Georgia Cummings has zero luck with dating, and the era of the internet is not her friend.
No matter how fast she runs, how many corners she turns, she can’t find her way out of this weird, alternate universe where men think d*ck pics are a replacement for small talk and getting to know a girl. One more crotch selfie and she might write men off for good…
But why can’t she stop fantasizing about him?
Kline Brooks is the quintessential billionaire bad boy—dark, styled, short hair, muscles for days, and a panty-dropping smile.
Except—he isn’t.
As his employee, he won’t touch her with a ten foot pole.
But she won’t touch him either.
Too bad their hormones missed the memo.
Comment: I can't remember what made me interested in this book but I know it wasn't only the idea of a recommendation; instead, I just know it was a comment by someone on a specific detail and that was enough. If only I could remember which detail...
In this novel, the first in a trilogy (with several novellas in between), we meet Georgia Cummings who works for company owned by billionaire Kline Brooks. Georgia is a smart, competent professional but her luck in love isn't at the same level, although Georgia isn't one to feel defeated. As part of the contract, all employees of the company have a profile on the app which the company manages, which is meant to find suitable romantic matches. Lately, Georgia has been exchanging messages with a guy who sent her a d*** pic but after apologies and explanations they kept talking. At the same time, Georgia catches the eye of Kline Brooks, the young boss and creator of the app, who needs a date for an event. Georgia has always been very good at her job and Kline now notices how good looking she also is, so he impulsively invites her. But could an apparent random connection turn to be much stronger than they both anticipated?
First things first: no romance reader would ever doubt that the guy Georgia is exchanging messages with is obviously Kline, right? I don't think this in any way whatsoever a spoiler because... come on. The purpose of this book is clearly one for light content and some humor, a lot of sexy times among all the romance going on, but I must say I always hope even books labeled this way or with an obvious content of sex and romance will turn out to be cuter and more serious than what it looks like.
I added this book to my TBR and it was for some reason I can't remember now, but the trope here seems to be an indication, as is the fact the story includes exchange of messages. Well, this wasn't as pertinent as I imagined, after all, but the idea is certainly there. I confess I also judged the book by its cover, part of me was a bit reluctant because I assumed (correctly) this would have a lot of sexy times and while I don't seek erotica on purpose, I don't mind sex scenes but I imagined they would be plenty here and without any real need. It wasn't as bad as that but still, most of them weren't that special anyway, even considering the way the couple falls in love.
Nevertheless, this wasn't such a bad story as some reviews painted it. I've skimmed a few, reading just a sentence or two but I started the book with a not so good expectation. Thankfully, things weren't that bad to me and I've managed to read this one rather quickly after all. A lot of the negativity is focused on Georgia, who talks and acts in a way which doesn't make her compelling. It's true Georgia is assertive and knows her mind, perhaps this comes across as her being too independent and sometimes forceful instead of the usual sweet and funny protagonist we would expect, but I didn't mind Georgia's personality that much. I wouldn't mind it that her vulnerable side were to be explored more but it wasn't so bad.
Relationship wise, things progress pretty much as one would think between her and Kline. We also have this told in alternated chapters between them, so we have access to both their POVs and this helps us to understand the why of certain decisions and actions.The mix up with the profiles in the app and so on is not a malicious one but it's no surprise either, the authors obviously use it as part of the conflict later on in the story, making things predictable and not as tense nor dramatic as they could, even ignoring possible exaggerations.
Georgia is, indeed, aware of her merits and so on and I liked how she never felt she was lacking in anything. Of course falling in love makes her a bit more doubtful about how things can be, if Kline is feeling the same, but I never got the feeling this was a way for us to see her as less than who she was. At the same time, I've felt there wasn't an actual change to look for, not an eureka moment of any kind, and when the emotional conflict happens is a bit... in my opinion...tame and unremarkable.
Kline is portrayed as being a ladies' man and all that might entail, but as the story progresses, I've started to like him more and he was much more likable after all. I think his personality isn't as vibrant as Georgia's and thinking about them alone and together makes me think we didn't get to see many layers of their personalities. This means that while they are likable, they aren't exactly memorable to me. All the innuendo conversations in the beginning and the way they are shown at first also feel unnecessary for the interest of the novel, so... I think the authors could have avoided that.
No comments:
Post a Comment