The Art of Romance by Kaye Dacus

Dylan Bradley, who once illustrated steamy romances under the name Patrick Callaghan, has moved into his grandparent’s guest house in Nashville. Caylor Evans, having once written titillating novels under the penname Melanie Mason, lives with her grandmother. When their lives collide, due to the machinations of meddling matriarchs, the pasts of Dylan and Caylor threaten to derail their futures. Will they accept each other for who they now are—and once were? Or will they never discover the true art of romance?









The Review:
My Ranking: 9 out of 10
Ages: 15 & up

Wow! What an awesome book! I've read books by Kaye Dacus before -- including the previous book in the Matchmakers series, Love Remains -- but while I liked it well enough, I didn't love it. I LOVED The Art of Romance. Not only were the cover and title completely adorable, but the characters and story were, also!

I think one of the reason's I loved this book was because the main character reminded me a LOT of a really good friend of mine -- height and everything! Caylor was extremely tall and liked to wear heels to add to her already 6ft frame. I couldn't help but chuckle when I read about that because that's what my friend does, too! They also both have a very charming, sweet personality that everyone loves.  ;) I also was able to relate to Caylor because we both enjoy writing.
Dylan was a great hero. I liked to read through his struggles and finding his footing again in life after realizing his mistakes.
Dylan and Caylor made a cute, completely perfect couple!

Another thing I loved is all the little twists that were in this story -- especially the main one! So much thought was put into this book; it was just incredible. I am already excited to dive into Turnabout's Fair Play(releases Feb 2012) and will have a review up of that in the next few weeks.

Kaye's writing style is awesome. It makes the reader feel the same emotions that the characters are and allows the reader to simply enjoy the story. Kaye also has some wit in her stories and I occasionally found myself chuckling. :)

Sensuality:

Dylan remembers how he once had to paint a naked model in art school. He also used himself as a model for an edgy book cover and regrets it. When explaining his past to his brothers one of his bros mistakenly thinks he was painting porn. Dylan continues to tell them that their mom secretly read edgy romance and once when he was 12 he found her stash and became obsessed with the covers.
It is clearly pointed out that Dylan lived with another woman before the book starts, but he regrets it and it is put in a bad light. 
Caylor also has regrets that involve her past writing, but no detail is given.
Caylor speaks of a past engagement gone wrong and when she tried to get her fiance back he wanted to become physically intimate with her, as he had since the beginning of their relationship, and she says she wonders if he proposed to her hoping she'd sleep with him after they were engaged. She said "she tried everything short of taking off my clothes and climbing into bed with him" to get him back.


Language:
Man almost says B**** but cuts off. 





This was a great book that I really liked. The story was interesting and kept me reading, In fact, I started and finished this book in less than 24 hours! Definitely pick this book up if you love a good, sweet love story.