Wanna Get to Know Ya [Mass Market Paperback]

C.J. Davis is not a girlie girl. She's into cars, likes to wear boots, jeans and T-shirts and works as a truck driver. As she is driving down the highway, she sees the car of her dreams, a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda. It needs a major overhaul, but she is determined to get it. Even if it means grabbing the car from under another potential owner, a fine looking man. All's fair in love and war. C.J. never expected to see him again, but fate is a tricky thing.

Ethan Tanner is slowly recovering from the deaths of his wife and daughter in a tragic car accident. A small part of him still blames himself for the accident, but he is trying to move beyond that. While trying to buy a classic car, he meets the most intriguing woman. Although she buys the car out from under him, he is surprised to see C.J. at his auto shop. She wants to restore the Barracuda to its former glory in time for the Woodward's Dream Cruise. He has six weeks to restore the car and get the girl.

Wanna Get to Know Ya is an irresistible tale of two people who meet over a car. On the surface, C.J. is a carefree, funky young woman with an unconventional lifestyle. She doesn't care what people think. However, she is dealing with her own feelings of doom. As a two-time cancer survivor, she thinks that any twitch, bruise or ache is a sign of illness. She doesn't have any friends who have stuck around for the long haul, so her family is all she has. She is afraid to get close to someone because each time she does, they leave. When she meets Ethan, she finds a man who likes her for her. He isn't intimidated by her knowledge of cars or her occupation. As things get serious, she starts to panic. What if she gets sick again? Will he be around? However, a potential life changing moment puts things in perspective for C.J. She realizes that life is filled with risks. She finally sees that there are many people who care about her if only she takes the time to "see" it.

Ethan has lost a lot. His family is gone and he is trying to pick up the pieces. When he meets C.J., he sees the person she is inside. He thought he lost his soul mate, but C.J. stirs up feelings in him. Ethan starts to think about the future instead of dwelling on the past. I was so envious of C.J.'s and Ethan's first date because not only was it different, but it really was something that both of them could enjoy. Ethan has this spark that lights up whenever C.J. is around. They make a really fun, loving couple. Wanna Get to Know Ya is a great story about two kindred souls who find love while looking for a dream car.

Lee

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

In Detroit, hypochondriac C.J. Davis barges in on a man and woman conducting a business deal over a Barracuda. She outbids the hunk for the vehicle that she plans to drive in the upcoming Woodland Dream Cruise.

Not long afterward, C.J. visits Tanner's Auto repair to see if they can fix her new vehicle in a few weeks. She recognizes the owner Ethan Tanner as the man she defeated in the bidding for the Barracuda. He is attracted to her, which shocks him since he still mourns the deaths of his wife and young child on an icy road eighteen months ago. When he learns that C.J. is a long distance truck driver, he stuns her by simply saying that is cool. As his mechanics work on her car and she checks their progress, they begin to fall in love, but C.J. always pushes men away before they can get to close because she hides a deep secret that beginning in her teen year she suffered from Hodgkin's disease.

Though Ethan has his demons especially since he (and his former father-in-law) believes he caused the deaths of his wife and child by not being there on time, C.J. owns this well written contemporary romance as a unique female protagonist. Besides her gender bending job, C.J. fears commitment because of a secret she refuses to share with men and suffers from hypochondria though fans will understand why. Readers will enjoy this fun tale as two wounded warriors initially wanna get to know one another fall in love, but neither believes that is enough.

Harriet Klausner