As Bad as Can Be - Kristin Hardy

As Bad as Can Be is one of the earlier Blaze novels, sporting the number 86 on the spine and it was originally released in May 2003. It's one of the stack of older Blaze novels in my pile of to be read books, and so far it's not one of my favorites.

Don't get me wrong, the story is well written, the author is talented. But the whole set up felt too contrived to me.

"Having Bad Reputation is Mallory Carson's dream come true. The bar represents something of her very own. And thanks to her, it's the trendiest spot in town. At first, she and the other female bartenders dancing atop the bar counter was an one-off, a joke, but when it causes carloads of patrons to show up, Mallory sees the potential in terms of large dollar signs. She thinks all lights are flashing green and all signs read Go. Little does she know about the man who's got his eye on her...

Shay O'Connor has his own quiet Irish pub nearby, unlike Mallory's roaring place. He's meant to be looking out for Mallory and her new business adventure on the Q.T. But after seeing her hot body and cool attitude in motion, he wants to keep a lot more than just his eye on her. Problem number one is she's his good buddy's sister. Family means a lot to Shay - he's the third generation to run O'Conner's. Little does he know, however, that Mallory already plans to bed him!"

Now, whilst Ms. Hardy is a great author, I found myself wanting the story to take a different turn. The interesting plots weren't the ones around the two main characters, Shay and Mallory. But rather the secondary characters. Mallory's brother, Dev and his poor choice in bride to be offers far more potential. And the story between Fiona and Colin from O'Conner's, the sparks fly between them. Those are the real stories in the book and they are glossed over.

So, although I enjoyed the book, it wasn't the story it could have been. I understand Blaze has word count limits and following the other lines would have taken it well over those permitted counts, but I still can't help but wish that the other stories had been explored further.

Publisher- Harlequin Blaze
ISBN- 0-373-79090-2