Review: An Acute Attraction by A.J. Walters

3 1/2 stars

Reviewed by Karen Lee

An Acute Attraction by A.J. Walters focuses on a single mom of two boys. As an overworked mom, Isabel Chambers needs some alone time. I know, what single mom doesn’t, right? But when an opportunity presents itself to spend a week alone with no kids she jumps at the chance. After checking into the hotel, Isabel sits at a small table in the hotel’s pub and restaurant. She begins to unwind by sipping a glass of wine, and people watching to relax. Watching the people come and go can be a sport in and of itself. Glancing around the room her breath is taken away by a tall, good looking gentleman checking in. His accent gives him away as an American, visiting Cambridge on business or holiday. As far as people watching goes, he is by far the most interesting thing to walk into the room.

A chance meeting the next day brings them to be sitting in the lobby right next to each other. Isabel is intrigued by the handsome stranger, so she strikes up a conversation with him. As a single mom and a school teacher, to have an intellectual conversation with another adult does not normally occur in her world. Marc Sanders is charming, smart and witty, and Isabel learns he is on business for Harvard University, visiting a local university for a cooperative research project. They hit it off right away with conversation and a bit of flirting. When Marc asks her back to his room for a nightcap, she cannot refuse the opportunity to continue the evening that holds so much promise. The next few days pass in a blur and are so much better than real life.  The chemistry and sex that she experiences is only equal to what she usually reads on her Kindle. He is kind, sweet and attentive. Marc tells Isabel, for the first time in her life, that she is beautiful. But what do they really know about each other?

Time is going by too fast. Their time together is nearing an end. Will they be able to see each other again and truly get to know each other? Or was this heavenly holiday just a taste of what she could have? A lesson in how she should expect to be treated in future relationships, never settling for less again. And what about the handsome Marc Sanders? What is he running from that may jeopardize everything he has worked for professionally and maybe personally?