Brenda Murphy

Dropped from her television show after a very public split with her cheating ex, celebrity chef Mai Li wants nothing more than to reopen her parents' shuttered restaurant and make a fresh start in her former hometown. So what if twenty years of neglect has left the building in need of a major renovation? Seduced by Mai's charm and determination, hard-edged contractor Dale Miller agrees to take on her renovation project. After a spring storm causes significant damage to the building and renovation costs exceed Mai's budget, Dale offers her a deal, but is it a price Mai is willing to pay?

On the Square

Jude Silberfeld

3.5* – I like when authors take risks and that’s what Brenda Murphy did with this book, the first in a new series. To me, Brenda Murphy’s name means extremely well-written BDSM erotic romance. While there’s some mild kink in On the Square, it’s much heavier on the romance (and sex).

Dale Miller is a contractor and a single mother trying to give her three sons the best life possible. A previous girlfriend almost ruined her so when a huge job comes her way, she really doesn’t want it to pass her by. Which almost happens when the client, celebrity chef Mai Li, annoys her before she even got her morning coffee. That first meet between the two women sets the tone for their relationship –both professional and on a more personal level – and they’ll have to learn to go beyond appearances and bruised egos to find love.

I enjoyed On the Square, especially the relationship between Mai and Noah, Dale’s youngest son who wants to go to culinary school, but I missed the tension Murphy managed to inject in her more intense stories. The instalust that makes sense when characters meet in a sex-dominated setting doesn’t work as well here. What does work, though, is the chemistry between the characters.

And Murphy is excellent at writing sex. Which is good news because there is a lot of sex in this book. A lot.

A little more communication would have been nice but I’m not complaining too much. Physical intimacy is a form of communication too, and with Dale’s track record, her behaviour is understandable. I still wanted to shake her and/or Mai at times for jumping to conclusions without asking questions, but I could understand.

I also wish Mai’s backstory was more developed, especially when it comes to her sister. We get to know Dale’s family pretty well, which makes it feel even more unbalanced. However, the way the author introduced Yvonne’s character, I’m hoping she’ll get her own novel…

ARC provided by the author to www.lezreviewbooks.com in exchange for an honest review

Suzanne

I wanted to like this book. I got it as an ARC on NetGalley.
Mai and Dale are women in their 40's, who act like they are teenagers. They have so little development in the book, kinda sad. We spent 200 pages on them, and still don't know their political views, hobbies etc.
Did not realize this was erotic fiction, so perhaps that's not for me.
Also why is Yvonne in a wheelchair?
I wanted more food and cooking in this book.
I just was confused by this book. I did like Dale's son Noah.

On the Square

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