Reviewed by Rachel
Book provided by the publisher for review
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

Holy Hotdogs!

Okay, let it just be said that I had no idea what to expect with this book. I’d read some of Miss Armentrout’s YA books and wasn’t so sure how I would like her contemporary romances.

At this moment I’m thanking my lucky stars that I’m a book reviewer for Romancing the Book. This romance had everything: Great dialogue, strong plot, feisty characters, and steamy scenes that make a girl sweat.

Bridget is a semi-overweight girl. She isn’t the most confident thing on the planet but at the same time, she’s comfortable in her own skin. She meets Chad, famous baseball pitcher who plays for the Nationals and immediately her life goes off kilter. She knows him by association and knows his whore-like reputation like the back of her hand, I mean everyone does. He’s beautiful and she can’t help but be attracted to him. When her livelihood is threatened she has no choice but to go along with a scheme and pretend to be his girlfriend. Though, she isn’t really pretending. He brings out both the best and the worst in her. I found her character heartbreaking! She sounded gorgeous but she just couldn’t see how a curvy woman like herself could be attractive to someone so famous. I kept wanting to bang her on the side of the head. But it’s such a testament to Jennifer’s writing and how she was really able to capture a woman’s insecurities.

Chad was…wow holy hotness… he was a cocky piece of work that’s for sure. It was a tie between wanting to strangle him and having to scold myself for lusting. He was such a well written character. I love my men cocky and Jennifer did a great job with this without pushing it too far. He thinks the world is his, because basically, let’s be honest, it is. But, he wants Bridget. She’s different than the girls he’s usually dated but he has no idea she’s been dating him out of a bribe. He thinks it really is the fact that he’s hot. I loved watching his character change and develop over the course of the book.

All in all, the book was incredible. Such a fantastic weekend read. I’m so impressed with Jennifer’s writing and will totally be buying the first book in this series.

The bad: I’m a bit of a prude, I’ll admit. I don’t mind cursing at all, but the f-bomb repeatedly dropped kind of wears on me, as well as graphic sex scenes. I mean, they were hot, don’t get me wrong. I think Jennifer does a great job keeping it from turning into an erotica romance, but just slightly.

The amazing: Character development. Hands down, one of the hardest things for authors to nail, and she soared right through it. Round of applause for Jennifer, she has proved she can basically write anything. Well, well, done.