Victoria Davies

I almost did not post this book because I was so embarrassed to have read something with this title. My GR friends know that I am reasonably (or perhaps unreasonably) shameless in posting books here, owning up to reading, and even sometimes liking, things ridiculous, things smutty, and things very very basic. Truth be told there are only two one books I can recall deciding not to post due to embarrassment, but this almost became book three. Apparently I will admit to the smutty, but not the show more Hallmark-y or blatantly consumerist. But not posting was doing a disservice to a hard-working writer who put together a very solid genre romance just because her publisher gave it a terrible title, and that seemed unfair.

The book is really charming. Walker and Clara have been best friends since they met in college 10 years earlier when Walker dated Clara's roommate. Both came from troubled families from whom they were estranged and they became each other's families. Ten years later Clara is a hard-working journalist and Walker is a tech billionaire, and they remain the most important people in one another's lives as they casually date others but never commit to anyone but each other emotionally. Both fear the risk of losing the other and so they never pursue romantic partnership. Then one day someone leaves a baby on Walker's stoop saying it is his - there is no signature on the note, and apparently Walker is enough of a fuckboy that he is not sure whom the mother would be based on the age of the child. (I believe he narrows it down to a few options, but maybe I made that up.) He calls Clara, who had many younger siblings she was charged with raising so knows about babies, to come save him. She moves in for 3 weeks, and during that time as they each fall in love with the baby they lose the will to resist their love for one another. There are hurdles, but this is fairly low angst. The sex is sexy but not particularly graphic and the set up is fun, but the best part of this was the conversation between Walker and Clara. They are smart, and funny, but it is not just flirty banter like in most romances (which I often love, this is not an insult to that), it is fun and loving friend conversation and the dialogue sounds like real people actually talking to to one another. I also loved Clara's boss/friend and the person they hire as a nanny. There are some imperfect things. The baby's bio mother behaves in ways that do not ring true and Walker has a lot of free time for a billionaire who is still supposedly running a company, but overall this was fun and diverting. I am reading a very complicated book as my main read right now, and my sidepiece romances are a necessary escape -- this one did the job nicely. show less

I almost did not post this book because I was so embarrassed to have read something with this title. My GR friends know that I am reasonably (or perhaps unreasonably) shameless in posting books here, owning up to reading, and even sometimes liking, things ridiculous, things smutty, and things very very basic. Truth be told there are only two books I can recall deciding not to post due to embarrassment, but this almost became book three. Apparently, I will admit to the smutty, but not the show more Hallmark-y or blatantly consumerist. But not posting was doing a disservice to a hard-working writer who put together a very solid genre romance just because her publisher gave it a terrible title, and that seemed unfair.

The book is really charming. Walker and Clara have been best friends since they met in college 10 years earlier when Walker dated Clara's roommate. Both came from troubled families from whom they were estranged and they became each other's families. Ten years later Clara is a hard-working journalist and Walker is a tech billionaire, and they remain the most important people in one another's lives as they casually date others but never commit to anyone but each other emotionally. Both fear the risk of losing the other and so they never pursue a romantic partnership. Then one day someone leaves a baby on Walker's stoop saying it is his - there is no signature on the note, and apparently Walker is enough of a fuckboy that he is not sure who the mother would be based on the age of the child. (I believe he narrows it down to a few options, but maybe I made that up.) He calls Clara, who had many younger siblings she was charged with raising so knows about babies, to come save him. She moves in for 3 weeks, and during that time as they each fall in love with the baby they lose the will to resist their love for one another. There are hurdles, but this is fairly low angst. The sex is sexy but not particularly graphic and the setup is fun, but the best part of this was the conversation between Walker and Clara. They are smart and funny, but it is not just flirty banter like in most romances (which I often love, this is not an insult to that), it is fun and loving friend conversation and the dialogue sounds like real people actually talking to to one another. I also loved Clara's boss/friend and the person they hire as a nanny. There are some imperfect things. The baby's bio mother behaves in ways that do not ring true and Walker has a lot of free time for a billionaire who is still supposedly running a company, but overall this was fun and diverting. I am reading a very complicated book as my main read right now, and my sidepiece romances are a necessary escape -- this one did the job nicely. show less

On the one hand this reminded me of Jessica Sim's supernatural matchmaking books. On the other I'm a sucker for them so it didn't matter at all.



For some reason romances/paranormals/urban fantasies that involve a woman being the sole human in a work/social setting of all paranormals is something I love. Maybe its a bit of wish fulfillment (but hey that's reading in general). LOVE AT STAKE, as I mention in my short review, reminded me a lot of Jessica Sims' "Midnight Liaison" books. show more Especially the first one - in which the human Matchmaker gets coerced into being the date for one of their high profile clients (much to the disapproval of her job, her boss, and the rules in general).

However Midnight Liaisons as a series is a light hearted romp through paranormal dating. LOVE AT STAKE had a slightly more serious edge to it as our dear Abbey is very certain that there can be only one outcome to her and Lucian's affair. One very sad, very lonely, very hurt filled outcome.

The third person POV switches back and forth with Abbey and Lucian, though we get more from Abbey's POV then his. It mostly seemed liked Davies would switch to Lucian so we could see that no he wasn't just toying around and yes he was as conflicted as Abbey. Nice to have that confirmation, but it also made a lot of what Abbey would fling at Lucian seem unnecessary or as if she didn't understand.

Melissa, Lucian's "daughter", was an interesting secondary character, but we don't get very much from her other then 'I want my father to be happy. Also maybe modern.' She's pretty instrumental into getting the two together--pushing them both to recognizing certain truths.

Something I found to be very important and ultimately made this a better then 3 Star Read for me. Abbey makes it clear, numerous times that she is happy being human. Maybe in the future she'll change that stance, but right now she's happy being the way she is thank you very much. She has nothing against the transformation in general terms, but she lays out her argument to one particularly insistent suitor quite well. It basically boils down to the fact she sees no reason to change what isn't broken.

It was also nice to see the woman taking charge of how a relationship would end. Abbey faced the problem straight on and didn't flinch. She made Lucian understand that he was offering her nothing - great sex and some form of affection, but she knew she deserved something better. She deserved to be loved--for all her faults and quirks and humanity and deserved to be told she was loved. show less

Love at Stake was a whole lot of fun. I just love the "falling for the matchmaker" troupe, and the paranormal twist here made it even more enjoyable. I kept sneaking back to the book when I was supposed to be doing schoolwork...no self control!

Fated Match claims to use both science and matchmaking to find their clients' mates. At the opening of the novel, they're setting their clients up with 80% matches, but Abbey argues to her boss they should go higher due to the high number of misses show more they've recently had. Lucian, however, tells her that science can't possibly predict a true mating bond--and the novel's outcome suggests he's absolutely right. According to their profiles, Abbey and Lucian aren't even 50% compatible.

But of course it's their differences that make them so perfect for one another....

I liked that both Abbey and Lucian had issues that they had to work through before they could really come together, and that they did so in a realistic way. I also loved that Abbey was such a strong person. Even though her job demanded that she keep Lucien a happy client, she didn't let him push her around. She stood up to him (and to her boss, and to her rebound guy, another strong alpha male) when she needed to and defended her right to be human throughout the book.

Take that, Bella Swan!

Abbey struggled a bit with body image issues (though, really--her boss is a siren. Can you blame her?) but it didn't consume her and become annoying as it sometimes can. If only there were a nine-hundred-year old guy who appreciates "curvy" women out there for all of us, right? ;)

The plethora of supernatural creatures served by Fated Match was mind boggling--and at times, giggle-worthy. How exactly do "were-mice" work? Are they really mouse-sized? On second thought, maybe I don't really want to know...and "were-squirrels"? The mind revolts...

By the time Lucian and Abbey got to their happy ending, I believed in it 100%. They'd worked through their problems--both singly and together--but still stayed true to who they were. They complemented each other nicely--Abbey added some much needed color (literal and figurative) to Lucian's life, and Lucian helped Abbey to see that many of her preconceived notions about humans vs. supernaturals were just wrong.

I'll bet she keeps on wearing her "Team Human" shirt, though. Especially when in his company. ;)

Finally, can I just say that I think we should absolutely take a cue from the supernatural community in this book? Gifts given on a first date sounds like an awesome idea, IMHO...

4 stars/B+ rating

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. show less