Destiny by Design

Destiny by Design
Wylie Kinson
ebook, 100 pages
Published May 18th 2007 by Ellora's Cave Publishing Inc.
ISBN 9781419910913
Amazon freebie

Interior designer Ellis Strathmore has been chosen to compete in the Oak Ridges Development Competition, along with a handful of other designers - including her former boss and nemesis, Cynthia Travers. With the deadline just weeks away, the design teams are under intense pressure to finish. A relative novice known for her unusual approach to decorating, Ellis is determined to prove her talent, artistry and professionalism when creating the perfect home office.

One week into the Oak Ridges Competition and Simon Callon would happily trade Callon & Son Construction for a string of donut shops. Tools and supplies keep mysteriously disappearing and two of the designers are making his life miserable. He'd worked with Cynthia Travers before and knew how to handle her demands, but quirky Ellis Strathmore, with her uncanny ability to both annoy and arouse him, has Simon questioning his normally solid judgment.

Ellis and Simon clash over paint colors, work schedules and cabinets, but they can't deny the sexual chemistry that's building between them. The perfect palette for passion comes together with a brush of danger, tones of teasing banter and a touch of naked painting in Destiny by Design.

Ellis is an interior decorator whose rivals and colleagues have deemed 'the room whisperer'. Oh yeah, she's a tad crazy about her job. I was actually proud of Simon when he dropped the f-bomb on her when they just met and she insisted the room was embarrassed. And again when she went from fondling his cock to spewing crap about an unhappy closet in twenty seconds flat.

With theft and sabotage leading the direction of the story, the romance takes a time out until the end of the competition where it explodes in a passionate frenzy. Simon teetered on my like-em-or-leave-him scale once or twice. The scene with Cynthia lost him major points. You just don't talk that way, whether you're trying to keep the peace or whatever- it was just plain irritating. 3 out of 5 stars.