What a Girl Wants…..Selena Robins……….5 Stars
This novel was sent me by The Romance Man and the author, for an honest review.
This novel is classified as Contemporary Romance. In my opinion, this is so much more than that. It has romance yes, and a very good one. It also has laughter, tears, mystery, and difficult family issues. The first few chapters are laugh out loud funny. At one point Alex explains that Maddie is “Like Lucille Ball on Red Bull”.
Maddie Saunders is a travel journalist who specializes in adventure travel. Biking, hiking, and zip lining are some examples. Her close friend is Alex Donavan. He is an investigative journalist, hopping from one dangerous hot spot in the world to another. Alex and Maddie have been friends for six years, and now against her better judgment, she is going to try and convince him to join her in a casual affair. They are both being sent on an assignment to Hawaii, so Maddie decides it is the perfect place for a seduction. She is also on a continuing quest to find her biological father. Her mother refuses to tell her. One of several reasons their relationship is strained.
The story goes on with our couple in Hawaii. While she works her seductive powers on Alex, other things are happening around them. There are twists and turns in this story, that definitely make it a intriguing. Ms. Robins also focuses on the plight of numerous children and adults, trying desperately to find an unknown father or mother for medical issues, and also just the mental anguish of wanting to know their family roots.There were a couple chapters near the end which would have worked as a logical conclusion. Ms. Robins chose to let the novel draw to a different, and more satisfying conclusion. I would recommend this novel, first of all to anyone who loves chocolate. Maddie is a chocoholic, and there are several references throughout the book. This story pulled at my heart, my mind, and my funny bone. I laughed and cried my way through it. It goes back on my shelf, to be read again. Thanks you Ms. Robins for the pleasure of reading this wonderful novel.
Pat Fordyce
sounds great can’t wait to read it love chocolate to
Thanks, Kelly, I have a weakness for dark chocolate as well, and I gave this indulgence to the heroine. I don’t think I’ve met a woman who doesn’t love chocolate.
WTF Pat? Like I would send you a book for a dishonest review? I want my ipad back
Thank you RM….. I have custody of the IPad! Do I need to call in my legal Rep..Diane?
Jessica is my witness, I got it fair and square!
Actually, RM, that disclaimer is standard in a review where the author has provided the book. And Pat did a wonderful job. She gets to keep the ipad.
Oh, sorry.
learn something new every day!
Thanks Kate!!!!
Great job Pat. I have included it to my list of books to get!
There is nothing like a contemporary romance with humor. I love them.
Thanks for sharing the review.
Thanks, Toni, I hope you enjoy comedy in the books I read as well.
Okay, my glasses are on now, I have to stop living in denial and realize I need to wear them when on the computer, my response above makes no sense.
What I meant to say is that I also enjoy comedy in the books that I read.
Great review Pat! Hawaii is one of my favorite places. Looking forward to going there in Selena Robbins novel!!
We’re having tropical weather today, but I do love traveling anywhere where there’s an ocean. Especially during the Canadian winter months.
My Pat is the queen of reviews! Great review! And this book is such a good read.
(I have insomnia. I am not so addicted to this blog that I visit it at 3:23 am east coast time.)
LOL Diane. I hope you finally got to sleep.
Thanks for the compliment.
Great review Pat.
I love friends to lovers stories. This is definitely added to the TBR pile.
Granny, one of my favorite themes is friends-to-lovers, because it’s something I can relate to.
Great review, Pat! I loved Selena’s book and totally agree with you. I was laughing throughout and craving chocolate
.
Thanks Ladybug, you now can bake a coconut chocolate cake while reading books. LOL
Consider my appetite for chocolate whetted. I’m putting it on my Amazon ‘Kindle to Buy’ wish list. Thank you for the GREAT review!!
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it.
I read Selena’s book What A Girl Wants when it first came out. I’ve read it twice since. I just love the back and forth between Alex and Maddie and yes, Pat, the very satisfying end. I highly recommend this book! I’d love to see Alex and Maddie again!!!
Thanks, Jenni. Yes, you will see Maddie and Alex make an appearance in my current work in progress, which is almost finished and ready to be sent to my critique partner. Soon as someone can pry my hands off of it. LOL
I am getting ready to start this book.
Hope you feel better, RM.
Great review as usual Pat. Sounds like a great read
.
Glad to see someone’s reviews get posted RM
LOL yours are coming I promise. I am way behind.
Uh huh. You’re lucky I like you. Most of the time anyway
LOL! You’ll have to lift your cape up to prove to us that you are wayyyy behind.
I want to see that! Call me RM before it happens
Pat, thanks again for the well written review.
RM, thanks for posting it and I hope you enjoy it when you read it. I look forward to your thoughts on the male point of view and male dialogue.
I am reading this book right now and love it. The dialogue is great. It is a really fun book.
Thanks so much, Lexie. I appreciate your feedback and so glad you’re enjoying it so far.
Selena– I really loved What A Girl Wants, but not nearly as much as Manbug loved it. He did write that Amazon review after all
.
I loed the review under your hubby’s name lol
I was a review virgin until Selena came along
This is no longer allowed. LB will have to buy the book a second time and post the review from her account. I WILL change the Amazon password.
Damn, BUG BRAWL ON THE BLOG!
I’m not scared of him. I have my ways of getting that password
She may have the online banking passwords but she’ll be screwed if she can’t download stuff to her kindle. She knows I have her by the (virtual) balls.
My money is on Ladybug.
LOL Now there’s a way for a writer to get more sales.
Manbug, that is awesome that you read romance and even put your name on Amazon for a review
Don’t fret about it, I have soldiers overseas who’ve read my book along with others that we send over and they admit to enjoying them. Maybe you started a trend to have the men come out and post a review.
Great review Pat!
I swear Selena I did buy your book and was going to start it after finishing Defiant ( I HAD been waitin g4 years for that book
) then i realised its on my Kindle so i will save it for when we go to Scotland in August and am reading a paperback now. 5 star average reviews on Amazon is super though! Congrats. I am sure I will love it.
If anyone can stop time at my work I can maybe get some frigging reading done and can stop my TBR piles from toppling over!! Thank God I do not need to balance my unread Kindle books also. I am reading two pages a day and HATE it when that happens because it ruins the book’s flow for me.
Hi Lucie! I am so far behind on my TBR it is ridiculous. I have boxes of books (let’s not even talk about the Kindle). At this point, I have just started looking for a new chest or trunk or shelf or case or some other piece of storage furniture that looks really nice that I can use to store them. It doesn’t look like I am ever going to get caught up so I might as well make them look pretty
.
Hey LB! Exhausted here! Loooooooong week!
I will never get caught up either unfortunately unless i have another kid and fall into another post natal depression. Books were my salvation then. I used to literally lose myself in them. Used to read at least 20 a month. Sadly i hardly manage 5 a month nowadays. Bright side though – no longer depressed
.
Let’s just hope for some free time to happen along soon so you can read. I didn’t have post natal depression with either of mine (my emotional roller coaster happened while I was trying to get pregnant with them), but I have been through really rough times when all I wanted to do was read. There is something very therapeutic about it. It is my happy place when the world is on my last nerve
.
I call it a post natal depression because it happened after i had the girls but it was more like a zillion tough things happening all at once and i finally could not cope and started caving in. Being quiet and innocent looking
I seem weak but I always prided myself on being a very strong woman so the fall was even tougher for me to take. I like to think that my strength shows in the way i get back up again real quick. Well, you do have to see the bright side in everything otherwise you’ll go crazy 
.
Lucie– You are absolutely right. It is the getting back up that shows a person’s real strength.
LadyBug – you make me feel better – I went to the UBS and got some other books this week (well I brought the kiddos to shop and couldn’t leave without stuff for me) and also a few from the library. My TBR is big – now I am classifying them into TBR during vaca in a few weeks and TBR.
I discovered buying used books on eBay several months ago (we don’t have a good UBS nearby). That was such a mistake. Plus I have inherited (read: stolen) lots of books from my sister. It is a mountain I will never get through.
I have a friend I met discussing books on FB that is now mailing me books to read…my nightstand is out of room. I actually go to UBS to look for books I love to I can pass them to friends.
Lucie, it would drive me crazy if I only read 2 pages a day! I hope your schedule opens up so you can have reading time!
Hi, Lucie, I totally understand a mile high TBR pile, I’m the same way. I read every chance I get. Even in line at the grocery store, I whip out my Kindle and start reading.
Loved the review Pat! Being that I’ve only just met my Dad 3 years ago makes me very interested in this book. That and the love story, of course! Selena’s book is going on my tbr list for sure!
Hi, Lulu, thanks, I hope you enjoy the story. I actually interviewed a few people who were looking for their biological parent. Their stories were intriguing, wish I could just write a series based on that research.
i’m buying it for my kindle. thanks for the delicious recommendation. I must be one of those folks that doesn’t have an addiction to chocolate. Not that I’ve ever said no when the Russell Stover box gets passed.
Thanks, Trudy. I don’t have a sweet tooth, I leave that up to my husband. I don’t really like milk chocolate, just the dark chocolate and I especially love the dark chocolate with hot chili peppers. Only need a few squares to satisfy me.
“This story pulled at my heart, my mind, and my funny bone.”
Yeah Pat, I think I will read any book that is described this way. Great job it goes on my TBR/Wish List pile. A great setting – I love books in Hawaii.
Congrats Selena.
Thank you, mceckk. While writing it I felt the emotions Pat described, it was a real treat to see her write the review that way.
I have a question. For those of you who have subscribed to you get an email every time a comment is made or just when a new post is made?
I did not get an e-mail when this review was posted, I did not get a review when you wrote this comment.
I got e-mails for blogs before yesterday
I get an e-mail when you write a new blog post.
I get an email when a new post is made, but didn’t get one for this review until about 7am this morning.
Can’t wait to read this one! Great review Pat, another for the TBR list
And, RM, I get an email for new blog posts.
RM, I get an email when you post a new blog post, but not any emails about comments.
Thanks, sheri for putting me on your TBR list.
I only get emails when a new blog is posted, not when there are comments though. I did not get the email for this blog until 10:30am (PDT). I looked at 6AM and it was up, thats the only way I knew. So the email was late today
New blog post only BUT I come back to read all the posts about a day later…….gotta get me some chuckles….and this joint is jumping with funny comments….
I have it set for posts, if I did it for comments would be too busy responding to do any work!
Yes, I get an email. Two actually, every time you post a new one.
Congratulations, Selena! Cannot wait to read it. I wish you lots of 5 star reviews and many purchases.
Also, I am a huge chocoholic – but my passion is milk chocolate. I have caches of contraband in my desk, my house, etc. no one knows about. I keep it in my car too, but not in summer. BTW, frozen chocolate is still edible, just keep it in your mouth until it melts a little. Swear to God its the reason I need dental work….
I have a whole kitchen cabinet devoted to chocolate. I like dark chocolate to eat by itself and save my milk chocolate for s’mores. Now I need chocolate….
I have a chocolate drawer too! But I’m solely a dark chocolate girl. Lots of antioxidants, you know. I have to eat it. It’s healthy!
LOL My husband has contraband cookies. At Christmas when I bake, I put them in tins and label them “eggplant” “zucchini” knowing he won’t open those tins.
You are sneaky, Selena. I like that
. I will have to remember that trick now that both kids are reading.
Thanks for the well wishes, fellow Canuk. I truly appreciate the support.
My chocolate addiction has gotten me into trouble at times. I posted what happened to me when I tried to sneak some at 6:00 a.m. with an avocado mask on my face, on my blog.
I don’t mind laughing at some of the situations I’ve gotten myself into. AFTER they happened of course. LOL
Mahalo to Pat for a great review! Mahalo to Kate for guiding me to this book review because as she knows not only do I live in Hawaii but also am in reunion with my birth family. Lol! So this will be a great read on many different levels.
Hi, jayakawp, I’m glad Pat guided toward the review and book. I hope you enjoy Maddie’s journey in Hawaii.
I think you live in what I imagine Paradise would look like.
I am sure I will, Selena! Bought here using RM’s Amazon link so he gets something out of ot, too. Lol!
How sweet. Thanks again.
I had no idea it helps the blog to click on the Amazon link to buy a book on someone’s blog.
I’m learning a lot today.
I think, correct me if I am wrong, RM, that you get a tiny % of purchases made from this blog link.
And yes paradise it is mostly unless it is humid, Selena.
Thanks WP!
You’re welcome, RM!
Sorry to derail Selena’s thread but RM just posted on Facebook about clean sheets. That’s right, ladies and gents, he started a conversation about laundry! You, sir, are a fraud!
It isn’t about laundry it’s about sheets now go iron something.
This has been the weirdest day in RM world ever! His comments on here have been so benign and boring and now he’s talking about laundry on FB. The Mayans must have been off by a few months– this must be the end of the world!
Did ladybug just bitch slap me?
Yep– what the hell is wrong with you today? There has been no talk of plucked chickens or BDSM Barbie or lesbian dolphins today. How am I going to thin my friend list on FB with this sort of subpar performance?
I am not feeling well today
Awww… I am sorry you don’t feel well. I hope the clean sheets help you feel better soon. We’ll give you a little while to get yourself together before we start protesting and demanding lesbian dolphins
.
Dolphophobe
I don’t know what that means. It is insufficient to appease us
.
I think RM needs to talk about Bonabos, that will get him back to posting the way he should…
It appears that she did. But I don’t think you understand the gravity of what she did today on FB. She changed her settings, man! And since FB is the absolute center of the social universe, this could alter life as we know it.
LOL– I spent hours on that last night. It was about 5 years overdue. I have very few filters and I forget that not everyone else is that open. I thought about sending the crazy bitch a thank you for helping me see the need to isolate “those” peoples
.
Clean sheets as in the ones you sleep on, or Clean sheets the erotic short story website? If it’s the latter, it’s totally understandable then.
There’s an erotic short story website named Cleaned Sheets? I had no idea– I must be like internet level 2
Selena is a wonderful writer. Now if I can get her to finish another book so I can read it. Nag, nag,nag!
Yeah! What you said! We need another book.
Thanks, Diane. You’ll all be the first to hear when I type THE END on my two WIP’s.
LOL Denise, thanks for stopping by, and yes, I’m writing as fast as I can. You’ll be sorry when your inbox is filled with my manuscripts to critique.
You know it’s not my fault, I have this obsession with editing and polishing. lol
In news that doesn’t make sense, I just read that Channing Tatum, et. al are working on the Magic Mike sequel.
ok
Just don’t reply if that is going to be all you say. What’s that “ok”? How do you make a sequel to Magic Mike? Where is the second part of that story?
Go lay down on your clean sheets and recuperate.
ok sorry
Now you’re just doing it to aggravate me. You’re feeling better, aren’t you?
yes
How long is this going to go on because I have real blogs to read? No, I don’t actually. I am a one-blog girl.
Carry on, monosyllabic man
.
ok LB
Four syllables. Don’t hurt yourself. I bet you have all kinds of time on your hands now that you have pissed off Lexie. You had better learn how to change sheets.
changing sheets is deceptively hard you know
It’s easier if you get out of bed before you try.
I understand that there is scientific evidence that men lack a gene required to change sheets. Just sayin’. BTW – I just made up the science. Ask if you want to read the paper.
Did you see what your wife did the last time someone made up science? Ginger threw it down!
Be careful Manbug your wife takes science very seriously. Have you shot the AR yet?
Still need a BCG, charging handle, and buttstock but its looking REALLY good.
Shot mine for the first time a few weeks ago was awesome. That gun rocks
I think Ginger is in timeout
LOL– Ginger and Mary Ann could take Manbug in a heartbeat. I had to giggle at the “scientific evidence”.
I just broke her out of timeout for this fight. I have a sneaking suspicion that Manbug has the hots for Ginger. I think he gets her riled up on purpose
Scientific evidence: http://bit.ly/NchHHY . Consider yourself owned, Diane.
Damn Diane got bitch slapped by manbug
Seriously that was funny as shit.
I am laughing my ass off, for real. But do you really want to deal with Ginger and Mary Ann at the same time?
RM, shut up. It wasn’t that funny. (Yes it was, but still.)
Ginger, help!!!!!!!
Can men bitch slap?
I replied in the wrong place above. I don’t know about men being able to bitch slap. Would it be called something else? What is the appropriate male equivalent?
Manbug talks a good game from the upstairs computer. Watch him run when I start up those stairs…..
LOL– Manbug just yelled downstairs, “Diane’s requesting help!”
Ahhh… modern marital communication at its best….
To quote the urban dictionary: “To open handedley slap someone. Denote disrespect for the person being bitch slapped as they are not worthy of a man sized punch. Suggests the slap was met with little resistance and much whining.”
So, not so much about gender as it is about style.
That is fucking hilarious!!! How did you do that???
“Style”? Yep– that definitely describes Ginger and Mary Ann.
I’m have an “Internet Level 10″ badge. You have to pass a test and stuff.
LMAO! This thread has me in stitches.
Is there a Gilligan hidden around here somewhere?
Great review Pat.
Selena, Since you have posted here before, I checked your book out on amazon. Your reviews are positive there as well. I’ll be downloading it soon. Good luck
I hope you feel better soon RM
thanks
Thanks, Heidi, hope you enjoy it. Amazon can be a scary place for writers at times, but it’s a good place to get a feel for the book.
RM feeling badly sucks – at least you have clean sheets to enjoy. Get Well soon – ignore us until you do.
Ladybug, get your own Amazon acct. Then you can buy,buy, & buy ebooks to your hearts content and Manbug will never now! Lol my DH hasn’t a clue how many I buy!
Granny– that is top of my to-do list. I just need to get all of my pre-orders set up on my new acct and I will be good to go. Let the covert book buying begin
I think I need a new Amazon account. Each time I log in I am besieged but men without shirts as recommendations.
LOL LOL! I had to get my own Amazon account a long time ago, because I did what LadyBug did.
I told my husband, “Please, you already get razzed about your wife writing romance, what’s a few reviews under your name?” LOL
P.S. Manbug, I noticed there’s another male who left a review a long time ago, so you see, you’re not alone.
LOL ladies My husband and I have separate accounts too. I swear Amazon is like my crack dealer. It’s like “Come on, you know you want it, just one click and its yours, and if you like it I have plenty more where that came from.” I’m talking about books of course
No worries, ladies. I have seen the light. The new account has been created so the crack can be purchased covertly
.
Heidi– you are absolutely right about Amazon being like a crack dealer. I am in awe of how many books they can talk me into buying without very much effort at all. And don’t forget about the Christmas miracle of pre-ordering. I have actually stayed up until midnight to read a book as soon as it popped up on my Kindle
.
I have got to get Manbug off this blog. I will never be able to work off that IOU at this rate
BOOM!
Ok that is funny.
Shit!!! You guys are hysterical! What shocks me is that I was able to follow the conversation! Man bug/Oval, nice to meet you. I have to work on my alter ego thing. Ginger and Mary Ann are intimidating!
Lady B…are you serious about a sequel? I just saw it last night, I can’t imagine they could possibly have anything else to say!
LB I even have my own Amazon rewards charge card! So the more I spend, I can turn into points to spend on more books!!!!
Hi, Pat, I didn’t know there was a rewards card? I wonder if it’s available to readers outside the US? This is important information for book addicts like myself. LOL
Hi Selena, it’s done through Chase Bank. I would just go to amazon and look and see if they have credit cards listed. They have a reg card, but also the rewards card, and you get points wherever you use it, not just Amazon. You can rack up points pretty quickly , which means more books!!!
Thanks, Pat, I’ll check it out. Always on the look out for a good way to buy more books.
Pat– yes, it’s true. It was on the news last night and I read it online yesterday. I was speechless. Listen, I enjoyed Joe Manganiello in a fireman’s outfit as much as the next girl
, but I didn’t think there was a whole lot of story in the first one. BUT that movie has to be making all kinds of money so I can totally see why they would make a sequel from a financial perspective.
I agree, LB. A sequel? What could they possibly do in the next movie? Usually sequels in movies suck (no pun intended).
And from the department of “That is not even remotely relevant”, whenever I see Selena’s title, I think of the Christina Aguilera song of the same name. That song has been stuck in my head all day.
“What a girl wants, what a girl needs….”
DAMMIT, Kermie! It is 5am and that song is stuck in my head on a loop now! Two days it was a George Michael mix tape and now it is that song
LOL Lilypad, I had that song in my head a few times as well.
However, this morning, I have the Madonna song “Like A Virgin” in my head, thanks to LadyBug. Apparently, I deflowered her on Twitter. LOL
There has been another deflowering?? This blog has been witness to another such activity before. I have seen it mentioned earlier, but didn’t get the whole story? Fill me in!
Hey, RM, maybe you could make an income stream out of deflowering. What would you claim under for tax purposes? Pruning?
Selena sent me my very first tweet today. I am no longer a Twitter virgin
. She has taken my book review virginity and Twitter virginity. She is my go-to girl for all new experiences 
.
It was my pleasure breaking you in, Ladybug.
Such a good student, my little bug, that I didn’t even have to get you to wax off, wax on.
Good morning and happy friday the 13th
I don’t buy in to the superstition so I always make this day a great one! In numerology it is a 4 day, which means a day for learning, sometimes hard lessons. Its a good day to keep your eyes open and turn bad things into good
Off to work. Have fun everyone
Be careful there are monkeys on the loose in LV
Happy 13th, LG. In Italian culture the number 13 is lucky, and so is Friday, so together, should be one lucky day.
At least for my husband, he’s still on staycation.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
Naw, no monkeys running free. The cops killed one and double tranked the second one and captured it. Not sure what is gonna happen to it though. These monkeys were owned privately, never saw a report about how they escaped.
Wow, quiet here this afternoon! I guess everybody’s afraid of Friday the 13th!!!! Helloooooo……..
Pat, I am being abused by him on FB.
Hey muskrat
What, where!!? RM go look at Gina’s or my home page and see what we’re celebrating today…..Hi Diane, going to go check to see what he’s doing!….yout home??
Missed you today, peeps
. It was Funday Friday for us plus Manbug was home. I hope everyone survived Friday the 13th.
Sounds like you had a great day. Friday the 13th is good luck in Italian culture. No idea why, but let’s just go with that.
I am off to the football game. Hope the 13th doesn’t mean what it could mean.
I do know that I might fry – its been 30 degrees C with 7 humidity all week. I know, I know, all you US people have had it much worse, but give me a break, we don’t see heat like this very often!
Kermie– I had to look do the math to convert C to F before I could comment
. That is warm for Canada. Hope you don’t fry. Have fun at the game!
I see I will have to deflower you with regard to the metric system.
30 C would be about 85 F. With the humidex factor, let’s just say, it’s hotter than a Kardashian in Church.
I’m back. Game was awesome – we won. Actually we kicked some ass. A warm night and a mark in the win column. Cannot get better than that.