Like decadent chocolate, Melt Into You has all the ingredients for an exceptional book – humor, sexy innuendo, chemistry, plus it is clearly discernible that Lisa Plumley is a talented author. But with a loss of momentum and timing, the book becomes more like Hershey’s chocolate instead of Godiva – good but not especially memorable.

Newly married Natasha Jennings is a little unnerved by her immediate attraction to lothario boss Damon especially since at their first meeting she interrupted him with his pants down doing the “horizontal desktop tango” with a unknown woman. And it is slightly anticlimactic to learn that she was selected for the job not because of her sterling qualities but because of her marital status since Damon’s assistants either fall in love with him or he falls in love with them. After losing four assistants, Damon’s father finally wised up. Damon does have principles and he doesn’t sleep with married women, which in a moment of weakness, seems a shame to Natasha. Still she is in love with her husband Paul and the career opportunities at Torrance Chocolates are excellent, so she is in.

Ten years later and divorced with an eight-year-old child, Natasha is tired of cleaning up feckless, perpetually lucky Damon’s messes. In fact after answering his latest frantic call for help and finding him “tied up, naked, covered in chocolate and sporting a nougat thong she informs him that she can’t handle his shenanigans and quits on the spot. And with that move, Natasha’s perennial unlucky life changes for the better.

Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, some people have talent and drive, and finally there are people that are just born charming and lucky like Damon. However with Natasha’s leaving, Damon’s luck deserts him, leaving him unemployed, homeless, and broke. Dazed and bewildered by all his recent catastrophes, Damon latches on to the idea that his luck will change if only Natasha can forgive him. With that in mind he shows up on her doorstep, asking for absolution.

Unable to quit the habit of rescuing Damon, Natasha offers him a place to stay temporarily and soon both struggle against the overwhelming sexual sparks that have always existed between them. Damon stills believes Natasha is married, an impression Natasha never bothered to correct because it is a perfect shield against his indomitable charm even though there is nothing she like better than to surrender to that inevitable pull. Still, she doesn’t believe she is strong enough to survive being on the receiving end of “I am sorry I broke your heart” bouquet.

I never thought I would say this because I love sexy innuendoes and witty repartee and this book has that in spades. However, after reading a forty page section that is the build-up and climax to the hero and heroine’s first sex scene, I found myself thinking, “Just do the deed and let’s get on with the story.”

Most of the book centers on Damon and Natasha’s interactions. When I compare this to other romantic comedy books by veteran authors, I realized that many have more extensive subplots than this book. There are scenes with Milo, Natasha’s son, which are cute, but there is no strong secondary plot and I suspect this contributed to the overall feeling of lack of momentum, and eliminates another potential elaboration of the hero and heroine’s characterization.

I love Ms. Plumley’s sense of humor and her comedic timing and I know that the book is sprinkled with examples but looking back only a few stand out like the scenes where Natasha suddenly becomes one of the charmed lucky ones, and Damon loses his mojo. Again it just seem like postive aspects of the story lose their impact because of repetitiveness.

This book tends to prove the old adage that less is more resulting in Ms. Plumley going on my “sure I would read her again list” but not on the “eagerly awaiting list.” However, the potential is definitely there.