Private Fantasies is a light-hearted and pleasurable read that for this reader had some very sensually satisfying love scenes, including some hot phone sex. Several scenes in fact I have bookmarked as required summer reading for my dear husband. He can pretend that those pages are from my journal, which would be helpful, as I don’t keep a journal.

Hero Kyle Stevens is a self-made man who owns and operates a lively neighborhood bar. Kyle is quite a hunk, unbelievably so. This ex- marine, absentee father of an illegitimate teenager has some of the worst pick-up-lines and lame double entendres I’ve ever heard. Despite that, I found myself entertained by the lengths Kyle went to in attempting to capture our heroine’s attention. Hard to believe such a studly hunk would have made such efforts but after all we are talking fantasies. This reformed bad boy is a rebel without a cause. The story line would have benefited from adding some depth and maturity to Kyle’s prior history.

Heroine Jade Stephens lives in the same condo complex as Kyle Stevens and due to the similarity of last names and their unit numbers they frequently have to exchange misdelivered mail. This device to bring the two characters together was clever. Jade is an interior decorator who has spent the past three years in a rebellion of her own. A prior boyfriend dominated her entire life and ruined her self-esteem, so she wears short skirts, hooker shoes, and lots and lots of makeup. Her look, one that shouts “I’m available,” is but a facade for a woman who wants to remain untouched. She is a contradiction, and I found her attitude overdone and not very successful within the story’s context. Jade appears to be a bright successful woman whose rebellion only comes across as adolescent.

Author Denison’s plot focuses on Jade’s missing private journal of romantic/sexual fantasies. This journal has provided for the sublimation of all of her desires for three years, and given how pent up she is, this is more than a little incredible. Kyle finds the missing journal at Jade’s yard sale and snaps that little gem right up; our hunk is no dummy. The journal provides Kyle with the key to Jade’s heart. We all know that the way to a woman’s heart is through her fantasies and Kyle has hit the express route! Throw in the job of redecorating his bar and Jade’s a goner.

Of course the inevitable happens when Jade discovers what Kyle’s done and conflict arises. Both the premise for Jade’s discovery and her reaction to it were rather cliched, but our hero comes through in the end.

Given my problems with the book, you may wonder how Private Fantasies ended up with a B- rating. Despite the flaws in plot development, I ended up enjoying the characters and found the author’s sensual descriptions well done. Here’s just a small sample from the start of the book of what I mean:

. . . he stopped behind her, bracing a hand on the wall to her left, and she almost lost her grip on their mail. He didn’t touch her, but then he didn’t have to. The heat of his body settled along her spine, over her bottom, and traveled the length of her legs where they extended form the short, silky sarong skirt she wore. She was acutely aware of him as a man, the lean, muscular strength of his body, his warm male scent and the hazardous level of desire he evoked within her.

This page hooked me enough to read this book. Author Denison is in the very early stages of her writing career. I have a good feeling about her and believe that, with future efforts, she will work out the kinks and come up with some real keepers.