Review: Really good addition to the series. :D
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
4-4.5 starsThis was a really good story. I really liked both Brent and Hayden. Brent definitely had his jerk moments and things between he and Hayden could get conflicting at times but I loved seeing them fall for each other. This was a very good addition to the series.Hayden is the best friend of Story (the heroine from book #3). She's also a rich socialite who spends her time working with charities. She's actually a very nice woman but lives in a world where people will tear you down as soon as they see a weakness so she's learned to shore up her defenses. She's needed them to deal with Brent (best friend of Daniel, Story's man) who sees her as a privileged princess and makes no bones about making his opinion know to her at every opportunity he gets.Brent works for the police's emergency unit and is a good guy but he does tend to be kind of a jerk at times. He isn't a man whore but has no problems with getting women most of the time. When Brent gets turned down by Hayden the first time they meet (which I can't blame her for after hearing his lame pickup line) Brent decides she's a snob and he makes sure to be a jerk to her whenever they are around each other. You know what they say about little boys hitting the girls that they like...well Brent would never hit a woman physically but I think the same rule applies...Brent and Hayden are out with their mutual friends one night and the conversation is filled with stabs back and forth between Hayden and Brent. Usually Hayden tends to avoid Brent's comments that get sexual in nature but this night she's sick of backing down and sick of his picking on her in general and decides to push back. They both make some comments and there's a push and shove between them as they struggle to overcome each other in the verbal sparing. Things escalate between them and their sparing becomes physical teasing and then more. Although their first physical encounter ends up getting interrupted, once they both have a taste for each other it becomes that much harder to stay away from each other. Hayden does end up asking Brent to help her out as a date the next night (to keep away a suitor that wont take no for an answer) and things escalate between them even more. As they start to see each other more, both Hayden and Brent find more and more about each other that they like. Brent starts to realize that he had her all wrong when he accused her of being a stuck up princess and Hayden starts to realize that Brent's a pretty good guy who does a lot to help out his family.Hayden and Brent have a rather turbulent "relationship". They have trouble opening up to each other because all the fighting and insulting each other that they did for the first few months they knew each other....mostly fear that any honesty or weakness shown could be used against them by the other. As they start to see more of each other, they find that they secretly want more but are cautious about how they tell each other. As Hayden starts to like Brent more and more she gets bad news from her mother. Their family fortune and business is going down hill and if they can't get some money brought in to help things along they could loose everything. Hayden doesn't really care about the money herself but she feels she owes her dad a lot and her mother guilt trips her in to thinking she has to marry a man she doesn't love to save their family. Hayden has a lot to deal with and isn't sure what Brent wants or if she should give up her happiness for her family. There are some difficulties but things start going better for Hayden and Brent and it seems everything will turn out alright but then some drama comes up that causes everything to go badly and Hayden is crushed and almost makes a big mistake because of it. Things do get worked out in the end and Brent gets Hayden to forgive his jerky behavior through some mild self-humiliation (loved the Beaches reference) and they start their HEA.I really enjoyed this story. The characters were great. I really liked Hayden and even Brent, regardless of his jerky behavior. Even when they're fighting like cats and dogs it's easy to tell that these 2 are meant for each other and I was very happy when they worked things out in the end. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series that will be about Matt and Brent's younger sister, Lucy (which looks like fun!). I'd recommend this story. Thumbs up! :)