Review: Fans of A.M. Hargrove will enjoy this one, but I had mixed feelings. This one wasn't for me.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 24, 2014
Review for Ramblings From This Chick. ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.comDirty Nights by A.M. Hargrove is a dark and gritty book and isn't for those that don't like their reads dirty. Dirty Nights was originally published as a novella series under Hargrove's pen name Emerson St. Clair. I am really glad that I read this as the novel though, because I am so impatient when it comes to serials and I really hate waiting. Dirty Nights had some things that I really liked, but there was also quite a bit that I had mixed feelings about.Skylina has had a really rough life. Her parents split when she was young and she went to live with her dad. Her dad got remarried and her step-mom was horrible to her. She ended up being sent back to her drug addict mother who sold her to her pimp in order to get her next fix. She continues to work as a stripper and prostitute in order to not only survive, but continue to provide for her mother. She had dreams of becoming a dancer when she was a child, and continues to practice when she is able to. She meets Ryder at a coffee shop and is instantly drawn to him, but they leave without exchanging information only to run into him again when he saves her from being raped. Ryder and Skylina end up having sex, and from there they continue to see each other. But Skylina always leaves before he wakes up in the morning. When he hires his friend to find out about her, he never expected to find out that she is a prostitute. Even though he cares about Skylina, he can't continue to see her while she maintains her job. But Ryder is always there for her when she needs him, and does everything he can to show her that she deserves more. With both Ryder and Skylina being broken from their painful pasts, can they heal each other and find a future together?I really liked Ryder. He was sweet and caring, and he took great care of Skylina even before he knew how much she needed his help. When he found out about her, he handled things badly at first but he quickly realized that he couldn't judge her and continued to support and help her. Besides being such a great guy though, he was sexy and a total alpha in the bedroom. He took control and was super hot with Skylina. I liked seeing the different sides to him, and his character was really complex. He had been through so much, and it was great to see him overcome so much after hitting such a low point because of what had happened to him. Skylina was strong and was a survivor, but she was also really loyal and caring. She continued to provide for her mother even after everything that her mother had forced her into. What I didn't like was the fact that while she was providing for her mother, she was also enabling her by providing her drugs. I felt like she should have tried harder to get her mother help, and that she should haven't continued that for so long. Everyone who cared about her tried to tell her, and she refused to listen. While I felt that Ryder and Skylina had a lot of chemistry and were really hot together, I thought that she continued with her job much longer than she should have. She was uncomfortable with it and knew that she was developing feelings for Ryder, and I thought that even though she had a lot of rules and didn't do everything it still felt like cheating to me. Ryder knew about her job, but to me it just didn't seem right that it continued to go on for so long.I also felt like some of the dialogue and words that Skylina used were a bit annoying. She is a prostitute and stripper and yet instead of the F word, she repeatedly uses the word ferk. She explained at one point why she doesn't cuss, but I just found it completely unrealistic and frankly it was really distracting. Every time she would say ferk or use some other non-cuss word, it just seemed immature and out of place. I guess if she was younger and wasn't a hooker it would have been more understandable, but it really just drove me nuts. Ryder was definitely the highlight of this book though, and I was glad that he was such a likable character. He is what kept me reading this story, and I really loved watching him heal and get over his past. I think that if you like dark and raw stories with a gritty feel to them, that you might give this one a shot. It wasn't what I had been expecting or hoping for, but I think that a lot of people will enjoy this one especially if you are a fan of A.M. Hargrove.**Complimentary Copy Provided by Love N. Books Blog Tours**