Catch a mate

Catch a mate by Gena Showalter

Published by HQN

Grade: A+

Jillian Greene is always getting caught in the act—it's her job! Working at Catch A Mate, Jillian gets paid by suspicious wives to smile, flirt and prove that no man can be trusted around the opposite sex. Her only ground rule? She never gets physical. Until a heart-stoppingly gorgeous male walks in…
Marcus Brody has just been hired as bait to test female fidelity. But the last thing Jillian needs is a partner…especially an infuriating, irresistible man who's got her fantasizing about tearing off his clothes.
Can a savvy modern woman find happiness with the most tempting man she's ever known? Is there such a thing as a totally monogamous male?

Even though I have read every book this author has released, this is the first time I have reviewed one of her books on my blog.

At first glance, this seems like a light comical read. It is funny, but it has a few deep thinking moments.

Jillian and Marcus both work as bait in order to catch cheaters on tape. Jill and Marcus both come from broken homes that was caused by cheating. Jill's mother took her husbands cheating very hard. She tried to kill herself over it, and a 7 year old Jill was the one to find her near death. Not only did she have to see her mother like that, but she also got to witness her dad cheating, because he would bring her to the girlfriends house so that she could play with the cat, while he got some ass in the bedroom.

Now an adult and working at Catch a Mate, Jill has turned into a man hater. She doesn't trust them at all. When she meets Marcus she immediately falls in lust with him. Marcus has the hots for her as well, but he thinks women are as un trustworthy as Jill thinks men are.

Jill and Marcus get into many fights. There is a lot of back and forth bickering, and the more they argue, the more they turn each other on.

Marcus comes up with a plan..they become friends with benefits. They want each other, but they don't want to risk getting into a relationship and then getting hurt. They trust each other not to sleep with anyone else as long as the two of them are 'together'.

I enjoyed watching Jill and Marcus grow closer, and when revelations of love came out I let out a dreamy sigh. It was really very touching.

Besides the love story for the Hero/Heroine, there is also dealings with Jill's parents, as well as Jill's best friend and her brother. I liked the best friend/brother story line so much, that I almost wish they had their own story. Usually sub plots bore me, but not this one.

The type of woman that Jill grew into was caused by her parents. First her dad cheating, and then her mothers emotional breakdown that has lasted all these years. I was happy to see both those relationships get mended..or start to anyway. It will take a lot more than one meeting with her dad to fix that relationship, but Gena Showalters wrote it beautifully and it was believable.

Another thing that I greatly enjoyed was that each chapter started off with a pick up line. Some of them I have never heard before, and they had me LOL'ing.

Oh, and this cover on the authors website is way cooler than the bird cage cover that I have.