Linda Kage

E chegando finalmente ao último livro desta série - Consolation Price, é o nono livro, por isso, como devem calcular estava cansada e de certo modo só queria acabar estes livros!

Sem dúvida que este livro foi interessante e tocou um muitos pontos críticos na nossa sociedade. Uma delas é relação interracial... Ela é preta e ele é branco, nenhum deles vê essa diferença como uma coisa má, enquanto as pessoas à sua volta têm uma opinião diferente. Na minha opinião as pessoas show more deviam poder namorar com quem quisessem sem ter que levar com os olhares dos outros.

Também é um livro que discute o abuso numa relação, em que o homem bate numa mulher e ela tem medo de admitir sobre isso, porque sabe que tem que ser super forte. E mesmo que as mulheres afastam-se dos namorados/maridos abusivos, acharem que estão em segurança. É perigoso não contar a ninguém e viver constantemente no medo.

Além de tudo acima dito, ainda há outra coisa que este livro fala, é a raiva que os negros têm sobre os brancos e os brancos que têm sobre os negros. Sobre julgar as pessoas só porque têm cor de pele diferente e pô-las logo no mesmo saco sem as conhecer. Lá porque o colega lá do trabalho é mais escuro e olha para nós de lado não significa que é porque somos brancos/pretos/vermelhos/larajas/azuis o que quer que seja! A pele é só uma cor e não o currículo da pessoa!

Achei que de todos os livros, este foi aquele que mais me fez pensar. Não foi apenas um drama, foi uma luta para ficar juntos, mesmo que toda a gente a volta achasse que fosse um erro, eles sabiam que ficavam bem juntos, eles gostavam um do outro. Mas as opiniões dos outros importam muito e ás vezes não sabemos se havemos de fazer aquilo que agrada os outros ou a nós.

E de todos os livros desta série, este foi o primeiro em que as personagens principais decidira ter uma relação antes de se conhecerem. Sinto que nos outros livros o plot era sempre o mesmo: rapaz e rapariga conhecem-se, sentem uma atração, têm uma série de interações e vão se conhecendo e começam a apaixonar-se e de repente há algo que quebra as coisas entre eles, e no final acabam a assumir uma relação. Enquanto este foi um pouco ao contrário, eles não se conheciam, mas acharam piada um ao outro, queriam dar uma oportunidade para a relação resultar, mas tudo a volta deles parecia que não deixava, achei isso um pouco mais refrescante. show less

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner show more Level:📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Hot Commodity is a story that will blow your mind out of the water. Its a book that I should have expected this author to write, but it still was wild and crazy and complete bananas and yet I was completely on board with it. Linda Kage has a way about her writing, that no matter the crazy plot or circumstances that comes into play, I am ready to jump right into the story. And this author definitely wrote some crazy situations here, but you know what it completely worked for me while at the same time implementing great heart and character depth along the way. I fell so hard for these characters and their journey is not what you expect it will be from reading the blurb.

First Line
Olivia Donovan shouldn've known better than to answer the door to her twelfth-floor suite

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Cameron Banks
Cameron is a billionaire, running a financing company working with his cousin aka also his best friend. A recovering alchoholic from losing his wife to suicide.

The Heroine: Olivia Donovan
Olivia is a socialite in her own way, all she knows is the parties and events that her mother plans.
She is constantly being emotionally abused and manipulated until she sees a way out of the mess her mother plans for her.

Summary
Olivia Donovan's mother wants her to trap a man into marriage because of his financial assets. Olivia all of her life has worked to stay in her mother's good graces because she has seen what a monster she can be to others that cross her path in the wrong way. But this time, Olivia refuses to marry a man she has never met and is more than likely some old geiser. So she hatches a plan, to escape one night, and find a stranger in a bar, get him drunk and marry the man and ruin her mother's plans. But what she doesn't expect is the man she catches, is sexy and kind and they have a wild night of getting married in Vegas and hot sex. But in the morning she finds out that she married THE Cameron Banks and all of her work is for nothing....or is it? Will married to a Banks be different than she expect and find true freedom she has ever known?

What I Loved
Hot Commodity is pretty much what the title conveys but the story is so much deeper than what you see on the surface. The heroine has been abused and manipulated by her mother all of her life. And our hero while raised by loving parents, lost his wife to suicide and still blames himself and relies on alcohol. And even those these two live in the same world, they are so different from each other. Olivia is also having to discover who she is and what to do with her life and while Olivia and Cameron are trying to work through their own personal issues, there is also a marriage to worry about and what to do about it....should they get it annulled or stay married? But the longer Cameron puts off the paperwork for the annulment the more he wants to be with Olivia for good.

I really appreciated the story that is delivered here. And I completely see what the author was trying to convey into this story. I really enjoyed so much of this book. I was laughing all over the place though. The humor was beyond delightful and I couldn't get enough of it. Yet there were these moments that just strikes deep where you least expect it. I also love how the heroine is honest with the hero. She doesn't keep this big secret from him and I really appreciated that the conflict in their relationship were other aspects that had more deeper meaning for their relationship. I can't wait for the companion novel of the cousin's book.

What I Struggled With
There were some things that I struggled with. One this isn't the most polished story that this author has written. And some of the plot machinations was a bit "out there". I also wished we had a longer epilogue of Cameron's time after recovery.

Overall View
Hot Commodity was a delightful mix of heart, humor, and a unique marriage of convenience that will entertain from beginning to end.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Billionaire, Socialite Heroine
Themes: Family Bonds, Laughs, Addiction Recovery, Abusive Parentals, Las Vegas Wedding
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience

Book Perspective
1st POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Falls Apart by Sugar Ray

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes. show less

Vacancy is a book that I have no clue why I put off as long as I did. Because this book was pretty amazing. And seeing a regular contemporary new adult author tackle a paranormal romance just really worked for me. Its not too heavy in the paranormal elements but there are aspects of it here. This story basically has a setup of where the heroine gets a lease on a apartment in a house where her roommate is a ghost but she doesn't know that she is a ghost and this ghost is the dead sister of show more our hero. Their meet cute is pretty hilarious, but now Damien has a conflict...how does he tell the girl he really likes that she is seeing a ghost without hating him? Honestly, I really felt for Damien. He and Oaklynn have bonded quickly and he doesn't want to lose her or what they have and he also doesn't want to come off as crazy either. I love the way that the Seven really comes together and tells him the truth on this but he doesn't really listen lol But honestly I am kinda on his side here, how on earth do you tell your girl she is seeing mystical things?

There is also a fabulous murder mystery that plays out within this story and what we see develop is so well built within the story. And if you think you know who the villain is....YOU really don't know who the villain is and man I loved the twists and turns within this one. Linda Kage is definitely growing as an author and you can see it within this story. Another aspect that I loved was the Seven dwarf personalities within the group of male friends, definitely couldn't get enough of that. show less

This was a really great, light read. I was able to connect with the characters very early on and thought they were very well written. I loved Deri; she was such a down to earth, real woman, not an impossibly hot babe that you see in so many romance novels. She was a bit self-conscious, but the author didn't shove that fact down our throats like some other authors like to do (*COUGH* E.L. James *COUGH*). I seriously appreciated that about the book. Cole was great too. Was he stereotypical? show more Sure; the rich, powerful guy who just so happens to be incredibly kind and insanely sexy has been done before. It was impossible not to fall in love with him though. He seemed completely attainable, because he wasn't obsessed with looks as much as how Deri made him feel.

Deri and Cole's relationship was sweet. They were on the same wavelength and complimented each other nicely. I was really anticipating the sex scene and it was done well, even though the circumstances surrounding that part made me sad. My absolute favorite scene was toward the beginning, after Deri hurts her leg at work, before she knows that Cole is actually the head of the company she works for. Coming home from the hospital she's high on painkillers and their conversation made me laugh out loud a couple of times, from her forgetting where she lives to her hilarious pronunciations of his last name. I loved the ending. The way Cole stood up for Deri was so amazing; it actually reminded me a bit of one of my favorite movies, Ever After. You'll get the reference after your read this book!

I'm so glad I got the chance to read The Best Mistake. It was a very charming read with lovable characters and some very humorous dialogue. If you're looking for a entertaining, light, romantic read, I highly recommend this book! show less