Her Perfect Stranger by Jill Shalvis is a 2002 Harlequin Temptation publication.

This title is one of those 'bargain bin' novels I picked up at my local paperback swap store. Jill Shalvis has gone on to enjoy countless appearances on the NYT bestseller list and is a heavy hitter in contemporary romance.

I pulled this title off my shelf because I am thinking of starting a new MEME for my blog in order to incorporate more of my older books in with the new releases I feature on my blog. ( Stay tuned for more information on this development)

It's hard to fathom the many changes our lives have undergone since this book was written. Sadly, NASA and the Space Shuttle, which was a big part of the story, is no longer a part of our space program. Also, the attitudes regarding women in a position of power has improved as it's more common than it once was.

Corrine finds herself stranded in a hotel during a storm with no rooms available, when a man she met in the hotel bar, a perfect stranger, offers to share his room with her.

After spending the night together, the situation turns awkward when Mike discovers Corrine is his boss. Not only that, she is one cool customer, never out of control, garnering the reputation of being an “Ice Princess”. Corrine doesn't have time for a relationship, especially with a man she is working with. But, Mike has no qualms about pursuing Corrine, even if it's just a temporary, physical attraction.

Naturally, the couple find themselves playing with fire as each one tries to deny there is more to the relationship than carnal pleasure.

This is a pretty short book, and so things move along at a fast pace. Mike is a very likeable character, is smart, down to earth, and pretty much unflappable. This irritates Corrine, as she struggles to maintain her professionalism, when all she can think about is Mike. A reader picking this book up in 2015 may find the book is slightly outdated, but just a little bit, in regards to women being in charge , and the difficulty some men had with a woman being 'the boss'. Other than that, this book is still a nice, spicy contemporary, and is still available in both digital and paperback formats.

It was fun watching Mike pull Corrine out of her carefully constructed professional persona. This couple literally could not keep their hands to themselves. They are hot, hot, hot behind closed doors, with some of their sexy time pushing the envelope for a Harlequin novel written over a decade ago.

The plot was just a little thin and of course somewhat predictable, and Corrine could grate on a person's nerves at times. However, this was a fun trip down memory lane, plus it was a lot of fun to read some of Jill's back listed titles. ( )

An older Shalvis I bought at a used book store. I enjoyed quite a bit of it, including the unusual job of main characters (astronauts), though I did struggle with the heroine at times. Her cold attitude worked in a professional capacity, but I would have liked to see her warm up more on the personal side. ( )