One of my goals this year is to read some of the Harlequin lines that I don’t read as often. Blaze is fairly new to me, but I’ve read several so far and enjoyed them all. The Charmer has a few plot points that irked me, but the book is well-written and enjoyable overall.

The book opens as a woman who runs a site called SmoothOperators.com is discussing the various types of loser men she intends to feature in her upcoming guide on who women shouldn’t date. After the initial set-up, the site owner disappears from the scene and the story then shifts to one of her targets, Alex Stamos, a publishing executive known for his charming ways with women. Though he dates often, Alex manages to avoid serious, long-term relationships. At this point, he is single and has headed into rural Wisconsin in search of an artist whose style Alex thinks will be perfect for a graphic novel.

Alex finds himself stranded in the snow and is rescued by a woman named Tenley. Though Tenley starts off being somewhat gruff with Alex, she takes him back to her isolated home to stay the night until he can get on his way. We see right away that the rather self-reliant Tenley is not your usual supersweet heroine and I rather enjoyed this likable but prickly character. Without blowing too much of the plot, let’s just say that one thing leads to another, and Alex and Tenley end up enjoying a rather steamy night together.

As it turns out, the two are content to spend time together outside of bed, too. The storm continues, but the prospect of being snowed in does not seem to upset the budding couple very much. Love at first sight (or first encounter, in this case) is tricky to pull off, but the chemistry between Tenley and Alex works. Their conversations feel natural, their romantic interactions are believably steamy, and they just seem good together. Believing that a serial dater like Alex could suddenly decide that Tenley is The One strains credulity a bit, but the book is well written enough that readers will want to make that leap.

After the storm clears, Alex and Tenley have to rejoin their daily lives and that’s where much of the conflict in the plot arises. Both characters have issues to deal with – including at least one major one- but the author keeps things out of melodrama territory. Given the tone of the story, this was a good decision. Alex and Tenley have a happy, slightly offbeat love story and while the issues are serious enough to make the conflict seem real, they don’t threaten the essentially joyful nature of the story.

One thing kept nagging at me throughout this book, and that was the heroine’s sexuality. We learn early on that Tenley has had plenty of sex with different partners, but no serious relationships. Tenley also seems very comfortable with sex and with her body, and attributes this in part to her uninhibited upbringing. From here, the author doesn’t seem to know which direction to go. Does Tenley revel in the sexual side of herself or is she only having lots of sex as the result of some horrible trauma she suffered? As a reader, I found this irritating. While events in Tenley’s past are certainly an important part of who she is as well as causing relationship conflict for her, using this to explain her sexual past seemed like a copout. Rather than simply being allowed to have a romantic past and enjoy it, it was as if Tenley had to have a tragic reason for her sexual experience so that we readers wouldn’t think her a slut.

Still, even with that issue, I genuinely enjoyed Tenley and Alex’s story and, though of the whirlwind variety, their relationship is both steamy and deeply emotional. The next book in the trilogy is due out in April and I have no doubt that I’ll be snapping it up.