Lea recs 'Everything You Need to Know,' 'Sweet'

Everything You Need to Know by HelenKay Dimon

Jordan McAdam discovered the hard way that the dating scene in Washington, D.C., was brutal, so to save herself further heartache she put "the entire metro area in dating lock down." All was not lost, however, as the horrors of her dating experiences sparked a moment of genius and her website Need to Know was born. Need to Know is a place where women can anonymously share the deets about their dates thereby allowing its paying members to make informed decisions about whom to spend time with and whom to avoid … like the plague. Jordan's brainchild was flourishing and her plan to give up her temp job and be self-employed was in sight. Need to Know also reinforced Jordan's resolve to stay decidedly single:

When she'd started Need to Know, she'd known the dating world could be physically and emotionally dangerous for women. She never dreamed it resembled an apocalyptic wasteland populated with guys in business suits who possessed zero social skills when it came to handling strong women.

Then millionaire businessman Forest Redder enters the picture, and Jordan's resolve falters. It takes awhile for her well-constructed armor to crack as despite his good looks and virility, Forest's obvious need for control and association with the town's rich and powerful cause her red flags to fall. Forest Redder was taboo.

Famous. Last. Words.

Take a jaded but strong-minded, entrepreneurial young woman, match her with a self-made millionaire who avoids relationship commitments, add Jordan's wacky man-crazed mother, and you get a hilarious, sexy romance that's reminiscent of a Doris Day and Rock Hudson movie. Forest loves a challenge, and when he hears about Need to Know from his best friend and business partner, Wendell Strong (who is equally scrumptious), Forest makes it his mission to access the website. His second mission is to persuade Jordan to spend time with him, which proves to be easier said than done. Forest has no idea Jordan owns the site that's proving to be the scourge of D.C.'s eligible and non-eligible males. Jordan's quick wit and sarcasm keeps Forest off his game; she drives him crazy most of the time, but their chemistry sizzles. and keeping his hands off her is a struggle.

Everything You Need to Know offers its fair share of emotion and angst as the lead characters negotiate a number of relationship conflicts, but readers can look forward to a laugh a minute along the way.

Everything You Need to Know is a refreshing, fun romance, and it has earned a spot in my "need to re-read" file. If you enjoy a lighthearted contemporary romance, this one is well worth a try.

Sweet by Erin McCarthy

If you read True, book one of Erin McCarthy's True Believers NA series, you will know Rory's party girl college roommate, and close friend, Jessica Sweet. This girl marches to the beat of her own drummer; she is independent, has no time for gender biases regarding sexuality and is decidedly against relationship commitments. Jessica has never fit in with her religious upper-middle-class family, and she can't bear the thought of being subjected to their high moral expectations for her entire summer vacation. So she lies to her parents about her summer plans, finds a waitressing job, sublets a room in an apartment, and stays in Cincinnati. Jessica's one problem is that she needs to find somewhere to stay for a week before the sublet is available.

We also met Tyler's older brother, Riley Mann, in True, and if you remember, his interactions with Jessica were adversarial, to say the least. He sees her as a spoiled "princess." However, through a twist of fate, Tyler is taking his younger brothers to Rory's house the same week Jessica has nowhere to crash, so he invites her to stay at the Mann house.

There is one hitch:

"I've never lived alone," I said. Even for a week, the thought had a certain appeal. No one's opinion but my own. No rules. No guilt. No feeling bad that I could never live up to anyone's expectations. It sounded awesome and scary. I wanted to try it, just to see what it would be like.

"That sounds great, Ty. Thanks for offering."

"Have both of you forgotten something?" Riley asked, picking up his beer.

"What?" I said, wary. I just knew I wasn't going to like whatever he was going to say.

"I'm not going to Rory's dad's to swim for a week like a kid at summer camp. I'll be here, working. Living in my house."

Oh, God. I couldn't help it. I made a face.

The corner of Riley's mouth turned up. "That's exactly how I feel about it, princess."

Jessica and Riley do come to a sort of détente, and she moves into the Manns' run-down house in a lower-income neighborhood. Living there is an eye opener for Jessica, but she's made of tough stuff and is surprisingly adaptable. Initially, she and Riley engage in an entertaining dance of sniping and sarcasm, but it's evident the antagonism is triggered by sexual tension and a simmering attraction. When Jessica shows ingenuity and compassion in helping Riley keep his family together, he realizes he misjudged her. In turn, Riley shows maturity and sensitivity in lending Jessica strong support when she copes with a difficult and traumatic decision involving her family.

I loved this story. Sweet is so romantic, emotional, humorous and quite unique. Despite the chemistry raging between them and the sexually aware Jessica making it clear she's more than willing to be intimate with Riley, he puts on the brakes and proves that allowing their relationship to mature is worth the wait … and he was right.

Erin McCarthy's True Believers series is one of my keepers; I've already re-read the books more than once. At the end of Sweet, we are given a peek at the next book in the series, Believe, which is Robin and Phoenix's story, and it looks awesome. : )

Lea Franczak cannot remember a time when she didn't have a book in her hand. She's read and enjoyed multiple genres but is especially partial to contemporary and erotic romance, dark gritty romantic suspense, paranormal romance and she has recently become a New Adult junkie. Lea is also active on Goodreads and is HEA's Tweeter Extraordinaire. Follow HEA on Twitter (@HEAusatoday).