I was very disappointed in this book. The author seemed to concentrate more on the girlfriends instead of the hero. Too much inane conversation that lead the reader away from the central romance.

As a reader who rarely reads contemporary romances, I decided to challenge myself and dip my toe a little further into the contemporary romance pond. So when I cracked open A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action, I was unsure what I would find. Would my toe encounter frigid water that would leave me cold and lonely? Or would I find the water warm and enticing and calling for me to stay for a while?

Macy McCoy is the typical small town Southern girl. She lives close to her Daddy. She works as a hair dresser at the local hair salon with her best friend Jamie Lee. Every Sunday she goes to church and then eats a huge fried chicken dinner with Jamie Lee's family. And she is secretly in love with Jamie Lee's brother, Luke. Luke is the guy of her dreams, but Macy knows he would never fall for the likes of her. She is the curvaceous gal in town, while Luke normally has the latest stick thin thing on his arm. Why would any guy want a girl with a few extra pounds?

Luke Carter is the quintessential Southern guy and small town hero. He is the town's football sensation as a player and a coach. He has coached the local football team to a championship, and recently the town even named a street after him. Luke is tall, dark, and a southern gentleman all thrown together with a few dashes of sexy mixed in.

When an unexpected encounter with a famous country singer has Macy moving to Nashville, Macy realizes there is so much more to life and that life will pass you by if you don't take the bull by the horns. With her confidence up a few degrees, Macy decides it is time to throw it all out there and let hometown hunk Luke know about her feelings. But with colleges around the country scouting Luke for coaching jobs, will he even look Macy's way?

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would. I laughed so many times while reading this book. LuAnn McLane does a wonderful job of mixing humor with real life confidence and image issues. She uses some hilarious chapter titles, such as "Moving at the Speed of Love", "Get Your Sexy On", and "Honky Tonk . . . Badonkadonk".

As a girl who is not stick thin, I was very happy to see the underlying message of be happy with you who are and work with what you've got. Here's a wonderful passage from this book that pretty much says it all. "I look up and see my reflection in his blue eyes that are gazing down at me with such adoration. Perfection isn't about dress size or hair color or throwing a touchdown pass. The only perfect thing in this world is love."

LuAnn McLane is known for her sexy southern romantic comedies, and boy I can see why! I have now added a new author to my auto buy list and can't wait to read her next book. Needless to say, I will be swimming in the pond of contemporary romances as long as LuAnn McLane is around.

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This book has likable characters but there were too many of them! The attention paid to the secondary cast and their love lives took away from the development of Luke and Macy's relationship. For instance, Luke's struggle with his professional decisions was never developed. It would have made the climax so much more rewarding if it had been. Also, the sisters and their "bite me" got on my nerves after a while.

The main flaw for me was the the lack of tension in both the plot and in the hero/heroine's relationship. For example, Macy's good fortunes in her professional life were just too much after a while. McLane would have been better served to stick to Macy's original hairdressing profession and given her opportunities in that field. I read romances for happy endings but I like there to be some conflict along the way. There weren't enough bumps in the road for me in this one!

I bought this book because the cover's backstory seemed interesting. But the instant best friend relationships between the heroine and EVERY woman she meets was just too unbelievable and not realistic. Also, I never really got the feeling that Luke was really into Macy, it seemed like he was lukewarm and thought of her as a sister. It would have been nice to have a bit more interaction between the two to show the progression.

Macy has been attracted to her friend "bodacious" Luke Carter for what seems like forever; however she knows he does not reciprocate her feelings as he never makes the slightest pass at her. Until now that is. Whatever reason it may be suddenly Luke finds he wants his buddy Macy in a way he has never felt before.

Still both have decisions to make before testing the relationship waters outside of friendship. He has a terrific coaching offer in Florida; she has a fabulous opportunity as a hairdresser in Nashville to music superstars. Each must decide between what could be a lifetime of love or a vocational opportunity of a lifetime.

Macy and Luke are fabulous lead protagonists who each must make critical choices at a time they discover one another; neither believes a long distance relationship can work when being neighbors it never happened until recently. Both also encourage the other to pursue the opportunity as neither wants the other to one day resent a lost chance. They make this tale work as a deep yet humorous character study with a strong support cast encouraging the lead pair to do A LITTLE LESS TALK AND A LOT MORE ACTION.

Harriet Klausner