Guest Post/ Review - Behaving Badly by Kristen Beairsto

Manners, where did they go?

Having a substantial amount of old world eastern European blood in the family, many a time I've heard the older generations lament about the disappearance of manners. To me it seems as though every generation complains that the younger folks simply don't display the respect and manners it should.

But have manners really gone anywhere?

I really don't know. I think one difference is every generation does things in their own way when it comes to manners, just like everything else. Another aspect of the manners debate that I think is an important factor is, that just like with everything else in life, the way we use manners changes as we get older. One more aspect is I think we forget as we get older that younger generations don't grasp all the variables of every situation and so don't always understand how manners factor in.

All that being said, I do think we all have moments (some of us more than others) of being so engrossed in our own situations that we completely forget basic manners, not just with the outside world, but also with our own families.

What do you think? Have manners disappeared? What's your biggest pet peeve when it comes to manners? I think my biggest is with elevators. It really irritates me when people waiting to get in the elevator don't let the people wanting out get out first. It really pushes my buttons. ☺ What's yours?

Delaney Pierce is desperate, no, determined, to rebuild the family business, Manners Matter, after the disaster her own mother brought down on it, and her, a year ago. With two crazy aunts living life moving from one misadventure to the next and her younger sister waitressing to help make ends meet, she pins her hopes on her commission to curb the undesirable habits of Cyrus Chapman, one of New York's premier businessmen and one of the city's most eligible bachelors.

Her resolve to succeed with Cyrus is immediately put to the test during her very first meeting with him and she realizes that no matter how much she prepared for all that was Cyrus, it all paled in comparison to the real man. Things only get worse when he starts hinting at wanting more than a professional relationship.

But Delaney can’t entertain the idea of having more than a professional relationship with Cyrus. After all, that’s something her mother would do and she’s not about to start emulating that woman now. However, fighting her attraction to Cyrus becomes harder and harder the more she’s around him and she finds herself wondering if she’s become so wrapped up in trying not to be her mother that she’s forgotten to just to be herself.

As he stepped up to the door, he wondered briefly what a life coach would look like.

Probably a tall skinny guy that weighed about a buck fifty soaking wet with slicked back hair, who thought he knew everything. He hated know-it-alls.

Shoving open his office door, ready for a fight, he spotted the focus of his irritation staring out the window behind his desk, her back to him.

He froze. A woman?!

Clearly hearing him enter, she turned to face him.

Pushing the door closed behind him, he took his time looking her over.

Despite the neat black skirt falling modestly below her knees and the trim blazer that didn’t give away a hint of any of the skin beneath it, failed to hide an obviously curvy figure. A definite change from the usual stick figure models he normally associated with, but he had to admit, he’d always liked navigating curves.

He noted she held her hands clasped in front of her, creamy skinned hands that matched the creamy skin of her oval shaped face that wore a carefully blank expression. She watched him from a pale aqua gaze that concealed any thoughts that might be going through her mind.

At least he’d been correct about the slicked back hair. What appeared to be deep fiery strands were smoothed back severely into a bun at the base of her skull.

He wondered what she’d look like with her hair down around her shoulders.

Naked.

Under him.

Mentally kicking himself for letting his mind go there, he shoved his hands into his pockets. She firmly belonged on his Do-Not-Touch list at the moment. Besides, he didn’t need a prissy life coach in his bed. She’d probably try to lecture him on what to do.

“Hello, I’m Delaney Pierce.” Her smooth timbre held only the slightest of hints of a city accent.



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Well this was just the perfect little Valentine's read. Cyrus is stuck in bad boy rebellious mode, which sends his uber conservative father into fix it mode. Lord, even the rich boys have their daddy issues. Not convinced his partying ways should be under a business microscope, Cyrus isn't convinced he needs to take one for the team as of yet. IMHO, Cyrus may have had a touch of AADD, he really did need lots of activity to keep him balanced.

Delaney, hmmmm, I think may have had a mommy/martyr complex thing going on. Don't get me wrong a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility is a good thing. Being a door mat is not. Never with her clients, but with her family?? Hmmmm... cute eccentric aunts wear thin after a week or two. I did really, really like Delaney's sense of right and wrong, I just wanted to see it carry over to her personal life a bit more.

This sweet but sexy story is exactly what Cupid needs to fill an hour or two until his big day. While both characters had there issues, together they worked perfectly and the physical aspects of the story are smokingly perfect.  Hot enough to give a flush, but not out of character for Cyrus or Delaney. (I mean I just can't see Delaney in a club bathroom).

By the end of the book, I think both characters evolved a great deal and was glad to see the ultimate HEA reached. I do think there are definite possibilities for Cyrus' friend Dom, though. He seems a bit restless now.......

In between her to-be-read pile and trying to bring the characters in her head alive, Kristen spends as much time as she can with family and friends. Much to her husband’s dismay, she enjoys collecting purses, shoes, and jewelry. During those rare times she’s not working at her day job, rushing her daughters somewhere, watching movies with her husband, and trying to meet a deadline, she can usually be found energetically cheering for one of her favorite New York sports teams.

As with just about every other writer on the planet, Kristen grew up an avid reader. She started with young adult before she technically hit the age range and moved on to sci-fi classics by Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. At fifteen, her best friend gave her a book she just had to read! The book was Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts. Always a sucker for a happy ending, she was a goner and fell in love with the romance genre. Having started writing novel length stories at the age of eleven, Kristen’s stories all took a romantic turn from that point on.


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