Lessons in Faking - Selina Mae (Rating: 4.5/5)

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Tropes: Semi-enemies-to-lovers, trauma, daddy-issues, brothers-enemy, sweet, men-who-cook, girl-needed-a-confidence-booster

This is my first book by this author, and I was hooked from the first page. This is because I have around 100+ books on my TBR list, and unless something has a strong start, I'm not invested. I read the story as a stand-alone, and only got to know about the history of the author once I finished it. Now, let's be real. Are there things out of the realm of belief in this work? Absolutely. Realistically, there are a lot of things I object to. E.g. why did the MFC start dating her brother's supposed arch-nemesis to get her BROTHER'S ATTENTION? Or why the MMC had to have beef with his dad, because that aspect was literally unexplored and unnecessary. Or that the MMC was supposedly so in love with the MFC from the start that NO ONE SUSPECTED?

However, despite these gripes, the story worked well. It did. And the reason is for that is that it is really sweet without being cloyingly so. It's just sweet enough. The chemistry between the main characters is really strong. Read this as a floating leaf in the wind, without a final destination and without too many expectations, and you will love it, especially if enemies-to-lovers is your trope of choice.(Thanks to Netgalley and LYX publishers for providing the ARC. Views are my own)

Sweet Vixen by Susan Napier

Synopsis:

Life without him had been dull--but safe. Max Wilde had taken over as executive editor of New Zealand's leading fashion magazine just to create havoc, Sarah thought bitterly.

He wasn't content with changing the magazine's format, however. Now he was focusing his attention on Sarah herself, taunting and challenging, forcing her to admit that her desires as a woman hadn't died with her husband. She hadn't felt so alive in years--and she resented it!

Review:

Rating: Initially 4 stars, 3.5 stars on reread

I don't know why I liked this book so much a long time ago. Is it glamorous? Yes. Does it have awakening-of-heroine's-senses? Yes. Is the hero equal-opportunity employer? Yes. The problem, I think, is the fact that I saw him forcing the heroine needlessly and yes, I know most hqns have that but in most of them you expect the hero to be macho and an ass-hat. In this one, the hero was comfortable with women and judged them on their own merit and so it's a surprise that he let himself fall so low. Some might say it's a sign of his passion that he was able to forget himself when he dealt with the heroine but I think it's a sign that the author wanted the passion but couldn't connect his two side properly. Another thing which I found during the reread is that the H/h didn't spend too much time together getting to know each other. The H's mommy issues were never fully discussed and the way he called the h 'a dumb cow' felt like a personal attack on me.

Overall, it's a good book; you might want to read it and compare notes with me :)

If you want to add this book to your goodreads feed, here's the link: SWEET VIXEN