippant; couldn’t believe she’d leave him.

THE DEDICATED MAN

The Dedicated Man by Lass Small is a delightful romance between a slightly older man and a young woman just starting to grow her wings. It’s a story about compromise to make a relationship work. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Small’s trademark humor is a big part of the book as she’s incorporated into other works, like Four Dollars and Fifty One Cents.

Piper is part of a large, loving family. Her younger siblings are a riot. Her parents are good, salt-of-the-earth folks.

Garret is a casual family friend who is drawn to the vivacious Piper. While Garret is an established man with a career, Piper’s barely eighteen. Despite their age difference, the two are attracted to each other and begin to date. They fall in love and in due time, get married.

Things are great for Garret and Piper as far as romance goes. But Piper wants a little more out of life. She’s out of high school and hasn’t experienced much of the world.

So Piper decides to go to school and get a job. But this leads to her having to move far away while Garret has his own business to tend to at home. As he’s very focused on his own job, he feels he can’t abandon it.

At first, Garret can’t believe his newlywed wife wants to leave him. Finally, after some arguments, Piper explains that it’s not that she’s leaving him, but she needs some time for growth. The growth can’t happen in the sleepy little Mid-Western town they’re from. But while Garret is old-fashioned, he’s not an over-controlling man. He understands his young wife needs some life knowledge.

So the pair have a long-distance relationship and try their best to make it work. Garret visits her, they talk on the phone, and like real human beings, not dumb caricatures, they actually succeed. In the end, Piper realizes it’s Garret she wants to be with. Even so, she’s glad for the time she spent on her own, as it helped her to mature.

Garret is indeed worthy of the title The Dedicated Man because he stands by his woman while Piper does what she needs to do for herself and her marriage.

four dollars and fifty one cents lass small

Category Romance Review: Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents by Lass Small

category romance
Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents by Lass Small
Rating: five-stars
Published: 1990
Illustrator: Unknown
Imprint or Line: Silhouette Desire #613
Published by: Silhouette
Genres: Category Romance, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 186
Format: Paperback
Buy on: AmazonThriftBooksAbeBooks
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader


Category Romance Review: Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents by Lass Small

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW 😊

The Book

Lass Small‘s Four Dollar and Fifty-One Cents–what a fabulous title–is one of the best Silhouette Desires I’ve ever read. It’s a funny romance, passionate, sexy, and did I mention funny?

The Plot

Jan needs to find a bachelor to auction off for a local charity. Her harmless friend and neighbor Junior should do. Jan has never really noticed Junior, but he’s always been very aware of her.

Jan’s got eyes on another guy, so she’s saving up to bid on him. Junior’s a man, and Jan figures he will bring in at least a couple of bucks, even if he’s not the hottest guy in town.

That is until a hunky picture of Junior is shown in the newspaper, sweaty, shirtless, with beard-stubble. All of a sudden, Junior’s not so “junior” anymore.

For all of you in the over-40 crowd, do you remember the Diet Coke guy? There was a commercial where a studly construction worker would take his shirt off and drink Diet coke on his break. All the ladies in the buildings above him would stop their work just to ogle at him.

Here’s the commercial, in case you’ve never seen it.

Well, that’s how all the women in town feel about Junior.

Jan’s not happy about it, not one bit. Now, she’s starting to look at Junior in a different light… And he looks pretty damn sexy in her eyes.

The wonderful thing is how Junior has always harbored feelings for Jan. She’s just been too oblivious to see it!

Final Analysis of Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents

Lass Small’s Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents is a friends-to-lovers trope done right.

The title of this book is so witty. By the end, you’ll see the importance of it. It’s too cute! This was an amazingly funny romance. Lass Small hit another one out of the park.

Plus, she created an adorable hero I won’t ever forget. Junior rocks!

Rating Report Card
Plot
5
Characters
5
Writing
4.5
Chemistry
4.5
Fun Factor
5
Cover
4
Overall: 4.7

Synopsis:

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE…

The truth was, Jan Folger had never really given Junior Busby a second thought–even though he’d lived next door to her for about a million years. But her charity group was holding a bachelor auction. They needed one more eligible man to put on the block…and she supposed Junior would just have to do. Then the local paper went and ran a photo of the fully grown Junior–wearing jeans and a five o’clock shadow–and suddenly it seemed like every woman in Byford, Indiana, wanted to know him better–a whole lot better. And Jan was starting to wonder if maybe she hadn’t overlooked a hot property right there in her own neighborhood …

Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents by Lass Small
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