by S.M. Shade
Rating: ⭐3/5⭐
It started with a summer job and a ridiculous sex dream.
If you were to ask my friends to describe me, they’d tell you I’m an ambitious person. Responsible, driven, and focused on my goals. Words like stubborn and uptight would probably get thrown in there too. I’m not sure about that, but I know who I’m not.
I’m not the woman who lets a guy derail me from my plans. Watching others make that mistake has taught me well. No serious dating. No relationship until I’m successfully settled into my career. That’s the promise I made to myself and I’m determined to keep it.
Despite being an excellent student, there’s one lesson I fear I’ve learned too late. Funny men aren’t as harmless as they seem and should be avoided at all times. They sneak in under your radar and end up under your skirt. One second you’re laughing. The next you’re hunting for your underwear on a hotel room floor. Believe me, it’s not worth it.
If only my heart would stop screaming louder than my brain, I might be able to believe that Owen falls into that category. He’s my friend, but every day we spend together in this hotel, or working on our summer job building houses for charity, the harder it gets to convince myself we shouldn’t be more.
Years of diligence, and I’m being destroyed by a goofy smile.
Review
This wasn’t my first time reading a book by S. M. Shade, but I didn’t make the connection until a mention was made to the place where Remee (the FMC) lived with her friends, Violent Circle, which also happened to be the same place the FMC of the other book, Scarlett Toys, lived. It was a nice surprise. And I appreciate a series where each installment can be read as a standalone.
The book was told in dual POV, and most of it took place in Florida, where on our college-aged main characters went for a summer job with a company building houses, to earn a grant to help pay their college tuition.
The storytelling was very to the point. Very straightforward. Very let’s get from A to B by using a straight line. Owen had had a thing for Remee forever and, suddenly, they found themselves in close quarters for a prolonged period of time. Because of that she got to see more sides of him and get to better know the guy she’d always considered a friend, which led her to start falling for him. There was no time wasted, no detours to admire the scenery, no pauses to smell the flowers. Just a plot idea and the minimum necessary amount of development to make it make sense and have it be an enjoyable reading experience. Which, for a book under 300 pages?
Still, the writing and dialogue were kind of dry and barebones.
“Colby, you know better than to open that door!” Rachel scolds, entering the room.
“But it’s my new aunt!”
“Well, let your Aunt Remee get through the door,” she says, amused.
“Come in!” he calls, dancing around. The boy is a ball of energy.
But the book did some funny bits. Particularly when it came to Owen, his quips and shenanigans. He was certainly very charming and super adorable. I also liked Remee’s character and and it was cool to see her short foray into dealing with the growing pains of young adulthood (though they barely qualified as pain, more like mild discomfort).
Overall, it was a sweet and cute book, but a little bland. I wouldn’t go out of my way to read the other books in the series.
What should I read next?
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