Breaking Up with Barrett

I really enjoyed this sweet little story which was a twist on one of my favorite tropes, friends-to-lovers. And yay, dual POV!

Barrett English is the stuffy, rigid oldest English brother, in charge of the family financial empire. In an effort to make a better impression on clients, he decides to manufacture a respectable, accessible “fiancée” to bring to business dinners. He doesn’t want anyone clingy who’ll get ideas about a relationship so he sets up a strictly-business transaction: he pays a woman by the hour. It’s a safe choice because as the daughter of the family’s staff, he’s not only known her for her entire life, she’s off-limits.

For Emily, Barrett’s offer comes at just the right time. She’s a relatively show more broke college student and he buys her a couple of dresses, some shoes and pays her enough to help her and her friend pay the rent some months. There’s been a tiiiiiny tingle for a while when it comes to Barrett – and one night she realizes things have gone too far and she has to end things with him before she completely falls in love with a man who doesn’t think of her as anything more than an employee.

Now you can probably guess what unfolds. Barrett realizes Emily is more than just an employee and has been all along. The problem he has: how to win her back, because he’s clueless when it comes to relationships. He plots and manipulates to get Emily back into their arrangement because he can’t just talk to her. Once they’re back though, now that both of them have acknowledged to themselves they have feelings for the other, sparks fly!

I didn’t mind the shorter length of this romantic story because Barrett and Emily had a past and the author did a lovely job filling in just enough detail that I felt like they knew each other well without having to read about every single bit of it. They had a sweet familiarity with each other throughout the story, even when things heated up that I really enjoyed and it was especially cute to see his brothers give him stick when they found out he was interested in her. The love scenes between the two of them were nice and steamy without being overly erotic, although I think the “young innocent” trope in general is becoming a little overplayed. Emily is a smart, modern woman and a fun character, there’s no need to saddle her with inexperience. Once he let loose, Barrett was quite delicious – there’s something about a staid guy in a suit who’s not really that buttoned up underneath that’s awfully fun. ;)

Overall, this was a romantic, sexy little story – and I wanted more! I want to pick up the next books in the series and see what’s in store for the rest of the English brothers.

*Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book in a LibraryThing giveaway but this is my honest, unbiased opinion. show less

I will start off by saying that I love Katy Regnery, really I do. I love how she writes. She brings you right into her work, and I just love that about her.
Barrett English and Emily Edwards are from different worlds. They have always grown up together since Emily was the gardener and housekeeper’s daughter, Emily is also a doctoral student at Uni, living with her best friend Val.. Barrett is the CEO of the family business. So, as you can see, his feelings for her couldn’t happen at any time, but at the right time, just for them.
One of the things that caught me off guard, that I really didn’t connect with was
He gasped softly, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I have always loved you. You were a tiny baby and I was a little show more boy and you reached into my chest and stole my heart and it’s been yours ever since.
I don’t know why this bothered me, maybe it being something of the fact that it was just weird. Sure, we all can fall in love, but he knew while she was still a baby, with him being 8 years older.. like he was stalking her the whole time, but she didn’t turn him “on” til years later. It took me back, maybe because I wasn’t expecting it. 4 years is usually where the comfort is, but hey.. this is new to me, and of course Katy pulled all this together.
When the story grew, I loved them both.. I just had to erase that part of the story and in my mind changed it to he fell in love with her as a “pre-twenty” lady, but always loved her as a childhood friend. Ha!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I will continue to read the series of books, because I want to know more! I want to know how everything turns out, and how all the English Brothers grow throughout the books. Can not wait to get to the rest of the series, and of course I will always keep you posted with my reviews.

She felt him gasp quietly, then shudder, and he pulled her tightly against him, as if to let his heart speak to her heart, and tell it, You belong to me, and I belong to you. Always. – 85% Kindle

Loved this! You could feel their connection, and I am so glad she has saved herself for when the time was right. There is not a lot of stories about losing your V Card, but Katy pulled it off! Their emotional connection is absolutely amazing, and it reminds me so much of my own marriage. I am glad she saw “stars” when she went stargazing, who doesn’t love that? Bring on Fitz!! show less

This would definitely make for a cute beach read.

This book is an easy read and the writing is well done. However, my biggest issue with the book was the fact that there wasn't much of a conflict. Yes, there were micro-conflicts scattered about, but overall those were mostly solved in a paragraph to a page. There wasn't a central conflict as both characters liked each other, no one person or event came in between them. I feel that a stronger conflict might have made for an even better story, not that this was a bad one in and of itself.

That and I felt parts were a bit rushed. There were parts that I just wished had lasted longer or were given more time to develop instead of jumping from one even to the next.

Overall, I did enjoy the book show more and think anyone who likes romance novels and a quick read would enjoy this book. The author has a strong and unique voice, which is always great. It was a pleasure to read.

(*Note I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review through LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.) show less

So for the most part I steer clear of the New Adult genre. There have been very few authors that I have read that I actually like that write in that genre. Some of them are Rachel Hollis, Rachel Schruig, and wait a second. Do I only like books written by authors named Rachel?


That's going to be an internal discussion for myself later.

Anyway, I as a general rule don't care for much New Adult fiction. I was hoping though based on the positive reviews I scouted out the reviews ( I tend to read the most positive/critical and then just three star reviews) and I realized after the fact that if I had read the one star reviews that I would have received advanced warning over the storyline and passed on this book. Totally my own fault. I was show more jonesing for a series romance read since I have finished up so many others lately.

The main characters in book 1 of The English Brothers (there are six English brothers) are Barrett 'the Shark' English and Emily Edwards. Raised together on the English family estate in Philadelphia, PA, Barrett has been in love with Emily since she was a baby and he was 8 years old.

No I am not joking. This is a major plot point and gets mentioned ad naseum throughout the book. This is not romantic to me at all.

Deciding that he wants to pursue a relationship with Emily and apparently being raised by wolves he thought the best way to do this is to pay her to be his pretend fiancee.

I so love it when men and women don't just speak to each other like human beings in romance novels. Wait what's the opposite of love?

And though he pretty much doesn't talk to her and interact with her at all besides acting robotic in all manners and buying her clothes to wear and a fake engagement ring, Emily is in love with Barrett.

In real life Emily would not be in love with Barrett because most women don't fall for a guy that acts indifferent around you and also pays you for your time. Unless you are Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Anyway the book gets it's title from when Emily 'breaks up' with Barrett after making out when Emily needs to be distracted from her mother who is injured and ends up in the hospital.

As one does when one's parent is sick. Oh wait. I forgot. Emily and Barrett both have the emotions of those who have not been around other human beings before.

And there is a lot of back and forth about the feelings the other one has for each other. Barrett's love gave me the creeps throughout this entire book. Besides doing his best to control aspects of Emily's life in order to get her to keep using him for cash he then gives a long soliloquy about how much he has loved her to Emily. And Emily instead of saying, hmm this is a bit too much and also creepy is like I am going to totally give you my virginity even though we have at this point only made out twice.

FYI, I told a coworker about this book last night on the way home (we commute together sometimes) and besides her fits of laughter said wow this is like a mash-up of Twilight and Sabrina. I had to mention that Barrett also loses it when Emily bites her lip and she started cracking up and said oh hello there 50 Shades and then we both laughed for about 10 minutes. So I am pretty much saying there is unintentional hilarity in this book which is why I did finish it. Is this a good book in my opinion? No. But sometimes books that are not good still end up being fascinating reads and I was fascinated throughout this book, so win?

There really is no plot besides what is described above. One of Barrett's former flings makes an appearance but isn't really a villain in this story. The book continues on and on and love, everyone is in love and then it ends.

And it wasn't just the plot that caused me to give this book a 1 star rating. Besides the plot I also thought it was very weird that this family that is born and raised in Philly acts as if they are British. There are references to Boxing Day and sometimes the way Barrett "talks" seems very British. It makes absolutely no sense and it was odd. Maybe it would have been better to have this take place in London.

The other big problem that I had is that as someone that has been to Philly constantly throughout my life (was just there last Thursday) I wish that the author had actually incorporated parts of Philly into this story. I mean beside there being the Liberty Bell and the steps Rocky runs up into there are restaurants galore that are fantastic. There are outdoor markets, cobblestone streets, and a lot of nice bars and nightclubs. There are also colleges like Drexel University and Temple. There is very little description that made me believe that the story took place in Philadelphia and that the author had ever been there. That is one of my pet peeves in romance novels that take place in cities like San Francisco or L.A. besides sometimes mentioning the Golden Gate Bridge (SF) or the Hollywood sign (LA) these stories don't feel like they are taking place in those cities. This is one of the many reasons why I love Rosalind Jame's New Zealand series. She incorporates that country and the Maori into her romance novels so well that I feel like I have been there. show less

Breaking Up with Barrett by Katy Regnery

THE GOOD

PLOT
The concept of "friends to lovers" is one I feel I heard about more than I read, and it's refreshing to see a romance that doesn't go from enemies to lovers like that. The transition from friends to lovers, while quick, was one that seemed relatively believable. I didn't have to question where there sudden tender feelings towards each other came from.

STEAM
The "steamy" parts of the story were incredibly well executed, and while some lingo was used multiple times and got slightly repetitive, they were not overly graphic and were not something for me to blush over and skip the part.

CHARACTERS
Both characters have personalities that are set immediately. Barrett is the big, bad, businessman. show more He is calculating and completely willing to manipulate people in order to get what he wants. He also doesn't take no for an answer. Thankfully, inside all that he is a huge romantic who wants nothing more than to please Emily.

Emily is the sweet, beautiful college girl. Unlike some books, though, Emily is not a pushover. She doesn't allow Barrett's commanding ways sidetrack her, and she does what SHE wants. Strong heroines are incredibly pleasing to read.

ACTION
By action, I mean that the book does not start ridiculously slow and from the very beginning. It starts immediately in the story, giving information about what is going on as it occurs. The past few books I've read have all started in that same, slow, building up way, so I am thankful for a change of pace. When introduced, Ms. Regnery makes sure to not introduce too much without background, and includes it relatively quickly, answering your questions before you can really start to get irritated by the confusion.

THE BAD

LENGTH
The only complaint I have about this book is that it wasn't longer. I feel like much more in the way of details and conflicts could have been added. As it stands, all conflicts in the book are incredibly trivial and are resolved within the chapter, minus the main conflict of the book.

CONCLUSION

This was a book I struggled to put down. Granted, it took me all of four hours to read including breaks, it was still interesting. I would highly recommend as a beach read, as you will likely be able to finish it in a day. I would especially recommend this if you need a feel good, cute romance on a rainy day. The plot isn't overly complex or hard to follow, and in the end it will leave you with a big smile on your face.

NOTE: I was given a free ebook by the author in exchange for an honest review. show less

I really enjoyed this. It's like a bit of a cross between the story lines of Sabrina and some other old school movie I can't put my finger on. I'm not usually one for the "since they first clapped eyes on each other" sort of love story, but this was really sweet. I think bits and pieces of the plot could have been fleshed out a little more, but what was there was enough to make you believe in their love story. I'll be reading the next book in the series.

Could.Not.Put.This.Down. This book grabbed me instantly once I read the first couple of pages, and I was hooked. I fell head over heels in love with the story, and the author did not mince words as far as describing certain acts of love.;) I was excited to find out that it is just #1 in a series, and I plan to keep my eyes open for any upcoming works by this author. I silently cursed into the air whenever I had to do something that involved me turning my attention away from the story, but felt so happy whenever I was able to return to those lust-filled pages.