The Playboy Bachelor
Series: The Bachelors of Arizona #2
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Publisher: Forever
Published: August 29, 2017
Source: Publisher for Review
Buy Links: Amazon - B&N - Kobo - iBooks - Google Play
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She's no Sleeping Beauty. And he's definitely no prince...
Margot McCleery could have lived her whole life without seeing Bentley Wellington again-her ex-best friend and the poster boy for Hot, Rich Man-Whores everywhere. But Margot's whiskey-augmented grandmother "buys" Bentley at a charity bachelor auction, and now suddenly he's at her door. Impossibly charming. Impossibly sexy. And still a complete and utter jackass.
Bentley's just been coerced by his grandfather to spend the next thirty days charming and romancing the reclusive red-haired beauty who hates him. The woman he abandoned when she needed him the most. Bentley knows just as much about romance as he knows about love-nothing. But the more time he spends with Margot, the more he realizes that "just friends" will never be enough. Now all he has to do is convince her to trust him with her heart...
This year seems to be an epic year for finding new-to-me authors. Rachel Van Dyken is an author that I've seen before and really wanted to try, but for reasons unknown I didn't read the first book in her The Bachelors of Arizona series. A mistake that will be corrected the first chance I get! I adored The Playboy Bachelor. After hearing so many good things about Rachel's work, I couldn't wait to jump right in. From the prologue to the last word in the last chapter, I was hooked. So much so that I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading by flashlight. A missing book light couldn't stop me! I loved Bentley and Margot, two characters scared to fight their demons. Only when they are together do they get the courage to face their pasts and hope for a brighter future. They are more alike than they think they are and that caused some entertaining drama. Watching them butt heads was so much fun! What I loved the most about The Playboy Bachelor was that a lot of the time Bentley and Margot spent together there were no outside forces interfering in their healing process. Yes, a couple of matchmaking and meddling grandparents forced their hand and got them into this situation. What happened from that point was all them. They were allowed to fight and to exorcise some of the pain that the other caused. By the time other characters started to appear, it felt like Bentley and Margot were in a place that could allow them to heal. Had these outside forces been there all along, I think the process might have taken longer. They benefited from that alone time. I just adored them from start to finish.
Immediately after I finished The Playboy Bachelor, I kicked myself for not reading the first book. I freaking loved this book and I've got the next one marked in my calendar. A new favorite author? Could be!
“I’m writing a kissing scene!” she blurted, mentally kicking herself for screaming it in his face. “And the guy’s a complete jackass. Since my only experience with jackasses is you…” Her voice was shaky, just like her body. Could he tell how much she wanted him? How much she hated that her response was this—raw. “I-I figured you were the only one who could show me what it’s like.” Good one, Margot. Do you really have to sound so…desperate?
“What what’s like?”
“A kiss. From a jackass.”
“Got the jackass part.” He treaded water and then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her deeper into the pool until they were on the opposite end, his body pressed against hers. At least his eyes were still locked on her face. “And you’ve never been kissed?”
She rolled her eyes. “Not by someone like—”
“If you keep insulting me, this kiss won’t ever happen, Red.”
“Don’t call me that,” Margot whispered. Was she so weak that she’d forgive his abandonment for one kiss? “Please?”
“This kiss.” His calculated gaze didn’t make her feel any better about the situation. “How long does it need to be? How deep? Where do you want my hands?”
Margot’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not how kisses work! You can’t just map out the kiss. That takes all the romance out of it!”
“Oh, so you want romance?”
“Yes! No! I mean. I didn’t say that!” Her face flamed, and she sagged in defeat. Admitting she wanted romance kind of felt like she was on the losing end of the little battles they’d been having, like she was giving him an in. And if he got in, he’d only hurt her again.
“I was joking,” he said, just before his lips brushed hers. His tongue slid across her bottom lip and then sucked it for a few seconds before he slid it into her mouth and deepened the kiss.
Her lips softened beneath his gentle coaxing, and his hard thighs pressed against hers as a deep hunger awakened within her.
Oh, this was bad.
So bad.
And very, very good at the same time.
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult, Regency, and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband, son, and their snoring boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!
OOh and wow a maybe new favorite author Crystal. I'm entering the giveaway. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou evil person you!!! You know I LOVE THIS TROPE! gaaaaaaaaahhhhh
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