Joni is broke, working part-time as a really bad bartender, about to be kicked out of her grandmother’s house. Nathan is fabulously rich, a plastic surgeon, who promised his parents he wouldn’t live alone. So they decide to solve a lot of problems at once – her abusive ex, his overbearing parents – by fake dating. Joni moves in, and things progress from there.
Her terribly uncontrolled ADHD bounces off of his social communication disorder in a way that balances them out really well. He basically hires her – with room, board, and everything else she ends up needing – to be a personality coach, and she’s never met a person she can’t charm. I really appreciated that she actually takes him up on his offer; when they realize she needs clothes to attend Fancy Events with him, she doesn’t try to insist that she can pay for it, doesn’t try to return it, and doesn’t throw a fit about how she doesn’t need any help. The man is incredibly wealthy – a successful plastic surgeon with a very healthy trust fund – and she knows it. I just liked the change in the normal dynamic.
The Steamy Stuff – Spoilers!
This one is lower on the steam scale than I usually go for. There’s also no monsters or robots or anything; just two regular humans going at it. Who knew I could enjoy such a book?
They don’t even kiss until after the 33% mark, and it’s not until after 40% that they get hot and heavy. They’re playing the long game, and the game works really well. They don’t get into anything crazy, but Nathan is extremely detail-oriented in a way guaranteed to make any girl happy; maybe that’s even better than tentacles.
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