RING AROUND MY HEART

Author: Pat White ISBN: 0505526093 9/2004 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: DORCHESTER

Alexandra Hayes couldn't decide which she hated more: the skintight silver lamé shorts encasing the powerful thighs of the hulking wrestler who stood before her, or the pink heart that stretched across his firm buns. Loverboy Luke needed an image makeover, all right. And she desperately needed this job. But how would she possibly turn the sport's biggest badboy into the hero the league craved? Especially when looking at his bare chest made her want to take him down on the mats herself. Luke prided himself on his reputation of sweeping women off their feet and giving them a night to remember. His appearance was his armor, protecting him from the pain of his past. Lately, though, whenever he looked into the amber eyes of his new publicist, his concentration went from headlocks to liplocks, from the wrestling ring to a ring that could really change his life-for Alexandra was taking an unbreakable hold on his heart.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Lexy Hayes has been handed the opportunity of a lifetime that would get her PR firm off and running. The only thing is - can she do it? Reform a badboy wrestler into a good guy - who doesn't want to change his bad boy persona?

Never one to back away from a challenge, Lexy must get past Loverboy Luke Silver's walls to find the real man.

Luke Silver has spent years armoring himself behind the image of Loverboy Luke. He's lean and mean, a real lady's man who doesn't care what the world thinks of him. For a man who doesn't want to remember the past it's the perfect life. Until he gets a blast from the past in the form of Lexy Hayes. Even as he fights against it, Luke is forced to look within himself to find himself and, just maybe, a chance at all the things he thought he'd never have.

I really enjoyed and had a lot of fun reading this book. A perfect change of pace in the world of romance, it takes you into the world of professional wrestling. Filled with characters you can embrace, from your typical wrestlers like Oscar the Louse and Loverboy Luke, to crazy Aunt Lulu, to single mom Lexy, trying to raise her adorable son, you can't help but find them real and down to earth - each possessing a little bit of all of us. Pat White's writing shows a quick wit and insight to the average person.

This book was a quick read, a page turner that I didn't want to put down until I was done. I read it in a couple of hours and thought it would be the perfect thing to take along for a day at the beach or anywhere you are going to be for a time, wishing you had something to read, or even just for an evening curled up in your favorite chair reading.

Sue Cloud