Damien's Violet — Emily Josephine

She's a health and nutrition coach who needs temporary housing after her roommate and best friend elopes.He's the lead singer of a popular American band who needs a personal chef for a couple of months to help him get his health back on track.What neither one of them needs is for a criminal to be living right under their noses… ******Violet Carter's health and nutritional coach business is doing well, but not well enough for her to be able to pay rent on an apartment in a nice part of Dallas all by herself, without having to give up on her financial goals. So when her best friend and roommate ends up eloping with a man who's just accepted a job in Vancouver, she's almost up a creek without a paddle. Almost, because one of her clients has recently offered her a job as his personal chef for a few months. Not wanting to be anybody's employee, Vi is loathe to take the job, but she doesn't see any other way around it. Damien Jackson, lead singer for the well-known Mainstreet Band, knows better than to have a woman as beautiful as Vi live on his property, albeit in a cottage set aside for employees. But since she's been his health coach for several months, and he wants to stop relying on store-bought meals, he thinks she makes the perfect fit as someone who can create healthy meals that will excite his tastebuds. That seems to be a mistake starting from day one, when his Mexican housekeeper, Maria, reacts to Vi's presence with an irrational  hostility that never relents. Also, as he feared, Vi's presence does nothing for his resolve to stay away from women. He ruined one woman's life; he doesn't want to risk ruining another one, even if he has turned over a new leaf. On Vi's part, she determines to keep her emotional distance from Damien because he is a former cocaine addict. And prior experience has made her leery of any drug addict who tacks the word former to their label. But the chemistry between them draws them together like a magnet. It might end up being an idyllic temporary job for Vi, if not for the sudden rash of home burglaries in the upper-crust neighborhood of Dallas where Damien lives…and a growing suspicion on her part that Damien's other employees, Maria and her brother, Luis, might have something to do with the thefts. When Damien steps over a line that Vi drew clearly, she decides to break all ties with him. The problem is, at the same time, Trisha shows up at Damien's place, wanting to leave her new husband, and needing a place to stay. For her friend's sake, Vi changes her mind. Damien and Vi must each tread the deep waters that they find themselves in carefully, both unsure whether a romantic relationship between them would be a wise endeavor. Then there's the growing tension between Vi and Maria, and a couple of chance encounters with Luis that strengthen her belief that Damien has a blind eye where his Mexican employees are concerned. Everything comes to a head one evening when Damien is out of town, and the unthinkable happens…******This clean romantic suspense novel is the second book in author Emily Josephine's Rock Star Husband series. Also a clean romantic comedy, it makes for great light reading, a perfect pick-me-up on an otherwise dull day.