Real Deal

It was a cheesy “enemies” to lovers, single dad's romance.

It wasn't serious; and the reason why the two dads hated each other was childish sure but it was a fun read.

I liked them being later in life (40s) and the “dad bod” rep.

This cover is OK. Not really a fan of the model. He isn't how “I” pictured Marcus. That's just my personal opinion though. The composition is alright. I LOVE the font used for the title and the series graphic.

I struggled a bit with how to rate this book. I enjoyed it. I don't regret reading it. It was entertaining for the most part, but it didn't WOW me. I loved these author's other three books and went into this one with high expectations. I expected to laugh my butt off and enjoy some great friendships between characters. That's not really what I ended up getting.



Let me start with what I did like. The writing was great. The pace of the book was good. There were a FEW funny parts. There wasn't a ton of angst or drama. I enjoyed Cat's friends, and I suspect they are going to be matched up with Marcus's friends (I pity the heroine that gets DANE.) I was very intrigued by Garret though and can't wait for his book. The sex scenes were hot. I ADORED Lily and the scenes with her and Marcus were super sweet, and I LOVED Cat. Especially at the end when she stood her ground with Marcus and refused to settle.



So what didn't work for me? One, Marcus, he was just MEH in my opinion. I kind of thought he was an asshole pretty much through the whole book. I didn't connect with him and Cat as a couple. I also hate when characters take on guilt about something that is not even remotely their fault, and that was the case in this one. When I read why Marcus felt guilty about Lily's mom, I laughed and rolled my eyes. Really?! You are a 34-year-old man, and you believe that just because you took your ex to a party where she smoked a joint laced with cocaine and became a raging drug addict that robbed a store at knifepoint somehow that is your fault? Really?



My second issue, DANE, omg was this guy an immature, irresponsible douchenoodle. I HATED him. Every scene he was in dumbed the book down. How this guy is allowed to be raising a child is beyond me. He doesn't seem to be able to take care of himself. He even let his friend crash into a wall of rock while they were rock climbing because he was staring at women. I honestly have my doubts that these authors can get me to warm up to this guy, but we will see I guess.



My last couple issues pertain to the plot. We never actually get to see what happened six years previously with Marcus and Cat. We get hints and little tidbits, but not the actual scene. She says he humiliated in front of a room full of people, but I have NO clue how he went about that. I would have liked to have read that scene to have a better understanding of what went down. I would have also liked to have seen how her parents reacted to her dating (being with), Marcus. There are a few sentences with Marcus worrying because he is a client, but we never see anything beyond that.

So as you can tell from the above review, I struggled a bit with this one. It had some enjoyable parts and some not so enjoyable parts. That said, I am feeling in a generous mood, and my rating reflects that.