The Edge of Heaven

One of the things I like most about E.M. Lindsey's books is that the MCs usually communicate honestly with each other and don't keep secrets. So when Lindsey tackles the “guy who falls in love with his escort” trope, except the escort is really an astrophysicist who responded to a wrong number, the whole plot revolves around secrets and misunderstandings. Because of that, the romance loses a lot of what makes Lindsey's books so enjoyable. Archer is hiding the truth from Julian until almost the very end when it inevitably blows up in his face, so their interactions can't feel as genuine as they should.

Also, Julian, the MC who “hires” Archer, is such a sad sack that it's hard to understand why Archer falls for him so quickly. Other than the first scene, which shows Julian interacting with his English students, he's mostly being scorned or laughed at by his mother or his ex-husband, or telling Archer how worthless he feels. I'm as much a sucker for an MC with self-esteem problems as anyone, but at some point he needs to be shown being competent or proactive at something.

Frankly, the secondary characters (Julian's dad and his best friend, and Archer's best friend and his brother) steal the show. I hope some or all of them are featured in sequels - stories that don't revolve around keeping secrets.