Insecure

For my money, nobody beats Ainslie Paton for creating angsty, passionate love stories with strong heroes and heroines. She puts Mace and Jacinta together in an explosive (literally) hook-up, and shows them gradually letting their emotional walls down as they become involved, despite their better judgement. I admit that smart heroes are my catnip, but I think most readers will agree that Mace is one of Ainslie's best leading men. There seem to be fewer chapters written from Jacinta's POV and I feel like she remained a bit of a cipher, but they were fabulous together.

I only have one quibble: Paton sets up the love vs. work conflict so well that I'm not completely sure she finds a satisfactory resolution. After wearing himself out and ignoring Jacinta as he tries to launch his new tech company, Mace quits when he realizes he can't live without her, only to find that Jacinta insists he march back to work. So the solution is...what? He'll try harder to not ignore her? She'll try harder not to care? But at least Paton never lets Jacinta be anything less than 100% true to her ambitions (once she figures out what they truly are).

No need to feel insecure about your reading choices - if you pick up an Ainslie Paton romance, you will not be disappointed.