4.75 ( )

Perfectly imperfect people make the best stories.

I was hooked into buying this romance by the free Kindle sample, and it didn't disappoint. It's all told from Zack's point of view, and Zack is an imperfect fellow though sure he's doing fine. This is where we all go wrong, isn't it? I loved everything about this story, every choice the author made makes sense to me. And I'm still smiling. ( )

At 43% I was already not digging the role-playing parts and held out hope things would get better.

They did not.

DNF @ 69%

Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. I want to also thank the publisher for giving me this opportunity.

This was a nice spin on the rom-con cliché, with a lot of hot scenes even if most were only imagined.

Zack has dropped out from college and has been working as a phone sex operator for longer than he ever wanted. That's where he met John, or so he says to be his name, a client who makes him feel much more than anyone has ever managed.

I really liked the idea and I won't say it wasn't well developed, that would be a lie. Still, there was something wrong with the book as a whole. First, people tended to discuss things a bit too much. Even though I had fun with Zack's friends at first, they soon made me feel bored. You notice the author was worried in building a life for the main character: he's close to his sister, his neighbors love him, he has the cutest dog, and a bunch very good friends. Then it backfired as you had to see him discuss any development, analyze everything in depth...

Another point that the book could have done without was the excessive advertising pro-sex workers. I guess it is connected with the above, but sometimes—truthfully, too many times—the characters went out of their way to give lectures on how to think and not to think of them. Ultra interesting the first time. Boring the rest of them.

In other words, this book lacked edition. It's a great story, with great characters, and great dialogues. I won't even comment on the somethings elses, if you get what I mean. But this needed some urgent cuts. Which is a pity, because I'm in love with what it could have been.

A final thing that bothered me were the ages. Not sure but the characters didn't really sound as young as they turned out to be. I wonder if that was me... And for that, a lot of times I had to stop and think again, to get the full image. I kept imagining them in their 30's and they were around 20.

Still, don't make that stop you. Do be advised you'll feel very tempted to skip several pages from time to time but stick to it. As I mentioned, this was a good reading. And even though it comes from a cliché, it was well exploited. And again, this was entertainingly hot. ( )