Jessica Winslow led a colorful life growing up with parents who skirted the law by the skin of their teeth. She also was raped as a teen but overcame that to start her own business where she helps women with being comfortable in their sexuality and using what they learn from Jessica on their husbands or other men in their life. Her company, Up Close and Personal is a self-help training seminar program that she came up with. Jessica has eight women who have enrolled in her classes and hopefully if she does a good job they can help her reputation grow and give her the security she has always wanted.

Rocco Easton is on a mission to bring down Jessica. He believes she conned his father into buying a car from him because she still has not made a single payment. Rocco used to be a Navy Seal but now he works as a repo man. But when Rocco is mistaken as a hotel waiter, he finds the perfect way to infiltrate Jessica’s seminar and hopefully apprehend her. He even volunteers for one of her hands on techniques. But because he has a job to do, he confronts Jessica, who has no clue what he is talking about. They eventually find out that someone has stolen her identity and now instead of Rocco believing she is his enemy, he will help her find out the one responsible. As they investigate and become closer together, they decide to act on their own attraction for each other. But, someone is watching Jessica’s every move and the identity theft is only the first step to making Jessica disappear forever.

Joanne Rock has written a short but intense and suspense story about an innocent young woman and her will to survive through the harshest of situations. Poor Jessica has been through so much hardship in her life you can’t help but sympathize, but she is one woman who has overcome. Even when Rocco accuses her of being a thief, she decides to take matters in her own hands. And of course the man that Rocco is has to also be in charge. And when these two work together the sparks fly in very nice ways.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL keeps you on the edge of your seat, mainly because of the villain and what they have in store for Jessica. Their plan for her ranges over years and becomes an obsession where they must have Jessica at their mercy. I found this to be an easy and fast read that didn’t disappoint. Take a chance on Joanne Rock because UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL is a near perfect read that did disappoint.

Book Summary

Repoman Rocco Easton has been off balance since he lost his slot with the SEALs-- and not just because of a leg injury. His scars run deep after a landmine exploded under his feet and rocked his world. So when sensuality guru Jessica Winslow appears to have swindled his father out of a tidy sum of cash in the form of an unpaid debt on a luxury car, Rocco can't help but think the worst. Still, never one to move forward without the facts, Rocco runs a covert ops to discover the sizzling sex maven's secrets.

Jessica Winslow knows success is all about creating a certain image. She's invested every last cent into polishing hers for the sake of her business-- Up Close and Personal-- including buying a fancy Escalade with payments that are killing her. Looking around at the wealth of glamorous attendees of the new erotic massage class she's giving, Jessica hopes she's finally turning a financial corner. When the other women talk her into coercing one of the catering staff to act as a live model for the massage lesson, Jessica rides the wave of new self-esteem to give her class a bonus thrill that will surely bring back future patrons.

Too bad her model, a buff hunk in a waiter's uniform, is seriously distracting her during the lesson. Normally, Jessica prides herself on maintaining a professional objectivity despite her sexy subject matter, but Rocco Easton breaks her focus and begins to teach her a thing or two about erotic massages...