Brown-Eyed Girl by Lisa Kleypas

Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn't believe in love-at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can't resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening.

After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can't afford distractions. She's been hired to plan the wedding of the year-a make-or-break event.

But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he's not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget.

The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything-including her well-guarded heart-will she find out what matters most.

I can't say I've waited anxiously for this book, because I haven't. At the time, I had vague thoughts about why Joe didn't have a book of his own. After all, he is a Travis, but he was mostly in the background, so it was never a big deal for me.

Now Joe Travis does have his own book, thanks to Ms Kleypas' loyal readers who really wanted Joe's story.

I enjoyed this book. These were real people, who had real problems. The Travises may have been rich, but they come across as normal and Joe himself is a sweetie.

There's not really much of a plot; that may bother some readers. What there is, is a good, old fashioned romance, where the protagonists get to know each other without a bunch of misunderstandings and almost no internal lusting, which I found very refreshing. Yes, you read that correctly - no internal lusting! And yet the feelings and emotions were very real, came across well and were written beautifully.

I'm not going to say this is one of Ms Kleypas' best books, and not everyone's going to like the way the author wrote it, but it's a good addition to the Travis Family Saga. Not only do we have a satisfying romance center stage, but there's a secondary romance - Avery's sister, Sofia. We see Sofia's romance through Avery's eyes, so it's not real in depth, but I did like Sofia and enjoyed the back and forth between her and Steven. Plus, we get to catch up with the rest of the Travis family, which I loved.

I feel safe recommending this book because it's pure romance, without any other distractions. However, you might want to wait until MMP prices kick in because, despite the enjoyment the book gave me, it should never have been published as a HB and I should have Wishlisted it.

I guess if this were a review - *snark* - I'd give Brown-Eyed Girl a B. I really do like Ms Kleypas' writing.  :-)