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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This book is bad, even for the shallow HR in disguise I was expecting (and even looking forward to). But the biggest, headliner reason why I think so seems to differ wildly from most others. In short: the H is a complete piece of crap, at least before I reached my limit and stopped.
Most people's reviews that I've read so far have complained about the heroine in this book, and I couldn't possibly say for myself if she was intolerable or not. She was just naive as hell and dumb from what I read, but I DNF'd about five minutes after Hank wakes up after the one night stand.
What I don't understand about these reviews I'm seeing, however, is why no one seems to have a problem with Hank's behavior! I even see people saying he did nothing wrong. Maybe he redeems himself later on; and, from what I can tell, Carly does become fairly insufferable by contrast. But did everyone conveniently forget how he acts when they meet? I'm honestly confused here. He treats sexually active women like used fleshlights, flip-flops so hard on Carly's place in the whore/Madonna complex that I practically got whiplash, and his actions toward her in the end may or may not have constituted rape. Let me show you some direct quotes from this book from this scumbag.
First, in regards to the oh-so-flattering way he treats the women who, JUST LIKE HIM, choose to exercise their right to have sex for the sake of sex:
(already charming, this one, but he goes on to say)
-So let me get this straight. Despite the fact that Hank a)likes one night stands, b)considers them harmless, and c) seemingly understands that women can have the same wants, he still IMMEDIATELY, in the same goddamn paragraph, says these women aren't good enough for him. Because he's such a catch, apparently.
Now I'd like to transition to the way he discusses Carly:
-so, here we establish that even though he himself thinks she looks innocent, he immediately writes her off as a whore...for being in a bar that he already knows she's never been in before. Am I supposed to take from this that all women who go to bars are sluts looking for some? Because Carly herself already explains earlier in the story that she's just there for her friend, and he notes that she's clearly not from around there multiple times and in different ways, which she confirms, so this assumption cannot possibly be based just on this one bar's reputation.
-so even drunk he knows damn well that he should be putting on a condom, first of all. Secondly, he just called her a slut a couple pages ago by alluding to the face that she can't possibly be different from other women at the bar, who we already established he thinks are used goods and then some. So why is she now "too sweet" to have an STI if she's just like them? And you don't have to be un-sweet to catch those anyway, jackass. All it takes is one cheating ex. Also, way to go assuming she must be taking the pill. Real smart. She's apparently slutty enough for the pill (since she is a Bar Woman™) but somehow not slutty enough for STIs?
Finally, the pièce de résistance, the day after the fact:
-Folks, he admits that he purposefully got her so drunk that she couldn't walk straight, explicitly to have sex with her. The only reason I'm not outright calling this sexual assault is because he was supposedly also drunk. HOWEVER, he was thinking clearly enough to plot to get her drunk in the first place, while he got her so drunk she could barely walk on her own, apparently. So even if we don't call it rape, how could anyone call him blameless in the debacle when he deliberately takes advantage of a drunk women that he himself ensured would be too smashed for clear thought? How are people not calling him out on this? It's right there in black and white on the page!
As a counterpoint, never let it be said that I find Carly completely blameless in all this. She drank hard liquor that she was warned would be strong, even after her doctor told her to be careful with alcohol on account of her meds. She didn't insist on a condom when they did have sex, though I'm not entirely sure she was "with it" enough to understand what was happening until too late, since she seemed a tad too quiet and confused during the scene.
Tellingly, this exchange occurs before the event:
While Hank is clearly lying about how drunk he wants her, based on his admission the day after, he is outright admitting his intent. Yeah, it's clearly meant to be taken as a joke, but like my mom always says, when someone tells you who they are, believe them.
Nevertheless, I'm kind of flabbergasted at what really feels like a lot of victim-blaming in these reviews. So many I've seen outright say it was all her fault, when the book is courteous enough to explicitly state that the H deliberately impaired her judgement and then took advantage. Someone said that it takes two to tango, and considering how dumb Carly was with her own safety, I'm tempted to agree with that sentiment, but even then it isn't "all her fault." Even scummy Hank, with all his dubious morals in the beginning, knows better than to foist all the blame on her.
Still, This book is terrible regardless. I couldn't sit through it. It was just really, really ill thought out, and everyone criticizing it seems to at least be on the same page about that.
Most people's reviews that I've read so far have complained about the heroine in this book, and I couldn't possibly say for myself if she was intolerable or not. She was just naive as hell and dumb from what I read, but I DNF'd about five minutes after Hank wakes up after the one night stand.
What I don't understand about these reviews I'm seeing, however, is why no one seems to have a problem with Hank's behavior! I even see people saying he did nothing wrong. Maybe he redeems himself later on; and, from what I can tell, Carly does become fairly insufferable by contrast. But did everyone conveniently forget how he acts when they meet? I'm honestly confused here. He treats sexually active women like used fleshlights, flip-flops so hard on Carly's place in the whore/Madonna complex that I practically got whiplash, and his actions toward her in the end may or may not have constituted rape. Let me show you some direct quotes from this book from this scumbag.
First, in regards to the oh-so-flattering way he treats the women who, JUST LIKE HIM, choose to exercise their right to have sex for the sake of sex:
Aside from telling a woman he loved her, he’d say almost anything to score
(already charming, this one, but he goes on to say)
The gals who frequented places like Chaps normally came for the same reasons men did and understood the unspoken rules...It was fun, meaningless, and in the morning, no one looked back. Hank liked it that way. He wasn’t ready to get locked down. If he had been, he sure as hell wouldn’t shop for a wife in a bar where all the prospects had been ridden hard and put away wet by countless other men
-So let me get this straight. Despite the fact that Hank a)likes one night stands, b)considers them harmless, and c) seemingly understands that women can have the same wants, he still IMMEDIATELY, in the same goddamn paragraph, says these women aren't good enough for him. Because he's such a catch, apparently.
Now I'd like to transition to the way he discusses Carly:
"Hank tried to decide what it was about her that he found so appealing. He’d met a lot of gorgeous women in bars and never wanted any of them the way he wanted her. Maybe it was her sweet face...What an illusion. No woman her age was still innocent, and if, by some weird chance, she were, she sure as hell wouldn’t be hanging out in a place like Chaps.
-so, here we establish that even though he himself thinks she looks innocent, he immediately writes her off as a whore...for being in a bar that he already knows she's never been in before. Am I supposed to take from this that all women who go to bars are sluts looking for some? Because Carly herself already explains earlier in the story that she's just there for her friend, and he notes that she's clearly not from around there multiple times and in different ways, which she confirms, so this assumption cannot possibly be based just on this one bar's reputation.
At the back of his mind, alarm bells clanged even as he ran a hand inside her jeans to touch her moist, hot center. Then he thought, “What can it hurt?” Women who hung out in bars usually took the Pill. Barring an unwanted pregnancy, wherein lay the risk? She was too damned sweet to be carrying an STD, and he knew damned well that he wasn’t.
-so even drunk he knows damn well that he should be putting on a condom, first of all. Secondly, he just called her a slut a couple pages ago by alluding to the face that she can't possibly be different from other women at the bar, who we already established he thinks are used goods and then some. So why is she now "too sweet" to have an STI if she's just like them? And you don't have to be un-sweet to catch those anyway, jackass. All it takes is one cheating ex. Also, way to go assuming she must be taking the pill. Real smart. She's apparently slutty enough for the pill (since she is a Bar Woman™) but somehow not slutty enough for STIs?
Finally, the pièce de résistance, the day after the fact:
It wasn’t Charlie’s fault that she was pretty, and as much as he might like to shift the blame, he couldn’t hold her accountable for his own behavior. When he’d ordered her the slammer, his sole intent had been to get her drunk. She’d been staggering by the time they left Chaps, and he’d taken full advantage of it.
-Folks, he admits that he purposefully got her so drunk that she couldn't walk straight, explicitly to have sex with her. The only reason I'm not outright calling this sexual assault is because he was supposedly also drunk. HOWEVER, he was thinking clearly enough to plot to get her drunk in the first place, while he got her so drunk she could barely walk on her own, apparently. So even if we don't call it rape, how could anyone call him blameless in the debacle when he deliberately takes advantage of a drunk women that he himself ensured would be too smashed for clear thought? How are people not calling him out on this? It's right there in black and white on the page!
As a counterpoint, never let it be said that I find Carly completely blameless in all this. She drank hard liquor that she was warned would be strong, even after her doctor told her to be careful with alcohol on account of her meds. She didn't insist on a condom when they did have sex, though I'm not entirely sure she was "with it" enough to understand what was happening until too late, since she seemed a tad too quiet and confused during the scene.
Tellingly, this exchange occurs before the event:
“Good. My aim is to loosen you up, not knock you on your butt.” She eyed him over the rim of the glass.
“Trying to ply me with liquor?”
“Damn straight.”
While Hank is clearly lying about how drunk he wants her, based on his admission the day after, he is outright admitting his intent. Yeah, it's clearly meant to be taken as a joke, but like my mom always says, when someone tells you who they are, believe them.
Nevertheless, I'm kind of flabbergasted at what really feels like a lot of victim-blaming in these reviews. So many I've seen outright say it was all her fault, when the book is courteous enough to explicitly state that the H deliberately impaired her judgement and then took advantage. Someone said that it takes two to tango, and considering how dumb Carly was with her own safety, I'm tempted to agree with that sentiment, but even then it isn't "all her fault." Even scummy Hank, with all his dubious morals in the beginning, knows better than to foist all the blame on her.
Still, This book is terrible regardless. I couldn't sit through it. It was just really, really ill thought out, and everyone criticizing it seems to at least be on the same page about that.