Wallbanger by Alice Clayton Series: Cocktail #1
Published by Gallery Books on February 14, 2013
Pages: 384
Genres: Romance, Romantic Comedy
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Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a Kitchen Aid mixer to die for, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O. Adding insult to O-less, she also has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Every moan, spank, and—was that a meow?—punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has—yep, you guessed it—no O. Enter Simon Parker. When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has…well…mixed results. Because with walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick. A delicious mix of silly and steamy, this is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight.
It’s been years since I read Wallbanger. It’s one of my favorite books by Alice Clayton, and I can’t believe my review has been hanging out on Goodreads and I never posted it, or my review for the follow-up, Rusty Nailed, on the blog. I’m correcting this travesty immediately. So, without further ado, I present my review from five years ago!
Caroline, a successful interior designer (not decorator, thank you very much), is thrilled to move into her new San Francisco apartment. Her excitement is short lived though when her sleep is continually disrupted due to her next-door neighbor, Simon, a photojournalist and seeming man whore, and his enthusiastic late night wallbanging sexual activities.
The two start off on the wrong foot when a frustrated Caroline confronts Simon one night clad only in her pink nightie. Their irritation with each other soon turns into attraction and so the story begins.
There are many things I loved about Wallbanger and as I started listing them in my mind I realized that each one is the exact opposite of most popular contemporary romances I’ve read lately.
1) A mature main character. Caroline is a self-assured modern woman who values herself, knows want she wants, and is unwilling to settle for anything less than she deserves. She examines her feelings and articulates them rather than running away whenever she feels vulnerable.
2) A likable hero. Simon is a normal, kind, funny, loving, non-billionaire, non-controlling guy. How refreshing!
3) A realistic progression of a romantic relationship. There’s no “insta-love”. The characters don’t rip off their clothes and have sex the day after meeting each other. Caroline and Simon go from bickering to mutual attraction to being friends and then to *gasp* actually dating!
“He was wooing me. And I was letting him woo. I wanted the woo. I deserved the woo. I needed the wow that would surely follow the woo, but for now, the woo? It was whoa.”
Yes, the sexual tension is thick throughout the book but it feels real and justified. It’s extremely gratifying to watch the characters fall in love gradually.
“I like that we’re taking things slow. You give good woo,” I whispered.
4) It’s funny. Romances don’t have to be serious, dark, and involving an abusive past to be touching. It’s humor that heightens this sweet yet sexy love story. Seeing Caroline and Simon grow closer while engaging in witty banter and flirtatious innuendo is delightful.
“Text between Simon and Caroline:
You done with work?
Yep, at home waiting for you.
Now that’s a nice visual…
Prepare yourself, I’m taking bread out of the oven.
Don’t tease me woman…zucchini?
Cranberry orange. Mmmm…
No woman has ever done breakfast bread foreplay the way you do.
Ha! When you coming?
Can’t. Drive. Straight.
Can we have one conversation when you’re not twelve?
Sorry, I’ll be there in 30
Perfect, that will give me time to frost my buns.
Pardon me?
Oh, didn’t I tell you? I also made cinnamon rolls.
Be there in 25.”
5) A special guest appearance by a pet. OK, I haven’t read any bad romances recently that feature pets but I just had to give a shout-out to Caroline’s cat, Clive. The. Best. Cat. Ever. His Purina and male attack scenes had me laughing out loud with tears in my eyes.
Wallbanger was a fun read from beginning to end. I look forward to reading the next book in the Cocktail series.
About Alice Clayton
Alice Clayton worked in the cosmetics industry for over a decade before picking up a pen (read laptop)She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up, and finally convinced her long-time boyfriend to marry her. And she finally got her Bernese Mountain dog.
I remember loving this book when I read it, too. You listed many of the reasons why.