Now that’s what I call a HOT slow burn! This was delicious, every minute of it. After loving Wilde’s debut, I was so excited to check out the followup, featuring a couple we were teased about in the series starter. While I’ve read (and loved) plenty of playboy-tamed romances in the past, I’ve never read a book about two players who meet their match in each other. The way they understood each other made this feel so rich, and the cat-and-mouse game ratcheted the sexual tension up to new levels. Just like in The Sixty/Forty Rule, there are some scenes that will have me fanning myself while thinking about them months later. And I’m not complaining one bit. This was light and playful one minute, serious and sizzling the next, with just enough heartache to keep things interesting. It also shows that Wilde isn’t a one-hit wonder, so I cannot wait to see what she writes next.
The story follows Finn and Jenna, two people who are not interested in relationships. Their friends tried to set them up a year ago, but their first attempt at a hookup did not go as planned. A year later, they’ve both been thinking about that failed hookup more than they should, and Jenna is convinced that they need to finally hit the sheets so she can move on. Except, once Finn comes face-to-face with Jenna again, he realizes that a hookup with her would be anything but. Desperately trying to keep things platonic, Finn suggests that Jenna stay with him while she’s in town… and Finn is not sure what he was thinking. Spending time with a woman who wants nothing more than to hook up with him – while he is trying to avoid that at all costs – is not a recipe for success, and it certainly creates some unwelcome tension with his new roommate. But as the two get to know each other better, it just becomes more difficult to stay away.
We met both Finn and Jenna in The Sixty/Forty Rule, which is not required reading by any means, but does provide some insight into both characters. It’s also equally excellent, so not sure why you’d skip it, lol. So I was already emotionally invested in this relationship before it even got started, and I loved the way it progressed. Finn is such an upbeat, golden retriever of a man, and I loved digging a little deeper into his backstory. Jenna is also a complex character who hides behind her pink hair and brazen personality, so they’re both more than they seem on the surface. Having them understand that about each other added another layer of depth to the story, and made this more interesting from the start. I also adored that they got to know each other on a deeper level before jumping in, though this is definitely not a traditional slow burn. It is SCORCHING hot during several scenes, and that tension made it even more devourable. And devour I did.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IvwZYv
Blurb:
Two players. One apartment. A whole new game.
Serial dater Finn Palmer has it down to a science: dinner, drinks, the this-is-just-sex conversation, and he’s back in his own bed by midnight. With his infectious smile and preference for one-night flings, he’s exactly the distraction Jenna Carling needs when she returns home for her sister’s dreaded wedding.
So when Jenna shows up on his doorstep looking for a hot do-over of their failed one-night stand from a year ago, she’s shocked that Finn offers her something entirely different: his spare bedroom for the summer.
Finn’s self-prescribed singledom means two things: he is woefully cuddle-starved, and he will never, ever sleep with a woman he’s interested in. He knows there’s something different about Jenna. She’s charming, warm, lets him wax poetic about his favorite documentaries… And there’s no way he can sleep with her without catching serious feelings. But he can definitely keep her around as a platonic roommate. And he can definitely get this pesky crush under control.
Problem is, Jenna’s now convinced she’s lost her mojo. And the harder she tries to tempt Finn into more—more sex, more midnight bakery rendezvous, more… cuddling?!—the harder it is not to fantasize about a future with her. Too bad he’s witnessed the destructive effects of love. And Finn would never put himself through that.
He only needs to survive the summer. Soon, her evil sister’s wedding will be over. Jenna will be gone. And Finn can get back to… What, exactly?
The No-Judgment Zone is a steamy romantic comedy with the roommates-to-lovers, reformed player, forced proximity, sunshine/golden retriever, and wedding date tropes. This romance has a happily ever after.
It’s the second book in the Sunset Landing series but can be read as a standalone.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IvwZYv
Start with The Sixty/Forty Rule!
Not required reading, but excellent. Similar vibes, with a storyline that is just as compelling! Plus, this is where you get to see Finn and Jenna’s meet cute and get a feel for their characters.
six-ty for-ty rule (noun): a deal you make with your pain-in-the-butt client, when hating him starts to feel a little too good.
Jude Holland has slogged it for years at a chance to land a coveted job designing the city’s most breathtaking restaurants and nightclubs. And when a spot opens up on her firm’s design team, her boss makes her a deal: design Theo Jordan—the firm’s biggest client—a new restaurant, convince him to renew his contract with the company, and the job is hers.
If only he’d play along.
Theo is infamous for three very specific things: he’s a hot-shot young chef-turned-restaurateur, a thorn-in-your-side client, and the kind of attractive that makes you wonder which kind of psychedelics the great maker was taking, when he created him. Not that Jude notices. She’s too busy sticking to the plan, and it helps that he’s a total ass, anyway.
That is, until a steamy business trip leads to a very different deal between these enemies, who suddenly can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Sixty percent of the time, they’d indulge those funny, fluttering feelings that seem to manifest whenever they’re together. The rest of the time? They’d be nothing but professional.
It doesn’t take Theo long to realize that’s easier said than done. But with a restaurant launch and a dream promotion on the line—not to mention a workplace rival hell-bent on ruining her career—Theo only has a handful of weeks to convince Jude to make that sixty percent full-time.
The Sixty/Forty Rule is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers workplace romance between a sunshine commercial designer and her grumpy client. It has a healthy dose of spice and a happily ever after. It is the first book in the Sunset Landing series of standalone reads.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HqyBU1
About the Author:
Ellie K. Wilde dreams up love stories with a lot of heart and the kind of spice that makes your knees shake. She writes male leads with big personalities and sweet, cinnamon roll insides, and women who discover they’re just as tough as they wished they were. Happily ever afters only.
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