Beating Ruby

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Beating Ruby (Spotless #2)

Camilla Monk

Montlake Romance: 2016, 310 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The second book in her Spotless series, Monk brings back our beloved hero and heroine, March and Island.  Added to the mix is Alex, Island's new boyfriend who seems to be wonderful, who could be the one to finally end her virgin status, but isn't March.  Months after the events of the first novel, Island is trying to not think of March and get back to her life and immerses herself in her new work project: Ruby, a sophisticated piece of software that has somehow been used to steal a very large sum of money.  It looks like her boss is the suspect but he committed "suicide" and can't prove his innocence so Island takes up the task of clearing his name.  The sequel is fun, entertaining, full of action, and not explicit in sexual content or violence.

Spotless

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Spotless

Camilla Monk

Montlake Romance: 2015, 332 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Island Chaptal is a 25-year-old IT engineer who loves escaping into romance novels to distract her from the fact that she is also a 25-year-old virgin.  Her rather humdrum life takes a drastic turn when she comes home early from work one day to find a very attractive but very OCD hit man cleaning her apartment.  March isn't there to kill her but he wants the diamond that Island's late mother stole from a crime organization called the Board; apparently Island's mother wasn't a French diplomat as she was led to believe her whole life.  Island has no choice but to work with March whilst also avoiding all the other baddies who also want the diamond and want to dismember her.  This is an actiony-romance novel with none of the cheesy explicit scenes that are too often found in other contemporary romance novels.