In Anne Rainey's story, Forbidden Fruit, veterinarian assistant Ava Sweet has had the hots for her best friend's older brother Luke since the first day she saw him, many years ago. Unfortunately, he has always seen her only as the tom boy she had been-or so she thinks. In reality, Luke has always seen and wanted the woman beneath the baggy clothing, but calls her Dr. Doolittle in an attempt to hide his attraction to her. This backfires when she over hears his disparaging remarks about her femininity (or lack thereof) as he tries to discourage a mutual friend from seeing her as sexy. Stung, Ava sets out to make him eat his words.

She gets more than she bargained for when Luke brings her home. He has wanted her for far too long to only sample her favors once. No, he wants her over and over. But Ava is determined not to be a hanger on, so she slips away while he is sleeping. Now Luke wants her back, and this bad boy is not above using a little puppy love to accomplish his goal!

Luke McGiffin is h-o-t, and the combination of him and Ava…well, let's just say I had to keep wiping my glasses free from the steam which collected as I was reading! It is easy to get inside Ava's head and picture the difficulty of trying to attract a man known for his conquests, and the heady sense of wonder when she realizes he already desires her. It is just as easy to imagine the need to save her pride, and protect her heart from the pain of being dumped. However, Ms. Rainey also does an outstanding job of allowing us entrance into Luke's thoughts, and it's very quickly obvious that once he has had her, there will be no turning back. Forbidden Fruit is the second book by Anne Rainey I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing, and I will eagerly grab the next one I see. Five Angels- RR

Reviewed by: Lynn