REVIEW: The Reluctant Nude by Meg Maguire

Author: Meg Maguire

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Samhain

AMAZON: The Reluctant Nude

Synopsis (Goodreads)

Chipping away at her resistance, one touch at a time…

Fallon Frost’s late foster mother had done so much to heal the wounds of her damaged childhood. So when a lecherous developer plans to bulldoze her old home to make room for a strip mall, the practical, ordered life Fallon has built for herself is threatened.

Then he makes a twisted proposal. He’ll leave the land alone if she poses nude for a sculpture that’ll end up in his collection. Seeing no other choice, she heads for Nova Scotia—only to find something totally unexpected. A sexy, hot-blooded, infuriating sculptor.

Guarded, sexually detached Fallon is a challenge Max Emery can’t wait to tackle. Yet with each tap of his chisel, he uncovers a woman who rekindles a dream he thought lost. Home, family…love. And the closer he gets to her core, the harder it becomes to accept that he’s carving her naked body for another man’s eyes.

As progress on the sculpture almost grinds to a halt, their fragile fantasy world collapses under the weight of reality. Threatening Fallon’s one chance to save her foster mother’s land…and any chance she and Max have to find love.

REVIEW: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Fallon Frost, a Biologist and Conservationist is trying to save the house she grew up in from commercial development so when the lecherous developer offers her the deeds to her late foster mother's property if she agrees to pose nude for a world renowned sculptor to add a statue of her to his collection, she reluctantly agrees.

She sets of for Nova Scotia, Canada realizing the practical, ordered life she has built for herself is threatened but sees the deal as her only option; she is startled when she meets sculptor M.L Emery a sexy, young, outspoken and French 33 year old, in her mind, she was picturing someone old and endearing so it was even more of a challenge for her.

Max is an eccentric artist and has lived a full life having grown up as a 12yo child prodigy. He now longs for peace and solitude in the quiet town of Cape Breton and takes on jobs as needed with a lot of his current work focusing on those who are damaged physically with scars and abnormalities so when he is offered a nice lump sum to sculpt Fallon, enough to cover his current line of work over a number of years, he agrees.

Max was aware of Fallon’s discomfort the very first moment he met her and sensed her reluctance, he seemed to know how she was feeling and what she needed so he continually worked to reveal bit by bit what made her who she was – at times not in the best ways, he could be quite infuriating but he was persistent and continued to chip away at gaining her trust, he found her intriguing and she made him feel things he hadn’t felt in quite some time - love, family and home.

I enjoyed reading of their growing romance, from their initial distrust and dislike to their casual flirting, friendship and fiery passion; I am always frustrated to see H/H’s fall immediately in love and lust so seeing them work towards a relationship was a nice change and when the truth behind why Fallon was posing was revealed, I completely understood Max’s reaction, Fallon was being extorted and betraying herself; his resolution was suitably perfect.

The Reluctant Nude is beautifully written, I absolutely loved the descriptive detail in this book, the location of Cape Breton, the studio, the people, the romance and the emotion. The epilogue left me smiling which is always a great sign. It was a wonderful and satisfying HEA.

I look forward to reading more books written by this wonderful author.

Highly recommended!