Her Secret Fling, by Sarah Mayberry

After reading so much praise of Ms Mayberry’s work, it was inevitable that I would grab the next one of her novels that crossed my path—and this Blaze title, released in June 2010, was it. (Which means, kmont, Kristie(J) and SLWendy, that I am a Mayberry-virgin no longer). Her Secret Fling follows Australian swimming star Poppy Birmingham as she starts to build her life-after-the-Olympics. This entails finding a paying job—no matter how good the endorsement contracts, no money lasts forever when one has to eat, right? And for a former Olympic athlete, the offer to become a sports columnist for the Melbourne Herald is really too good to pass up.

Here is the much-better-than-average back cover blurb:

Talk about office politics!

Jake Stevens—start reporter and celebrated literary genius—is a snake. How else to explain the way he turns Poppy Birmingham’s hero worship into loathing with a single conversation? So what if she’s got a lot to learn about journalism? Aren’t they coworkers now? On the same team? Jake can take his attitude and…

Then during a job-related road trip, their relationship goes from antagonistic to hedonistic in no time flat. And suddenly Poppy can’t think of anything more delicious than having a secret fling with Jake. But with all this intensity, can she really keep it no-strings-attached?

Why much better than average?, you may ask—and it would be a good question. Read it again, carefully.

Got it?

No?

Okay, I’ll tell you: it’s all about Poppy. Her feelings, her reactions, her perspective.

Mind, the author does an excellent job of showing us Jake’s perspective as well, but the blurb beautifully avoids the… well, the cheesy-ness that afflicts many a category back cover blurb. So yay for that! (more…)