A Blogging Bibliophile

Wow, what a ride this book was! This was my first Brit Benson book, and it certainly won’t be my last. There was angst, spice and all the feels I crave in a book. I didn’t read the duet that comes before this one, about Macon & Lennon, but I felt this third book held its own just fine.

In this story we have Samantha Harper, who is the daughter in a very wealthy political family. To the world, she’s an ice queen who is ruthless about doing whatever it takes to follow her family to the top. Underneath the masks she wears so well, she is an emotionally scarred and abused young woman. She’s no victim though. She is still ruthless and can be vicious, but her goals lie solely with getting revenge and whatever it takes to take her family down. Or rather, that was her only goal until she truly starts to get to know her former classmate and childhood acquaintance, Chris.

Chris Casper is just coming off the humiliation and heartbreak of a failed relationship with a woman he couldn’t see was completely wrong for him, until after she broke up with him. It’s when he’s trying to stitch back the pieces of his heart and pride, when Sam becomes more visible in his life again. She ends up renting the apartment above the bar he works at, and through many icy and at times scathing interactions, he starts to see under the mask she wears to protect herself.

Initially, Chris and Sam’s interactions have been antagonistic at best and Chris figures Samantha exhibits the same red flag energy as his ex. Problem is, her snarky prickly personality is like catnip to Chris, and despite himself, he’s drawn to her like a moth to a flame waiting to consume him.

Sam did NOT make loving her easy. She has so much unhealed past trauma with every man she has ever put any trust in (starting with her ex and best friend’s current beau, Macon). To say she doesn’t trust easily, men especially, is an understatement. She put Chris through so many trials when all he wanted to do was help her fight her battles and be her safe space. Chris was incredibly patient with her, even allowing his fragile heart to get kicked time and again while she learned to trust him. Chris is the ultimate book boyfriend for that alone, not to mention his other attributes 🥵

This was an ALC provided to me by the author and Home Cooked Books. This was narrated in duet by Austin Stone and Desire Ketchum. They both did a fantastic job of capturing all emotions in this story, from the sleezeball politicians to the angsty cry your soul out moments. Oh and the spice was definitely spicing in duet! I absolutely loved this book from start to finish, I didn’t want it to end!