Review: Susceptible to Him by Lynn Burke

Posted September 28, 2015 by Lola in Contemporary, Review, Romance / 10 Comments

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Susceptible to HimSusceptible to Him (Risso Family #1)
by Lynn Burke

Blurb:
Lia Risso walked in on her fiancé and three other women on Valentine’s Day. Two celibate years later, her roommate creates a profile for Lia on a dating website—without her knowledge—and sets up a date. On Valentine’s Day.

Ryan Walsh, a self-made millionaire and libertine, refuses to commit to any one woman. Tossed from foster home to foster home as a child, Ryan is on guard against becoming vulnerable ever again.

One dinner…one night of dancing and flirting with the attraction between them, puts both Lia and Ryan in danger of heart break.

They have a choice—open themselves to the possibility of hurt or walk away, never knowing what might have been.

My Review:
I won a copy of this book during a giveaway in a facebook party. I had heard of this author before, but wasn’t sure what to expect from her books. I only knew it was a romance book. This book is a novella, I easily read it in two sittings, so it’s pretty short. It was an enjoyable read, although due to the length it did feel like we don’t get to know the characters as much as I would’ve liked and there’s less time for the romance to developed. Nevertheless it was still a fun read, perfect for when you’re in the mood for a short hot romance book.

Susceptible to him follows Lia and Ryan. Lia has had a painful break-up two years ago and her best friend thinks it’s time she get’s over that and she sets up a date for Lia on valentine’s day with a guy she found on a website. Lia isn’t too pleased with her friend’s interference, but she still goes on the date. There she meets Ryan. Ryan is a millionaire with a bit of a sad past and doesn’t trust people easily, he’s a player and has sex with women, but not more than that until he meets Lia. They share a dinner, get to know each other a bit and their feelings and attraction quickly progress.

The character were okay, we get a bit of a feel for both character, who they are, where they work and what they like to do. It’s pretty limited due to this being a short story, but I liked that the author made an effort to put some personality in the characters. There also is a scene where we meet Lia her Italian family and as this series is called the Risso family, I am assuming her siblings are the next main characters. There are some hints of possible couples and main characters for the next books and I liked seeing a glimpse of their family. On Ryan’s side we hear from a few of his friends, but I felt like I got a better feel for Lia her character.

The romance builds up very quickly, they basically fall in love/lust over the course of dinner, but hey at least they had dinner first and tried to get to know each other. There are two sex scenes and a bit of drama, nothing too complicated, but it does throw a complication their way to overcome. The sex scenes didn’t really do it for me, it just felt a bit too soon and a bit cliché. And it rubbed me wrong how Ryan called his dick Old Boy. They did jump into things a bit quickly, but they were safe about it and used a condom. I did feel like the had a connection, I just wished there had been time for it to build more slowly.

To summarize: this was a fun short romance book. I liked we got a bit of a feel for the characters and they spent some time getting to know each other before jumping in bed together. Nevertheless it all felt a bit soon as this book is pretty short. I wasn’t a fan of the sex scenes and how Ryan called his dick Old Boy. I did like that we got to see a bit from Lia her family and possible main characters for the next books in this series. Overall this was a nice short story for if you are in the mood for a short hot romance book.

3-star

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Which words or terms can rub you wrong in a romance book?

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10 responses to “Review: Susceptible to Him by Lynn Burke

  1. The blurb really sounds good, but I’m sorry to hear it went down a little too fast. I really hate when a book sounds so great but things move to fast, and you don’t really get a change to get to know the characters. And Old Boy… Really?? Yep that would have been a total NO for me. A romance book where a man calls his penis any kind of name, rubs me the wrong way. Not attractive at all.
    Loved your review. Very insightful.
    Maureen Hinten recently posted…Review ‘Come to Me Recklessly’ by A.L. JacksonMy Profile

    • It was a fun book, but it just went a bit too fast. That’s the sad thigns about novella’s sometimes. I do think the author did her best to give us a bit of a feel for the characters and their connection.
      And yeah the Old Boy name for his dick just didn’t work for me. I am not really a fan of naming body parts.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Immersed by Katie HayozMy Profile

    • I’ve read some novella’s, but they can really be a hit or miss. I often find relationships a bit hard to buy when they develop so soon, but I do enjoy how I can finish the book in one or two sittings.

  2. Some books need more time to develop and the novella length can be tough to sell a relationship. Oh man, I roll my eyes sometimes at sex scenes that seem to be there b/c its expected and not b/c it actually moves the story along. It’s funny that he names his parts. I cracked up when Charley Davidson in the series by Darynda Jones names her boobs ‘danger’ and ‘Will Robinson’.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Play by Kylie Scott #ReviewMy Profile

    • I’ve read some great novella’s, but selling a relationship is a novella is always a bit tricky. I usually don’t mind the naming of parts, but it just got me out of the sex scenes with that Old Boy name, some sex scenes just don’t work. Lol at the boobs called danger and Will Robinson, at least those sounds like they would add to the scene.

    • As it was a novella I knew things would move along quickly and the author did mange to make it fun and believable, but it still feels like things went too fast. I did enjoy the minimal drama and it was a fun book, but not much more than that.

  3. This sounds pretty good, Lola. I like the premise, although I’d want to strangle my best friend if she did something like this to me. 😉 I’m sorry about the length being an issue with character development. I have this same problem with novellas often. Hopefully there is a sequel out and you get to see more of this couple, even if they aren’t the MCs. Great review!
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…That’s What HE Said #38 ~ Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts #17My Profile

    • Yeah the main character wasn’t too happy with her best friend when she found out what she did, but hey it worked out good in the end. I think the series continues with the other siblings, so I might pick up the next book and see how it continues. I often find that more books can give novella series more depth as you learn more about the characters in the course of the series.

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