Erin Nicholas writes enjoyable small town romances, including the Sapphire Falls series that first attracted me to her writing. Now she’s moved on to the bigger city of Boston, but by focusing on a local theater and its community players she successfully retains that close knit feel while being able to expand her cast of characters. Totally His takes a look at some complicated family dynamics while providing the reader with a fun and sexy story.

When Sophie Birch’s small independent theater catches fire, her desperation to save a one of a kind, completed manuscript leads her to some not too smart decisions – like sneaking back in to rescue it. Caught in the act by police officer Finn Kelly, it’s not her best moment. Nor does it bode well when Finn turns out to be the son of one of her favorite people, Angie, a widow who has become a key member of Sophie’s theater community.

Sophie’s rocky relationship with her con man father, Frank, keeps her from getting close to people so he can’t use those relationships against her. But since he’s half owner of the theater, she can’t stop him from coming around, or taking half the insurance money. This leaves her short on funds to rebuild, and when she shares this with Angie, the news gets around to Finn who brings some of his friends and family by to help.

Sophie can’t afford to turn down Finn’s offer, and after seeing all that man-candy in action in their construction gear, her friends convince her to include them in the next play she puts on. All that hot stuff on stage will draw an enthusiastic crowd, give the guys a chance to show their community spirit, and ensure some great ticket sales to help pay for the repairs. When Finn offers to play the lead romantic role opposite Sophie, it ensures that they’ll get to know each other better. But Sophie has learned the hard way that getting close to someone is a sure way to get hurt. Can the happy ever after ending they get on stage become a real life one too?

I confess to being a bit worried about whether I’d like the heroine based on her actions early on, but the author manages to give enough explanation and justification for them that my doubts didn’t linger. From that point on, Sophie comes across as a passionate and articulate woman, with a realistic if sometimes cynical perspective on life. Her relationship with her father, Frank, is complex. She’s had several stepmothers, all women Frank had conned into marrying him, using Sophie as a pawn. When those relationships ended, she lost a mom all over again. Yet, he’s still her father, and he still kept every promise he made to her as a child and loves her in his own misbegotten way. Her main reason for avoiding Angie’s family is to keep Frank away from them, something she can no longer do when Frank shows up again to cause his usual trouble. Only this time, she’s got backup.

Finn is a pretty straightforward, ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of guy. He’s single, he’s a good cop, and his dating life at the moment is pretty non-existent. He comes from a big extended family where everyone knows everyone else’s business and is always willing to lend a helping hand. Once Finn meets Sophie, he feels very strongly that he should be the guy to jump in and ‘save’ her. But she doesn’t want saving, which takes him a while to understand. Plus, despite Sophie’s warnings, he can’t resist giving Frank a helping hand. At times this is really frustrating for Sophie (and me as a reader).  I really liked that the author doesn’t sugar-coat Frank’s behavior, or rehabilitate him just because he’s exposed to the ‘nice’ Kelly family. I also really appreciated that Finn and Sophie have to compromise to make their relationship work and yet neither loses their sense of self in the process.

Despite their different views of family and long term relationships, the attraction between them doesn’t let up. Playing the part of the romantic couple in the play gives them the excuse to practice their kissing scenes, and things soon get pretty steamy. The author writes great sex scenes, with heat and humor. As the story progresses there are some plot points that I thought might get glossed over but Ms. Nicholas wraps everything up in a neat way with a thoroughly satisfactory ending. Totally His delivers an engaging and sexy romance.

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