Raisa Greywood-Sexy Scoundrel

Raisa’s Sexy Scoundrel is the second of the Cocky Hero Club books that I’ve got, and today seems like a pretty good day to blog it.

So, here’s our story. We start with Carlina acting as a pastry chef at her ex-boyfriend’s restaurant. The ex who only made it through school with Carli’s help. Now, he’s acting like he’s a kitchen god, except he’s not, and when she tries to rescue their diners from his massive screwup, he starts to fling things at her and fires her, which gets her out of a contract. As she leaves, she walks through the dining room and tells everyone that the fish might be OK. Then she goes home.

Meanwhile Giorgio was at the seating that night, with the woman he was seeing at the time. He got some of the cupcakes that were being served and took them home to his younger brother, Antonio, who said that they were sooooo good he would even eat broccoli, so Gio goes in search of the Carli to make her his chef.

Back at the farm, no really, back at the farm, Carli, who has a huge heart, has been talked into bringing home some animals, namely a camel, a Shire foal, and oh yeah, a lion named Leonard. He used to be on TV as a mystery solving lion. They join her bison, and assorted other animals that he friend has talked her into. Then, Gio and his brother Antonio show up at her house and pretty much all hell breaks loose.

Before I get into anything else, I have to say how much I really love Antonio and really appreciate how well Raisa did with him. He’s got Down Syndrome, and he is very high functioning. The thing that I like about him is that without him, there really is no story. Pretty much every major plot point in the story spins out from Antonio. He’s also really brave, loving, and incredibly fierce. I love how he grows and changes during the story and how successful he is. He has an absolutely huge heart and loves just about everyone, even when they are being yucky. Well, except for that bitch Aunt Proserpina, and I don’t blame him for hating her. I hate her too.

Carli is a collector, she collects people and animals. As you get pulled into her circuit, she just draws you in and you become family. She has such a huge heart. Well, except for Gio. It takes her a long time to let him in. I mean, she agreed to be Antonio’s caregiver, as long as she didn’t have to see Gio. She really wanted to have very little to do with him for a long time. But, pretty much everyone else in the story becomes part of her family and drawn into her circle. I really admire that, and I think that it’s a great trait. She’s also incredibly fierce. One of my favorite lines of her comes when she threatens to strangle a big tough guy with an IV tube if he doesn’t get his boss on the phone immediately. Big tough guy was just a little scared of Carli. She is very definitely a Raisa heroine.

Gio isn’t a bad guy. He has very definite layers. There is the whole layer of jerk playboy that he puts on so that no one bothers him, and then there’s the layer of the actual Gio who loves his brother and who wants to be happy. He’s an idiot at times, but that happens to the best of people, really. He’s generally a good guy though.

One of the things I really like about Carli is how she is with Sara. Sara got dragged into the situation without her consent, and she is not in good shape, and Carli just accepted her as a friend and loved her.

OK, that’s all I have to say about this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!