Ronan Fitzpatrick, aka the best hooker the world of rugby has seen in decades, despises the media—social or otherwise. The press has spun a web of lies depicting him as rugby’s wild and reckless bad boy. Suspended from his team, Ronan has come to Manhattan to escape the drama, lay low, fly under the radar. Only, Ronan isn’t easy to overlook, and he can’t escape the notice of the Socialmedialite…
When Ronan is sent to Davidson & Croft Media to reshape his public image, he never expects to cross paths with shy but beautiful Annie, nor does he expect his fierce attraction to her. He couldn’t be happier when her boss suggests pairing them together.
What lengths will Annie take to keep her virtual identity concealed? And what happens when the hooker discovers who the hermit really is?
Comment: April is here and more books out of the TBR are being read.
It's also time for another specific TBR challenge read and this month the theme is Contemporary. I picked this book out of many possibilities mainly because it would suit the theme. I was curious about it but now that I have read it, despite having interesting points, it wasn't as amazing I hoped for.
In this book we meet Annie Catrel, a introvert young woman who works at a marketing company and has a blogger where her secret identity works as an alter ego to all the vivacious attitude she doesn't have in real life.
Ronan Fitzpatrick is an Irish rugby player who is in the US to rest and to improve his public image after a break up. Ronan and Annie meet quite by chance but he is immediately smitten with her. Annie is definitely more cautious but being forced to work together will bring them even closer. But what was only a job will develop to something more unless Annie can't admit she wants to be with Ronan a lot more than she wants to keep her life tidy...
When this book begins, our main couple is brought together so Annie can work her magic on Ronan and make him a new, better liked person online. Usually I'm quite fond of relationships developing in a work environment, as long as they're realistic and don't make the characters act silly in a situation where people should behave a certain way. Thankfully, most of the plot is set outside the office, so we don't have that idea in out face all the time. But I still think it's completely inappropriate that they go from client/employee to people in who act in lust.
Ok, this is mostly on Ronan's side but... I understand the romance had to start somehow but the way things were happening just didn't convince me.
Another situation that got me thinking is Annie's condition. She is described as an introvert and we read several scenes where that becomes obvious. I liked this. I like shy heroines, so going to introvert ones can be interesting, even more so because the two can be confused often. But similarities apart, Annie isn't very sure of herself in social situations and rather prefers to be left alone. Yes, she had to come out of her shell in order to a romantic heroine, but she has some actions I can't see an introvert having. Or maybe, the way the situations were being described just didn't give the right impression.
The romance was along the lines of what we would expect. Ronan is clearly an alpha type and that's fine but he pushed Annie into saying and doing things I thought were too much. I just can't seem to appreciate how forceful he acts in some situations and how gentle he is in others. It felt weird and to be honest, their connection didn't seem as romantic as that. Yes, they were sexually attracted to each other and they might even be a good couple but I struggled to think that instead of all the details I'd change.
Plus their intimacy scenes just...well, I could easily skip them because I felt weren't interesting. Somehow their emotional journey didn't convince me so the sex felt secondary and could easily not have been included and I wouldn't mind. In fact, one or two scenes related to sex were actually bad in my opinion, not the descriptions themselves, but the state of mind in which Annie sometimes is before they happen. I can't say for certain but...it felt she wasn't much into it at first or maybe Ronan is more kinky than he had to Why I don't know. My impression perhaps.
Odd questions: If Ronan is a rugby player and his career matters why don't we see him talking more about it?
Why it always look so easy and fast to simply run from one place to the airport and fly home? There is no airport control, no check in, no waiting time to go through?
This was my first story by both authors. I also didn't read anything by each one individually, so I'll try something else by both in the future. But I have to say I wasn't as impressed by this story as I wanted. Some readers have mentioned in some parts we can see two people wrote this. I confess I don't pay much attention to that sort of detail, but in some scenes it can be easy to see it if you look for it.
All in all, maybe not the best book by either to start with but it does offer some good scenes and presents social media as something all of us are aware of but how real is what everyone thinks or says online? Interesting detail but not totally when I think in general terms.
Grade: 5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment