Up Close and Personal - Maureen Child (HD #2179 - Sept 2012)

When brash Irish billionaire Ronan Connolly meets Laura Page, the connection is electric. He's danger. She's a safe haven. And the passion between them burns -- too hot and too fast. So Ronan ends the affair before it can get serious.

But he can't stay away.

Six weeks later he's back, wanting to pick up where they left off. But Laura's having none of it. She's hurt, angry -- and hiding something. Ronan vows to find out everything that happened while he was gone. But this time, getting up close and personal may mean giving Laura his heart. 

Very good book.  I love a book with a sexy Irishman in it and Ronan certainly fit the bill.  Ronan is back in California after having broken off his affair with Laura.  He couldn't get her out of his mind, so he has come back to start back up with her.  But she wants nothing to do with him again.  She's angry with him, and hurt because when she tried to reach him he ignored her.  Now he wants to know what she's hiding from him, and will do what he needs to to find out.  He pursues her, and ends up convincing her to go to Ireland with him.  The more time they spend together, the harder it is for him to even think of letting her go.  I really liked Laura.  She was an independent woman who knew what she wanted.  She had thought she could handle a no strings affair with Ronan, but when he ended it she knew she had fallen in love with him.  She was determined that she would hold out against him when he came back, and she certainly tried.  When  they were in Ireland, she gave herself permission to take what she could and then go home.  She knew she loved him, and wanted him to love her back.  Ronan was a little harder to like at first.  His parents had been miserable married to each other and as a result his view of marriage was not good.  He was convinced that he could not and would not love anyone.  His plan was to resume his affair with Laura and end it when he was ready.  He didn't seem to care what effect it would have on her.  When he got to Ireland with her, he saw how well she fit in there and how much his friends liked her.  He thought that offering her a marriage based on friendship would give them both what they wanted.  Laura could see that he loved his friends and relatives there, even though he couldn't see it as love.  His fear of giving in to his emotions was hard to see, but I could tell that once he did he would be all in.  I loved the way that she finally decided to give up and go home and how he finally saw the light.  His proposal to her was great, and I loved the epilogue.  There were some terrific scenes with him being so clueless.