REVIEW: All It Takes by Kristen Proby

In All It Takes (Romancing Manhattan #2) by Kristen Proby, Lawyer Quinn Cavanaugh is the one who typically takes care of his family, checking in almost daily with his aging mother, while he and his brother Finn and their brother-in-law Carter work long hours at their law firm in the city. One thing Quinn knows about himself is that as much as he loves his close-knit family, he’s destined to be a bachelor. So when he’s forced to work side by side–even though they are opposing counsel–with gorgeous lawyer Sienna Hendricks on her family’s estate case, Quinn is more than happy to spend time with her. He never expected to fall head over heels for the sexy city lawyer. Or that she would have him rethinking his whole outlook on love and long-term relationships.

“Sienna, can you honestly say that you don’t feel anything when we’re together?”
Her eyes are on my lips. Her mouth opens, then closes, as if she can’t get the words in her brain to form.
“I feel it,” she whispers finally. “And I’m fighting it.”

With her family still grieving the loss of her grandfather, Sienna didn’t think she’d have a court case to fight over his will reading. But Quinn shows up, throwing a bombshell in the works, leaving her scrambling to find information from nearly a hundred years ago about property her grandfather owned. When the court highly suggests they combine forces to find out the truth, Sienna grudgingly begins working with Quinn. Day after day he charms her and proves that he’s one of the few good guys out there. As the questions about the true owner of her grandfather’s property pile up, Sienna has to fight to focus on the task at hand. She’s normally very focused on a case. But with Quinn there with her every day, tempting her to do all sorts of naughty things, she’ll have to figure out how they can explore their attraction without losing sight of what’s important.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re too good-looking?”
He snorts. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, it’s true. I mean, you just rolled out of bed, threw on a simple outfit, and you look like *that*.”
“And how do I look?”
“Like sex on a stick.”

Super steamy with lively bantering and an interesting plot that revolved around family issues, All It Takes was a solid follow up in Kristen Proby’s Romancing Manhattan series.

“I saw you for the first time, and I knew my life would never be the same. You are seated squarely in the heart of my being, Sienna.”

I was so happy to get this second book in the Romancing Manhattan series after having a lot of fun with book one, All the Way, which was about our hero Quinn’s brother Finn. It was great to see Kristen Proby bring to life the bits and pieces of Quinn’s personality we glimpsed in his brother’s book and to find out that there was a lot more to him than being the responsible guy who protected everyone in his family. I think readers will be pleasantly surprised with Quinn. He was a sweetheart of a guy, had a lot of charm–and a dirty mouth at times, much to our heroine Sienna’s benefit. (lol) He was secretly an adrenaline junkie. And I liked that not only did Quinn’s personality match up well with Sienna’s, they understood each other very well professionally as they were both lawyers.

Sienna kind of surprised me too, in a good way. She was fiercely independent and had a backbone of steel, which she had to have in her line of work as it was mainly male dominated unfortunately. She was smart, uber organinzed, and could seem a little buttoned-up sometimes. But Sienna was also a passionate woman who loved art and who was undoubtedly drawn to Quinn and the attraction that spun between them. She kept him on his toes, not letting him call the shots all the time, which was amusing. Sienna did have a few moments of doubt about them being together towards the end, though, that while I understood, was a bit frustrating for a very short while.

Most of the family drama was in regard to Sienna’s grandfather’s passing and his estate–although Quinn’s family had a few of their own issues happening as well. It was quite an intriguing setup. And even though I figured out part of what was going to happen and who was behind it, Proby gave things a little twist at the end and surprised me with who in Sienna’s family was involved in everything.

Two lawyers on opposing sides working together toward a common goal, with enough sizzling chemistry to scorch their legal documents. A romance that started as casual and ended up anything but. Sounds like a fun time, right? All It Takes was that and so much more.

Book Info:

Publication: July 30th 2019 | William Morrow Paperbacks | Romancing Manhattan #2

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Proby’s second novel in her Romancing Manhattan series delivers the sizzling story of a playboy who’s vowed never to commit until he meets the one woman he’s tempted to break his promise for.

Quinn Cavanaugh doesn’t do anything halfway. He drives fast, works hard, and plays even harder. And the word “commitment” doesn’t exist in his dictionary. He has no plans of settling down with one woman for he needs to be free to move on to the next big thing—whatever or whoever that may be. Each party knows the score going into it, and it’s all been working out fine. That is, until a sexy new colleague enters the scene.

Sienna Hendricks doesn’t give much thought to Quinn and the revolving door leading to his bedroom. She’s way too picky about who she shares her time or her body with and screwing around with a colleague isn’t part of her plan either. Quinn doesn’t intimidate her. And unlike most other members of her sex, she doesn’t melt into a puddle at his feet whenever he’s near. Most importantly, she has no issues telling him no.

But for a man who has the world at his feet, Quinn isn’t accustomed to being rejected. And he’s not about to let that change—no matter how persistent Sienna is. To his surprise, Sienna is everything he thought he’d never find. Pursuing her, and convincing her he’s changed, is going to be the biggest challenge of his life. One he’s completely up for….