Finished Full Throttle by Wendy Etherington. I met Wendy at RWA and sat next to her at the Literacy Signing. A very nice, funny lady. We talked about NASCAR for a while, since I live close to a town that has a track.

This book focuses on car chief Lexie Mercer, who can’t figure out what’s wrong with her star driver, Kane Jackson. Turns out Kane has been distracted lately — by Lexie. The two have a history together, and Kane wants to pick up where they left off. Lexie isn’t so sure that’s a good idea, though, given how their NASCAR team is trying to make the Chase for the championship.

This is one of a series of NASCAR romances that Harlequin is putting out. I read somewhere that the books weren’t allowed to have any sex scenes in them. Maybe no drinking, smoking, or cursing either. (Which doesn’t really reflect what NASCAR or even real life are like. C’mon. Who doesn’t cuss from time to time?).

I don’t remember the exact details about the no-nos, but I can say if you’re looking for a sex scene, you’ll be disappointed. Most of the action happens behind closed doors. But if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the world of racing, you’ll probably enjoy it nonetheless.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: Not quite sure. Maybe another RWA book or I might tear into that Harry Potter package I finally got from Amazon …

Finished Bad Girls Don’t by Cathie Linz. This is a book I got at the Berkley signing at RWA, and I met Cathie at my agency party. She was a really sweet lady. Very funny. Very friendly.

Bad Girls Don’t focuses on Skye Wright, a free spirit and self-described “bad girl” who teaches yoga and belly-dancing classes to make ends meet. It’s not long before she butts heads with Nathan Thorton, a by-the-book sheriff who has his hands full keeping the kooky characters of Rock Cree, Pa. in line. Sparks fly between the two, and, well, you can imagine what happens next. 😉

This book is classified as a romantic comedy, but it reminded me a lot of the old screwball comedy movies, like Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday, both with Cary Grant. Lots of funny, slightly absurd situations. Lots of rat-a-tat dialogue. Lots of folks who are little bit off their rockers.

My only quibble is that the rapid-fire dialogue got a little hard to follow at times. I had to go back up and count down the lines to see who was saying what. But if you like eccentric characters driving each other crazy in a small town, you’ll like this book.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: Full Throttle by Wendy Etherington — A NASCAR romance.