Room Service by Jill Shalvis

Title: Room Service
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: February 2006
Length: Novel
Buy Link: Here
Rating: 5 stars

The Blurb: Farm – girl – turned – TV – producer Em Harris is in way over her head. Trying to bag chef Jacob Hill for her new culinary show is one thing. Staying at the sex-themed hotel Hush, where his restaurant is located, is quite another. Her goal there is to convince Jacob, known for looking and cooking like a dream, to sign a contract. But after a days of being enveloped in Hush's sensual atmosphere, the only thing on Em's mind is discovering if Jacob tastes as delicious as he appears...

The Truth: Bear with me, I know the farm girl part in the blurb is a groan. But really, Ms. Shalvis does a brilliant job with Em. She's a plucky lady, landing her dream job of TV producer by sheer grit alone. Unfortunately, grit doesn't get ratings and Em's last three shows have bombed spectacularly.

None of them were Em's fault. Each show had someone else screwing up and Em not saying a word because for all her desire to be the best ever, she's a soft touch who won't step on someone to get where she needs to go. Even her boss finds this preposterous but Em steadily holds onto this bit of her character through the whole story. As we hit the supremely stylish hotel Hush in high-maintenance, buzzing New York City, we meet the rest of the characters. I'll present them in the order they came.

Eric, Em's location director and Liza, her assistant are with her. They also happen to be not only Em's closest friends but ex-husband and wife who still strike sparks off each other. Their story runs at a distance to the main one but its still good fun reading them bicker and light each other up.

Then there is of course, Jacob Hill himself and his accompanying buddies, Pru and Caya. I'll get to them in a sec.

I won't lie – I have a strong, probably obsessive lust for Jacob Hill. Because its a Harlequin, he's big, bold and has a lot of attitude. But because Ms. Shalvis knows what she's doing, Jacob comes across as this quietly confident man who is unafraid to go after what he wants. He's vulnerable but you have to look for it. He's handsome, a little cocky, and intense. He's also sharp around the edges, a man who clings to his shields and has the proverbial foot out the door.

Instantly, you expect him to overwhelm Em, our sweet, young lady. And it does seem like it when he introduces himself in a rather, ah, unique way. But as the story goes on and Em and Jacob are pulled deeper into each other, you realize that Em is no fragile flower. She's not all that experienced but she's not stupid either. Jacob isn't your typical swaggering alpha male who must assert his dominance at every moment and as they embark on their whirlwind affair, I was impressed by him. Usually in straight romances, the guy is either freakishly tuned into the heroine's personal frequency or he's the epitome of I Just Don't Get Women.

So seeing Jacob actually pay attention to Em, first as a man and then as person and seeing her get the better of him more than once, oh, it gave me happy smiles. It's a pleasure in its purest form to watch them almost literally light the pages on fire with their chemistry. It may be noted that I do pay a lot of attention to Em in this review and my reasoning for that is that Jacob's POV is so straightforward. He doesn't go deep into things, which makes sense if you think about his character. But it means getting into his head is nigh impossible. It's through Em that we see Jacob open up and from the word go, we know all about her. An intriguing experience, one that gave this book more layers than an onion.

I will say that I did have a bit of a worry when Em fails to tell Jacob about why she's at Hush. Keeping secrets until someone else blurts it out or worse is about the worst plot device ever, in gay or straight books. Trumped only by the Secret Baby plot and perhaps the Gay For You (Straight Just For Her) plot. Anyway, that gets handled rather efficiently, which is just another area Ms. Shalvis' talent shines out. I was braced for an annoying amount of groveling as Em tries to get back in Jacob's good graces.

Instead, Em and Jacob stay true to their characters and what could have easily taken over half the book, is handled in a handful of pages, leaving room for the raunchy sex and the mating dance. Not that Ms. Shalvis just leaves Em's and Jacob's jobs to nothing. When it becomes clear that she has to change gears, Em flows with it and actually sounds like a pretty savvy lady as she handles her newest problem and Jacob has some scenes in his kitchen that require him to cook and actually do his Chef thing. More love on Ms. Shalvis for not doing the well-worn road of skimming past that pesky work thing.

Now, about the secondary plots. Eric and Liza are almost self-explanatory: a couple with commitment issues, they got hitched and everything really went to hell. But they're both still strongly attracted, something that neither of them will admit to. It's frustrating, hilarious and naughty, reading their bits.

Then there's Pru and Caya. I present to you the first truly decent gay sub plot in a Harlequin that is second only to Megan Hart's Tempted. Pru is a lesbian and one of those ladies who's been dreaming about her one and only since forever. Caya is a bisexual party girl who is much like the feminine version of Jacob – unwilling to commit and jumping from partner to partner. Pru and Caya are platonic roommates – at least that's what Jacob knows until he catches Pru shooting longing glances at Caya.

I give Ms. Shalvis double kudos for giving them a happy ending. They didn't get sex like Eric and Liza did but they do get a make out which was actually not faded to black. Right on, Ms. Shalvis and I tip my hat to you, Harlequin. These were solid subplots that I truly and completely enjoyed, enough to make me wish the book had been longer just to see what Ms. Shalvis could really do.

But all good things must come to an end and this book, sadly and not, was a very good thing. It was my first foray back into Harlequin and I'm glad I did it. Five stars for Room Service and a thanks for the smile....and Jacob Hill.