tl;dr: the premise alone gets an F from me
The Story:
The synopsis is way too kind on the actual set up of this book. If I had known what I was actually getting into, I never would have picked this up. Clay Price, the hero, is a disgusting misogynist asshole. He completely takes advantage of Natalie, who is down on her luck and desperate.
The synopsis makes it sound like Clay comes in and offers her a legitimate job and the sexytimes are implied. No. He basically tells her that the “assisting” he needs is with his dick. He continually brings up that he paid for her body. She is self-conscious about the weight she’s gained since they first dated, and he brushes her feelings under the rug as unimportant. He essentially tells her that he still finds her screwable so she should be happy with her looks. And then, when she has real and complex feelings about her relationship with her father, he completely dismisses those, too.
I hated this book. I didn’t even read the whole thing, line by line. I skimmed through most of it. Natalie’s weirdo yoga goth friend was bizarre and essentially a punchline. The death of one of the side characters is completely sudden and only used a plot device. And I don’t buy the romance between Natalie and Clay.
Technical Elements:
Besides the horrible plot and set up of this book, the poor characterization, and the glaring consent and shaming issues, it wasn’t even that well-written. I hated all of the weird redneck slang inserted into the book. The POV switching was awkward and didn’t transition well. But by far the worst part is how Clay treats Natalie. It was just irredeemable.
Final Thoughts:
I cannot recommend this book. I will not be reading anything else by this author.
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