Alice Clayton

Readers back for a third round of the bestselling Cocktail series will enjoy a madcap romantic comedy about bodice ripping and chest heaving, fiery passion and love everlasting. Plus a dash of paperwork filing and horseshi—wait, what? By day, Viv Franklin is a tough-as-nails software engineer who designs programs and loves hospital corners. By night, Vivian’s a secret romance-novel junkie who longs for a knight in shining armor, or a cowboy on a wild stallion, or a strapping firefighter to sweep her off her feet. And she gets to wear the bodice—don’t forget the bodice. When a phone call brings news that she’s inherited a beautiful old home in Mendocino, California from a long-forgotten aunt, she moves her entire life across the country to embark on what she sees as a great, romance-novel-worthy adventure. But romance novels always have a twist, don’t they? There’s a cowboy, one that ignites her loins. Because Cowboy Hank is totally loin-ignition worthy. But there’s also a librarian, Clark Barrow. And he calls her Vivian. Can tweed jackets and elbow patches compete with chaps and spurs? You bet your sweet cow pie. In Screwdrivered, Alice Clayton pits Superman against Clark in a hilarious and hot battle that delights a swooning Viv/Vivian. Also within this book, an answer to the question of the ages: Why ride a cowboy when you can ride a librarian?

Screwdrivered

"Screwdrivered, the third book in USA Today bestselling indie author Alice Clayton's Cocktail series of sexy romances, follows Viv, a romantic at heart hell bent on not falling for the egineer next door"--

garnet

i want nothing more than to inherit a lovely beach house and do nothing for the rest of my life

Nicole Goldstein

Nicki

The three stars are for Clark. I want a librarian.

In all honesty the book kinda fell flat and I felt like I waited forever for something interesting to happen, but hey! While Vivian was terribly unlivable at points, I sure fucking loved Clarke.

Let me reiterate, I want one. Get me a Clark.

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I was a little late to the party for Alice Clayton's Cocktail series, but now I'm fully on board and can't get enough. Wallbanger was fantastic. I had a real love/hate relationship with Rusty Nailed, but wound up enjoying it when it was all said and done. Screwdrivered got me back on track with this series. Alice brought the humor and the heart I thought was somewhat missing in Rusty Nailed. This one was damn near perfect. 

I wasn't sure what exactly to think of Viv when we first met her earlier in the series. I have this thing about meeting the ex-girlfriends, hookups, whatever of characters I love who are currently involved with someone else. It seems like something bad always follows. That's SO not the case here. I'll say it loud and proud – I loved Viv. She was a great female lead. Her inner dialogue was amusing. She was strong and sassy and we'd totally be friends in real life. Her bodice-ripping romance fantasies of the cowboy made me chuckle, while her real-life interactions with him left me cringing. Awk. Ward. Oh and Viv and the sexy librarian she loved to spar with? Absolute perfection. There was some fantastic sexual tension hiding behind all that arguing. I couldn't wait until it ignited. 

Some people might be turned off at the prospect of a love triangle. Let me tell you, it's not even that. The sexy cowboy (who never really did it for me, if I'm being completely honest) is just a fantasy. And that's where he's best left. In no way was he real competition for Clark, the smart and sexy librarian. You know how swoony Simon is? Well, Clark is right up there with him. Seriously, Alice, a photographer and a librarian? You're hitting all my swoony fantasy guy buttons here. I love it. 

A huge bonus in this book was the reappearance of Simon and Caroline as they come to help Viv with her newly acquired home. I'm a huge fan of theirs, so it was great to catch up with them and see that life's treating them well. They're just so freaking cute together. Plus I enjoyed the friendship that developed between Viv and Caroline. It was a bit unexpected, but shows how much Caroline has grown and how confident she is in her relationship with Simon now. 

Screwdrivered was a great book. I look forward to rereading it once it's released in audiobook because I think Viv's voice will be fantastic in audiobook format. She's such a rich and interesting character, and much like Caroline in Wallbanger, her inner dialogue is hysterical. Now I can go back to chomping at the bit until Mai Tai'd Up is released. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

Why ride a cowboy when you can ride a librarian?

Holy hot dirty talkin’ librarians!

I loooove Alice Clayton. She is one of my favorite go-to authors, because I never fail to enjoy her books, and they always make me laugh so hard. Plus, she wrote the gem that is Wallbanger, one of my FAVORITE books ever, which I’ve reread countless times, so what’s not to love about Alice Clayton?

This latest book in the Cocktail series is another fabulous, delightful read from this author. Though I didn’t love Screwdrivered as much as the previous two books (I honestly don’t think anyone can match up to Simon and Caroline), I still loved Alice Clayton’s classic humor and writing. Fans of Wallbanger definitely shouldn’t miss this next installment of the series!

Our heroine, Viv Franklin, was first introduced as a friend of Simon’s from high school in Rusty Nailed. She’s an adorable heroine—she’s sassy and feisty, a total girly girl, a complete computer geek, and daydreams all the time about starring in her own raunchy romance novel. She’ll literally drift off and imagine a hunky man sweeping her off her feet and ravishing her—after all, that’s not so much to ask, right? But unfortunately for Viv, she hasn’t quite found THE ONE who’ll satisfy all her dirty romance book cravings.

So Viv is pretty bored with her life. That is, until a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes, and she gets the chance to move across the country to Mendocino, California. (Guess who else lives in California? SIMON AND CAROLINE!)

It’s there at her aunt’s home that she inherited that Viv meets the hot cowboy Hank….

“I see by your buckle your name’s Hunk. I mean, Hunk. I mean, fuck, Hank. Crap.”

So yeah… Viv becomes a total dork around Hunk Hank, and he basically doesn’t give her the time of day.

But then… when Viv decides to remodel her aunt’s home, she meets the town librarian, Clark Barrow, who is very much like all those boring men Viv tried dating. Right? Well, not exactly. While Hunk Hank fires up Viv’s loins, Clark fires her up in different ways…

“Impossible woman,” he muttered, straightening his tie and picking up the picture that had brought him here the first place.
“Impossible woman,” I mimicked in a tone I hadn’t used since third grade. I accompanied it with a face I also hadn’t made since the third grade. Honestly.

Clark and Vic DO NOT get along, which makes their romance all the better. I went from laughing at their banter (which is just SO GOOD) to wanting them to just freaking kiss already!! It takes a while for Viv to realize that a certain librarian may be more than she first thought he was, and that she might be falling for him.

“Hiya, Clark,” I said, slowly straightening and turning to lean against my car. I smiled as I saw his gaze drop down to my legs, as it often did, and slowly rise up my body. I don’t know if all librarians ogled the way this one did, but he had it down to an art form. He took his time, leaving no curve unseen. Did I arch my back when his gaze finally made it to my chest? Of course I did. And was rewarded with a nostril flare, the equivalent of a facial boner.

Screwdrivered is a very slow paced book. I honestly wished it was much faster paced, but I trusted Alice Clayton not to disappoint me when the time came for Viv and Clark go be together. Viv had to first rediscover herself before she could form any real relationship. And I loved that this book was about self-discovery as well as a love story (an adorably hilarious one at that).

And Clark!! Oh my word, I don’t think I’ve ever found a librarian so attractive before! Clark definitely made me swoon and sigh. He’s cute, awkward, quirky, funny, and just a plain ole good man, and I adored him.

Screwdrivered was just an adorably fun book to read. I was smiling the whole way through. That’s what I love about Alice Clayton’s books—they never fail to make me smile! And I definitely recommend Viv’s story for those who want to have a good time while reading.

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1sCB9wD
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/100EnmU

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Screwdrivered

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