Review: The unusual premise, great characters, and intriguing plot made this a fun, highly enjoyable read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 19, 2010
When the hunter becomes the prey, her world gets turned upside down...Seriously, they had me at "Fidelity Anthropologist"! When I read that in the description, I knew I was in for a treat. And Phillip Thomas Duck did not disappoint.Victoria Frost is one of those sex decoys who try to get men to show their cheating ways. She's good at her job and always gets her man, so to speak. But things begin to change when she falls for one of her "marks". She's messing up on her job which used to be second nature. What makes matters worse, her "savior-boss", James Boston, is losing faith in her abilities. Her world is turning upside down, and she has to take a good look at herself and past mistakes to make it right again. In the end, she may find out more about herself than she bargained for.This book has an extremely unique premise. How many books out there are based on a woman who gives fidelity tests for a living? Victoria is this sexy, self-assured woman in the beginning of the book, but she gets knocked off kilter when she falls for the man she's supposed to be investigating. It makes her black and white world so gray. We see the put-together facade of the woman fall away, and we start to see her flaws. And that's when the book got really interesting for me. I laughed, I cringed, and felt my heart swell at times, and that was surprising as it was a pretty short book.As much as I liked the character of Victoria, I LOVED the character of James, the boss. He's the man that Victoria can always count on. The interactions between the two of them are so great; the entire time I was reading the book, I kept thinking to myself, "Are you nuts, Victoria, go for him". He was level-headed to her impulsiveness, dry humor to her classic wit-they really worked together. It was obvious they had a mutual respect and admiration for one another, and I wanted to see more of that.There were also some memorable smaller characters, such as disgruntled wives and suspecting husbands, that rounded out the story well. I was a bit worried because the story was authored by a man that it would be full of excuses about why men cheat, but this was not that type of book at all. Right or wrong wasn't the focus, it was more of an exploration about how our lives can be shaped by such an experience. Sometimes without even knowing it. I thought the author did a wonderful job of not being "preachy" in the book and just went with the feelings and experiences of those involved.I do wish that the whole twist to the plot and ending had been flushed out a bit more, but I ended the book with a big smile on my face. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there will be a sequel to this book, and I am hoping that it answers more of the questions I have about what happens to Victoria and her new man (I am not going to tell you who that is though). And while it wasn't perfect, the unusual premise, great characters, and intriguing plot made this a fun, highly enjoyable read. I really can't wait to find out what happens next.Reviewed by Rhofor The Romance Reviews