Love Bites by Ophelia London

The Basics:
Love Bites by Ophelia London
Entangled: Bliss
Romance
Published August 18, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Why I picked up this book:

I wanted a novella or two to lighten my reading load (which backfired because I ended up buying a stack of books) and I liked the marine twist on this contemporary romance


Blurb:

Falling in love is like swimming with sharks…

Sharona Blaire is only in Australia for a business audit, but she’s determined to make the most of her one free night. So when she spills her drink on a handsome stranger and they end up flirting, she does something completely out of character—she kisses him. But the prospect of taking it further totally freaks her out…almost as much as discovering the next morning that the man she’s auditing is the sexy, tanned stranger she left with zero explanation.

An audit during his crew’s most important expedition yet is a complication marine biologist Jeff Cruz doesn't need—especially when the auditor is the gorgeous, fascinating woman from the night before. Out at sea with nowhere to run, he’s forced to admit Sharona draws him in like a shark to blood. But Jeff's one passion is his job, and nothing—not even love—will get its hooks in him...

My thoughts:

Like all the cool kids, my favourite week of television is the Discovery Channel's Shark Week. Okay, maybe a bit of exaggeration, but it *is* a really fun week of shark-related specials. London's Love Bites continues the shark goodness in a lengthy novella (approximately 140 pages, which, last I checked, is roughly the same length as what some publishers are calling novels - so good on you Entangled!). Anyways, if you're riding that shark-high from last week (Shark Week 2014 started on August 10), then boy do I have a great book recommendation for you!

Love Bites takes the "one night standees discover they've got to work together" trope (there must be a more elegant way to say that) and twists it about. Instead of actually going for it, Sharona gets cold feet and that amps up the tension the next day when she and Jeff have to face each other in the harsh light of day with all that sexual tension still built up between them.

I'm not much of a boat person, though I've been loving books set on boats lately. I appreciated the details provided in terms of the shark research being done and the equipment on board. I think that the position that their jobs put them in was really fully leveraged to create the conflict in this novella, alongside some personal issues. Love Bites does a lot with very little.

Now, in terms of the love at first sight thing - I'm not sure I fully bought it. I think there's definite potential for this pair though, so I'm going to give the book a bit of a pass on that front.

Bottom line:

A short read that packs in a lot of sexual tension and conflict, I enjoyed Love Bites. I think it makes a great post-Shark Week read - or beach/cruise read. Or afternoon spent watching the kids built towers out of blocks, uh, read. Or... you know.  Read it!

5 stars
For fans of quick romances, close quarters romances, contemporary romances, sharks!