Ruthie Knox can do no wrong, in my opinion. :) Her books are exactly what I need every single time and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER is no exception. I loved it. One of my favorites.

Knox keeps up the good work with a fun, hot romance about a young woman, Katie, trying to rediscover herself after a divorce and a move back to her hometown.

The hero of the story, Sean, is a guy she used to go to high school with who is only back in town because his mom (a narcissist who never accepted that he was imperfect - he has a stutter - and they haven't been in touch for 10 or so years) has died. Instead of clearing the house out and getting back to his life in CA, he's been hanging around, doing a bit of work for Katie's brother's security firm.

(Oh, slight blip in some of the early stuff about his job, when he refers to a beautiful day as perfect Southern CA weather, but he's in the Bay Area, which is Northern CA. Maybe Knox meant that the weather was so nice, it was like Southern? And maybe it became clearer in the final edits?)

When the story begins, they're driving to Kentucky from Ohio to interview a music star who has received some vague threats and wants to hire them, but refuses to tell them anything about anything. The musician has been flirting with Katie and she thinks she's going to get lucky - and besides, her partner hates her, right?

Only he doesn't, but the stutter he has all but gotten rid of makes him tongue-tied around her.

I really liked how they were sure they already knew each other, but were constantly surprising each other with the truth of why it was hard for them to get attached and how their pasts were playing too big a role in their lives.

I had a few reservations: they were each attracted to the other and when they finally started to talk a bit, they were (almost) immediately in bed - it felt like it happened without quite enough build-up for a novel. It didn't feel casual at all from the start, so it seems they would have gotten deeper into each other's psyches before getting into each other's pants. I also felt that Sean should have started to work through his mom's death and his grief and guilt before he started dating Katie and then he worked through it instantly.

It was funny and sweet and hot. I love Ruthie Knox's writing.

I got a free, review e-copy of this book through NetGalley and if I'd paid for it, I might only give it 4.5 stars. Nah, definitely 5

I found myself smiling at this book. I liked both characters. They're good for each other. The mystery was easy, so I had to just focus on them. This was a good addiction to the series.

4.5 Stars.
I'm a huge fan of Ruthie's and I received an advance copy of this book through a sponsored giveaway, review was not required. I love everything Ruthie has written. One thing I can be sure of whenever I start any of her books is that it will be a fast, funny, sexy read. She has such a knack for writing flawed but engaging characters, sexy dialog, hot scenes, and both humorous and serious moments. Sean was strong, hot and adorable, yet very vulnerable due to a stuttering disorder that had plagued him all his life and made it very difficult for him to open up to anyone. My heart just broke for him whenever he held back in speaking due to his fear of literally not being able to get the words out of his mouth. Katie, meanwhile, was deeply hurt by her ex-husband's betrayal of her. She was such a loving and giving person, a self-described "fixer" who just wanted to help everyone. I loved that in spite of her disappointments, she hadn't closed herself off. She was trying hard to learn from her mistakes, but not at the cost of changing her personality or becoming bitter.

The weakest part of the book was the light suspense plot involving Judah, the famous singer who was receiving some sort of unspecified threats. Those threats are the reason why Sean and Katie are assigned together to investigate, but I felt like that part of the plot was just a bit too vague. I loved Judah and Katie's relationship and Judah was a great, well-drawn secondary character, I just felt that part of the plot didn't quite come together. However, as I mentioned, I loved all of the characters, loved the romance between Sean and Katie, and especially loved that Sean's stutter was truly a part of him, not just a plot device. It was realistically depicted as a true disability that he would probably never completely overcome. i also loved that we get both Sean and Katie's POV (as well as a bit from Judah), so we can really get into their heads. I'm happy to see that Ruthie continues to write stories that I want to read, and she remains one of the few authors whose newest release gets bumped right up to the top of my towering TBR pile.