Review: Review: Asking for Trouble
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 5, 2013
Review:In a short time, Tessa Bailey has become a favorite author.  I always get a happy tingle when she has a new release.  While not all of the elements work for me, the romances are hot, hot, hot, the character interaction keeps me engaged in the story, and the dialog is snappy and amusing.  Like today’s anticipated Thanksgiving feast,  I devoured Asking for Trouble, enjoying this guilty pleasure.Hayden is a socialite who takes joy in managing her charities.  Brent is a tell it like it is explosives cop.  He and Hayden couldn’t be more different, and they both hate each other.  Now that their best buds are an item, they are constantly forced to suffer each other’s company, baiting and insulting each other the entire time.  Until Hayden pushes things a little too far, and then she and Brent can’t keep their hands off each other.At first glance, Brent is a douche.  He takes the alpha attitude and crams it in your face.  As the story unfolds, I started to see how gentle the hulking cop actually was.  I love when a heroine uncovers a hidden layer of the hero’s personality, and Hayden breached Brent’s tough guy walls from their first encounter.  By allowing her to take charge of their relationship, both in the bedroom and out, it made him more likeable and added an unexpected dynamic to their relationship.The differences in their financial backgrounds is a constant conflict between them.  Brent works hard to provide for his family, taking care of his brother’s family while he’s deployed overseas, as well as putting his sister through college.  He takes great pride in his ability to care for them, and Hayden’s hefty bank account grates on his sensibilities.  He thinks that everything is  easy for her, and that she’s spoiled and has never had to work hard for anything.  He’s not good at keeping his contempt of her privileged lifestyle under wraps, and it drives a wedge between them just as they are starting to realize that there is something special brewing between them.The other conflict chipping away at their happiness didn’t work as well for me.  Hayden’s father is on the verge of losing everything due to poor business decisions, so Hayden’s mother has come up with a solution to the family’s financial woes.  Hayden will marry a wealthy business acquaintance of her father’s, and  they’ll get to continue to enjoy their standard of living.  Hayden feels obligated to her father to actually make this sacrifice, and it’s eating away at her as she tries to figure out what’s going on between her and Brent.  I hated Hayden’s mother.  She is a one-dimensional, selfish bitch willing to sell her daughter’s future happiness to maintain her luxurious lifestyle.  She never repented, and I still hate her.All in all, Asking for Troubling is a quick, steamy read.  While everyone else is sleeping off their turkey overdose, find a quiet corner and read this instead!Grade:  B