Sexy Beast

Had all the tropes, but just wasn't into it as much as I was the others in this series.

Mitch was never the most interesting in the other books and that remained true in this one. He's a big tall grumpy bear who owns a local bar and is loyal to his friends and loved ones but that's really it.
Lots of surface no depth

I'm not a huge fan of the covers for this series. The model on this one DOES actually look like the hero. So bonus points for that. The composition and typography are pretty good, and as I said with the first cover, I really like the series graphic.

So where to start with this one. I enjoyed it more than book one, but not as much as book two. Which is a HUGE bummer because Garrett has been the single dad I have been looking forward to reading about from the start.

Let us start with the positives. This book wasn't a bad book. Most of the issues I had with it are more of a personal like/dislike variety. These authors always produce well-written books. The pace was good, and I never felt the need to skim. They always have great secondary characters. There was no OW/OM drama. There wasn't much angst. Some hot sex scenes. Both main characters were fairly likable. For me, it took Garrett WAY too long to get his head out of his ass but once he did I liked him. Charlie, I enjoyed overall, but honestly, she came across a bit pathetic at times lusting and running after Garrett. On the positive side it was my understanding that she had slept with OM while lusting after Garrett, so at least she wasn't sitting around pining like a virgin. Lastly, it was all wrapped up in a sweet epilogue.



There were a few things that made this one lose some stars though. One, After reading book one and two “I” was left with the impression that Garrett hadn't slept with anyone since his wife died. Alas, that apparently was NOT the case as we hear about how he had sex with OW outside of the town. To say I was bummed about that is an understatement. I was looking forward to reading about a hero that prioritized raising his daughter over random hookups. Now to be fair it didn't sound like he was a manwhore, but he lost some luster for me. Two, I thought the big drama was pretty predictable. I knew what was coming from the minute they had a certain conversation early on in the book. Lastly, the dead wife was too much in this one. Let me start by saying that I usually am not bothered by dead exes/wives/husbands etc. and I knew going in that he had a dead wife he was pining over for twelve years. But Melissa was brought up way too much in this one for my tastes. We even get pages devoted to her death after giving birth. I didn't need to be beaten over the head with how much he loved Melissa. How she was his first love. His first everything. It took away from the present day romance IMO.

So long story short. It was enjoyable but not as enjoyable as I was hoping it to be. That said I am still onboard for the next series starring Vance (Charlie's brother).