Review: An enjoyable read...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 22, 2013
ARC received by the author in exchange for an honest review.If you are looking for a HOT, yet sweet romance, I definitely recommend that you pick up this book. It is a quick read, has some funny moments, and it is great reading a book solely from the male's POV.Meet Liam Cooper (Coop): he is a male escort with some very high-profile clients and it would be wrong to say that he does not enjoy his job even though he came about it almost by accident. And, let us face it, which 26-year-old man would not enjoy this line of work? His services are ALMOST unlimited and he has tried just about anything. Coop does, however, admit to the fact that he sometimes misses being in a relationship:"The truth was, I did miss the intimacy that having a girlfriend brought with it. Sex was one thing, but the emotions you feel when you give yourself to someone you truly love is on a whole other scale."And it is not as if Coop has never had this: he has actually been married and is divorced. True, he loved the girl, but the fact of the matter is that they only married each other because she got pregnant. They were only 18 at the time, oblivious to the fact that it takes a lot of hard work making a marriage work. When they lost the baby, they drifted apart and Coop caught Kara, his ex wife, in bed with his best friend, Max. Needless to say, it hurt like hell, and Coop dealt with the pain like most 20-year-old: he partied, drank and had sex with random strangers. One day, one of his professors seduced him, then actually paid for his services and thus began his escorting career.The only reason Coop is still an escort many years later is that his mother has Alzheimers and he wants to make sure that she has the best care money can buy. Granted, it is a strange way to go about it, but it makes sense in a way: who would not do whatever they could if a loved one was extremely ill? I must admire the way Coop has his double life organized: he has two phones, two bank accounts, and does everything in his power to keep people from finding out how he makes a living. But I cannot help but think that it must be very exhausting for him to maintain his image, wearing a mask all the time."The real me? Well, that's someone not many people got to meet. The real Coop was generous, funny - and modest too - and will do anything for his friends and family. I hated feeling vulnerable, which is why it was easier to create an alter ego who was all the things I wasn't."Coop keeps his weekends sex-free and that is when he spends a lot of time with this sister, her husband and her children. They also meet every year at the family cabin, which is when he sees Mia, his crush from when he was 15 years old. When he sees her again, all his old feelings for her resurface, and he is drawn to her once again. Mia has moved back to New York, is divorced and has yet to find a place to live - when Nicole, his sister, learns this, she offers Mia to live with Coop until she finds her own place! He does not know how to refuse and if he has to be completely honest, he does not really want to.Right, you can almost guess how much more important it becomes for Coop to keep his job as an escort a secret. The more time he spends with Mia, the more he falls for her all over again, and he feels so conflicted about the whole situation.Okay, I am a bit conflicted about this book...On one hand, I did enjoy it, I loved the voice of Coop, and the sex scenes are off the charts HOT! Seriously, very well written and you will definitely get the tingles while reading it. In fact, in generel I like the author's writing style, it is practically flawless. Coop is a really great character: very sweet, confident and the self-appointed protector of the family. I like everything about him, and I like how the author portrays his feelings throughout the book.But on the other hand, I felt that the story was a bit predictable at times - there were no real surprises, and I feel that the ending was too rushed.  I liked the story but I did not love it and I do not think I will read it again. Having said that, I still recommend that you pick up this book if you are after a quick, steamy read, and it is not the last time I will read a book written by Miss Johnson.