Love at High Tide by Christi Barth – a Review & Guest Post

Pick Up Lines To Avoid When Initiating A Summer Fling by Christi Barth

The summer fling is always a sexy and fun storyline. All those flings have to start somewhere, and for better or worse, it is usually with a pick-up line. When I was in grad school, I had a guy offer me his minor league baseball card. His pick-up line was to tap the photo and say, “That’s me!” and leer at me. (I’ll give you all time to gasp at that horrificness.) And even though I was crazy desperate to snare a summer fling that year, I’m proud to say that his line did not work on me.

I’ve got another horrendous example for you, courtesy of my best friend (who has happily moved on and is now happily married to a man who had much smoother lines). She was enjoying a concert at a lakeside bandstand when a strange man took her hand and declared, “This is the night dreams are made of!” (the bad grammar is all his).

So how do you initiate a summer fling? Parading across the beach in swimwear and a tan gets you noticed, but it doesn’t necessarily get you a date. Here’s an example of a good, flirty start from my beach book, Love At High Tide:

An unreadable emotion flickered across his eyes so fast she almost missed it. In a low mutter, he said, “Don’t call me a hero.” He hit the hard-packed sand at the edge of the water and stopped walking.

Modest, heroic and gorgeous. And it didn’t take even a fraction of her eight years of training in cultural anthropology to figure out he was attracted to her. They’d long since hit land, and yet he made no move to put her down. Not that she was complaining. She’d happily continue to sit cradled in his arms. It gave her an up-close view of his chiseled cheekbones, sharp enough to etch glass. Her fingers brushed through the salt-spiked tips of his blond hair. No doubt about it: she’d found the man candy Trina had promised. One bite of him would be as sinful and addictive as a chocolate honey truffle.

“Well, I can’t call you Mr. In-The-Right-Place-At-The-Right-Time.” When his lips curled up showing off his dimple, Darcy’s interest kicked up a notch.

Problem is, that doesn’t count as a pick-up line. The heroine’s convinced she barely survived drowning, and the hero is lugging her to shore. So when he runs into her later, Coop realizes he’s got a chance to do it right. To officially hit on the hot girl he’s already had in his arms once. Here’s his swing…and a miss:

Yet when he spotted the curves under a navy two piece now burned into his brain, he stopped. Meeting Darcy had been the high point of his month. Probably of the last several months. When he looked at her heart-shaped ass, he remembered the firm shape of it on his arms. An invisible string of red-hot need ran directly from her to his crotch. A different kind of hunger replaced his anticipation of lunch. Following an impulse, he changed his route to intersect with the umbrella she was in the midst of resetting.

“Hey there.” Coop bumped her with his elbow. Meant to be a friendly tap, it lurched her against the pole and flopped the bright red canvas to the ground. Damn. A monosyllabic pick-up line and a downed umbrella. Way to make a good impression on the beautiful woman, Hudson.

Good thing he’s gorgeous and regroups quickly! I wrote this post because I thought it would be super fun to hear from all of you about your best—and worst—experiences with summer fling pick-up lines. We’ve all been there. We’ve all rolled our eyes at a lame attempt. Or quickly succumbed to a sexy smile. Either way, please share!

Christi Barth earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage.
A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes contemporary romance.
Christi is President of the Maryland Romance Writers and lives in Maryland with her husband.

Love at High Tide
by Christi Barth
Released: July 8, 2013

Links to order Love at High Tide:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Description:
Darcy Trent is lucky Cooper Hudson is on hand to sweep her off her feet—literally—when she nearly drowns while swimming in the ocean. But life-saving aside, Mr. Perfect’s timing stinks: Darcy’s career is about to take her to the complete opposite side of the Atlantic. Still, a little summer loving with the tall, blond and sexy former cop is far too tempting to pass up.

When his plans to enter the Secret Service went south thanks to a bum knee, Coop retreated to the family beach house to mull his future. Romance is the last thing on his mind, until he fishes a curvy brunette out of the sea. Now, spending time in Darcy’s arms seems like the ideal distraction, even if it is just for a week.

But with Darcy’s departure date fast approaching and their careers on the line, can they realize in time that their beach fling might become the real thing?

Review:

Love at High Tide by Christi Barth is another one of her fabulous contemporary romances.  I have read quite a few of Christi’s books, and she continues to amaze me how she can keep producing such fun books to read.  Love at High Tide is a novella, but a perfect read either on the beach or in your air-conditioned house getting away from the extreme heat.  Either way, this is a fun perfect read.

Darcy Trent is our heroine, and I thoroughly liked her from the start.  Darcy is not only beautiful, nice, loyal and a great friend, but she is also very smart, having just completed her Phd.  Darcy is on vacation with her best friend, Trina, relaxing on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland.  Darcy, having spent a few years in the African desert, has a few days to make a decision to accept a wonderful career opportunity, but it will force her to go back to Africa for a few more years.  She loves the beach, the water, and truly does not want accept the offer; however, she has no other job opportunities at this time.

While Darcy relaxes and enjoys the beach, she finds herself almost drowning, but saved by a handsome blond hunk, who is truly our hero, Cooper (Coop) Hudson. Coop is also on the beach trying to come to terms with returning to his job as a detective, currently on leave due to the loss of his partner.  I have to say, I loved Coop right from the start.  He was not only a hunk, but the kind of guy any mother would want for their daughter.  He was awesome throughout.  That is not to say Darcy wasn’t great either.  They made such a great couple, and we impatiently waited for them to devour each other. Barth did a great job teasing us early on, as we knew they both had the hots for each other.  But so many times they were interrupted by mostly Trina and her crazy antics.  I did like Trina, she was funny, not to mention her and Darcy were very close friends.  But Trina was practicing to be a private eye, and I thought her antics trying to solve a mystery (yes there is a mystery in this wonderful romance story), was a bit too much & kind of got on my nerves.   Both Trina and Darcy were getting themselves in trouble constantly trying snoop on someone they suspected was doing something illegal.  Despite Coop telling them to be careful, Trina kept going and putting herself and Darcy in danger. 

Perhaps I loved the relationship between Darcy and Coop, I didn’t want Trina constantly pulling her away.  Oh well, it was an interesting mystery.  When Coop and Darcy finally have steamy sex, it was all worth it though.  Their chemistry was hot, and they made such a wonderful couple.  I think I have said that a few times.  There are other mysteries that have to be resolved as you read the story.  Will Darcy take the job in Africa?  Will Coop be able to go back to being a Detective?  What happens when they find out the truth about the mystery person?  Will Coop and Darcy call it a fling or will they stay together?  Read this book to find out.

Rather then tell you more about the mystery, let me just say the romance between Darcy and Coop makes this a must and fun read.  This is not erotica, but a perfect contemporary romance with some mystery, and hot steamy sex. Christi Barth has once again created a wonderful pure romance to fully enjoy. I love Christi’s Aisle Bound series, and I so would love to see her do more with Coop and Darcy. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher