Author: Arielle (Page 24 of 35)

Synopsis:

I was issued a warning: stay away from Ben Rosenberg.

As Clifton Cove’s resident “king”, he thinks he’s entitled to anyone and anything.

The trouble is, I’ve spent my whole life following the rules and playing it safe. I know what it feels like to be the good girl. I’m the police chief’s daughter and a librarian—for adorable children, no less.

An all-nighter with a fictional hunk is about as exciting as my life gets until one day, fate decides to take pity on me and shove me straight into the path of Mr. Off-Limits himself.

Just as I suspected, every inch of him promises to be my demise. Up close, he’s tall, menacing—a lawyer who looks like he’ll bite. A well-behaved girl would do as she’s told and avoid him at all costs, but I’m overdue for a little rebellion.

So, I ignore the warning and throw caution to the wind. But Ben doesn’t just nudge me out of my comfort zone—he thrusts me into a dark corner and presses his hard body against mine, covering my mouth with his hand to ensure we don’t get caught sneaking around. In that moment, I finally understand why everyone thinks he’s going to ruin me.

To him, this is all a game.
He wants to tempt me with his dares and taunt me with his words.
I should play along. After all, I asked him to make me bad. I just never thought he’d take his job quite so seriously...

Review: 

“Eli! Ahem, Eli!” 
I turn to see a short elderly woman holding a book outstretched toward the guy talking my ear off. 
“Eli,” she says, tone stern, chin raised. “This book has a tear right down the first page. I think it’s only fair that I get to keep it—for free.” 
I turn back in time to see Eli roll his eyes. “That’s the fifth book this month. Mrs. Taylor, if you keep tearing up our books, we’re going to cut up your library card.”

That’s it. I can now say without a doubt that if you’re looking for a feel good romantic comedy, R. S. Grey is the one for you. While they’re all not mind blowingly life-changing, you can be sure that they have all warmed my heart and have made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. This book is no exception and I’m so glad I picked it up as a cure to my Red, White & Royal Blue hangover.

“What kind of law do you practice again?” I ask, perusing his suit. 
He squeezes my hand and then lets it drop. “Corporate.” 
“Pity. You look like you should be putting criminals behind bars. Very intimidating today, like you’ll bite.”

I felt like I easily connected to this book (and especially Madison) for a few different reasons. For one, I also work in a library as a librarian–though I do have a few thoughts on that later. For another, I had a pretty strict family and while I moved out of my house as soon as I was in college, I can sympathize with Madison’s inner struggles when it came to being torn over becoming “bad” and living life but also not wanting to disappoint make any waves with her dad and brother.

Quickly back to the library aspect–while I always get really excited when I find out there’s a librarian character, I feel like there are a lot of times when I can clearly tell that the author doesn’t quite know what it is that a librarian ~does~. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure Grey has either been to a library or did some research because it wasn’t far off base–there were just some aspects that felt off to me. I’m probably just being picky though. If the library that Madison worked at was smaller, then her wide range of duties make sense to me. If it was bigger, then no??? Like it seemed like she was doing story times, other children’s programs, working the help desk, shelving books–basically a LOT of stuff. There’s no way that if that library served a good sized community that she would have the time to do all of that stuff. BUT I DIGRESS. That stuff is only going *maybe* going to bother a person who works as a librarian haha. It’s such a small thing I easily ignored it. Especially when Madison had such killer story times and made Ben dress up as Mr. Darcy lollll.

“Are you almost done?” I ask. My voice sounds like it came out of a mouse. 
“Not if you don’t stand still. 
His hands grip my waist and he squeezes. 
Apparently, I’m fidgeting. Hot. Bothered. 
He ties the laces together at the bottom and steps back. 
I turn around and hold out my arms. “What do you think?” 
He clears his throat, glances away, and when he looks back, his gaze is narrowed. “I think it’s a little much for a toddler story time.” 
I glance down and laughter erupts out of me. “Oh jeez.” 
My breasts have been pushed up and forced together to form a tantalizing amount of cleavage. Even I’m slightly turned on by the sight. I look like a serving wench.

Ben was definitely a very enjoyable hero. I always like a good story line where the guy “teaches” the heroine sexy times or in this case–how to be bad. I mean, in Madison’s case the stuff wasn’t even that bad…it more of like she just wanted to live. I loved their texts and how Ben egged her on. The scene when she was getting her tattoo and he was drawing words on her hand with his finger WAS ADORABLE. He was wonderfully serious and occasionally grumpy which I always weirdly like, too haha. I am also happy to report that this is another instance of a good love story where there is no “misunderstanding” between the two. Gosh I have really come to hate that. Overall, very sweet, hilarious, and a quick read. Basically if you’re ever in need of a pick me up or are on a beach somewhere wanting a string of light reads, all of her books are for you!

“Ugh, do I have to go?” 
It really is embarrassing. 
Ben stands and hooks his hands under my arms, forcing me. “C’mon, I’ll help you.” 
We all know what that means. We’ve seen the movies. Ben’s going to stand behind me a little too close, touch me a little inappropriately, all in the name of sport. And, of course, because our friends are all mature adults, they whistle and catcall us as Ben moves up behind me. 
“Oh yeah, Ben, show her how it’s done,” Andy says. 
Ben flips him off. 
“Oh, I’m not sure, Ben—do I stand like this?” Arianna mocks and okay, she’s funny, and I like her. Also, how dare she?