Scan barcode
A review by kfriend
Egotistical Player by Bella Emy
2.0
I love the premise of the Cocky Hero Club- a chance for a diverse swarth of authors to play around in the worlds created by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Cocky Bastard series. It’s a fun idea- seeing the different spins authors put on the premise, it expands the world and cannon of a well established series, and it gives readers a chance to discover new authors.
Egotistical Player is a slow burn brother’s best friend romance. And I mean SLOW- Harleigh has had feelings for her brother’s friend, Preston since high school. But, he’s a player, the cocky ladies plan, and while she’s attracted to him, she also can’t stand him. The classic love-hate draw. Little did she know, he was also attracted to her, but she was young and his best friend’s sister, so definitely off limits. This story spans their connection over several years as they battle the will-they/won’t-they dynamic, fall into bed together, deal with personal tragedies that become barriers to them taking the plunge, and grapple with moving beyond quickies.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t a good fit for me. I get the premise- these are “Cocky Heroes” after all, and I can handle a cocky leading man any day of the week- but I also need to like him, to get the attraction, for the swagger to be endearing and/or masked vulnerability. But, I just could not get behind Preston. I just wanted him to man up- because the issue is never the brother or the obstacles, the issue is him, his wishy washyness over being with Haleigh I love a good jerky hero, but I also need them to own it, for their to be a reason, other than the hero actually just is an immature jerk. Consistently hurting our heroine, not ever being willing to commit- over a long period of time? Yeh, just not feeling him. I loved Haleigh- but I wanted her to move on from him for much of the story, not be with him. He does redeem himself some at the end, but at that point I couldn’t be won over.
I think my feelings about him are also exacerbated by the really slow progression- this love story spans two decades, with a lot of quick time hops, so it is more than slow burn, this is slow-slow burn. I love a good push-pull but when it spans that much time and with a guy that I’m not loving, well, I felt myself disengaging. To be fair, slow burn isn’t my favorite approach- I love watching a couple get together, but I like also getting to spend time with them once they do. And this is a drawn out “getting together” story, less on the actual together- which I know many people love. My challenge thorough was that when they did get together, I didn’t see enough remorse, enough growth from Preston for it to feel gratifying.
The writing here is great, and I know many will enjoy this story- so pick it up and decide for yourself! For me personally, wasn’t my cup of tea.
2.5 stars
Merged review:
I love the premise of the Cocky Hero Club- a chance for a diverse swarth of authors to play around in the worlds created by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Cocky Bastard series. It’s a fun idea- seeing the different spins authors put on the premise, it expands the world and cannon of a well established series, and it gives readers a chance to discover new authors.
Egotistical Player is a slow burn brother’s best friend romance. And I mean SLOW- Harleigh has had feelings for her brother’s friend, Preston since high school. But, he’s a player, the cocky ladies plan, and while she’s attracted to him, she also can’t stand him. The classic love-hate draw. Little did she know, he was also attracted to her, but she was young and his best friend’s sister, so definitely off limits. This story spans their connection over several years as they battle the will-they/won’t-they dynamic, fall into bed together, deal with personal tragedies that become barriers to them taking the plunge, and grapple with moving beyond quickies.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t a good fit for me. I get the premise- these are “Cocky Heroes” after all, and I can handle a cocky leading man any day of the week- but I also need to like him, to get the attraction, for the swagger to be endearing and/or masked vulnerability. But, I just could not get behind Preston. I just wanted him to man up- because the issue is never the brother or the obstacles, the issue is him, his wishy washyness over being with Haleigh I love a good jerky hero, but I also need them to own it, for their to be a reason, other than the hero actually just is an immature jerk. Consistently hurting our heroine, not ever being willing to commit- over a long period of time? Yeh, just not feeling him. I loved Haleigh- but I wanted her to move on from him for much of the story, not be with him. He does redeem himself some at the end, but at that point I couldn’t be won over.
I think my feelings about him are also exacerbated by the really slow progression- this love story spans two decades, with a lot of quick time hops, so it is more than slow burn, this is slow-slow burn. I love a good push-pull but when it spans that much time and with a guy that I’m not loving, well, I felt myself disengaging. To be fair, slow burn isn’t my favorite approach- I love watching a couple get together, but I like also getting to spend time with them once they do. And this is a drawn out “getting together” story, less on the actual together- which I know many people love. My challenge thorough was that when they did get together, I didn’t see enough remorse, enough growth from Preston for it to feel gratifying.
The writing here is great, and I know many will enjoy this story- so pick it up and decide for yourself! For me personally, wasn’t my cup of tea.
Egotistical Player is a slow burn brother’s best friend romance. And I mean SLOW- Harleigh has had feelings for her brother’s friend, Preston since high school. But, he’s a player, the cocky ladies plan, and while she’s attracted to him, she also can’t stand him. The classic love-hate draw. Little did she know, he was also attracted to her, but she was young and his best friend’s sister, so definitely off limits. This story spans their connection over several years as they battle the will-they/won’t-they dynamic, fall into bed together, deal with personal tragedies that become barriers to them taking the plunge, and grapple with moving beyond quickies.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t a good fit for me. I get the premise- these are “Cocky Heroes” after all, and I can handle a cocky leading man any day of the week- but I also need to like him, to get the attraction, for the swagger to be endearing and/or masked vulnerability. But, I just could not get behind Preston. I just wanted him to man up- because the issue is never the brother or the obstacles, the issue is him, his wishy washyness over being with Haleigh I love a good jerky hero, but I also need them to own it, for their to be a reason, other than the hero actually just is an immature jerk. Consistently hurting our heroine, not ever being willing to commit- over a long period of time? Yeh, just not feeling him. I loved Haleigh- but I wanted her to move on from him for much of the story, not be with him. He does redeem himself some at the end, but at that point I couldn’t be won over.
I think my feelings about him are also exacerbated by the really slow progression- this love story spans two decades, with a lot of quick time hops, so it is more than slow burn, this is slow-slow burn. I love a good push-pull but when it spans that much time and with a guy that I’m not loving, well, I felt myself disengaging. To be fair, slow burn isn’t my favorite approach- I love watching a couple get together, but I like also getting to spend time with them once they do. And this is a drawn out “getting together” story, less on the actual together- which I know many people love. My challenge thorough was that when they did get together, I didn’t see enough remorse, enough growth from Preston for it to feel gratifying.
The writing here is great, and I know many will enjoy this story- so pick it up and decide for yourself! For me personally, wasn’t my cup of tea.
2.5 stars
Merged review:
I love the premise of the Cocky Hero Club- a chance for a diverse swarth of authors to play around in the worlds created by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Cocky Bastard series. It’s a fun idea- seeing the different spins authors put on the premise, it expands the world and cannon of a well established series, and it gives readers a chance to discover new authors.
Egotistical Player is a slow burn brother’s best friend romance. And I mean SLOW- Harleigh has had feelings for her brother’s friend, Preston since high school. But, he’s a player, the cocky ladies plan, and while she’s attracted to him, she also can’t stand him. The classic love-hate draw. Little did she know, he was also attracted to her, but she was young and his best friend’s sister, so definitely off limits. This story spans their connection over several years as they battle the will-they/won’t-they dynamic, fall into bed together, deal with personal tragedies that become barriers to them taking the plunge, and grapple with moving beyond quickies.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t a good fit for me. I get the premise- these are “Cocky Heroes” after all, and I can handle a cocky leading man any day of the week- but I also need to like him, to get the attraction, for the swagger to be endearing and/or masked vulnerability. But, I just could not get behind Preston. I just wanted him to man up- because the issue is never the brother or the obstacles, the issue is him, his wishy washyness over being with Haleigh I love a good jerky hero, but I also need them to own it, for their to be a reason, other than the hero actually just is an immature jerk. Consistently hurting our heroine, not ever being willing to commit- over a long period of time? Yeh, just not feeling him. I loved Haleigh- but I wanted her to move on from him for much of the story, not be with him. He does redeem himself some at the end, but at that point I couldn’t be won over.
I think my feelings about him are also exacerbated by the really slow progression- this love story spans two decades, with a lot of quick time hops, so it is more than slow burn, this is slow-slow burn. I love a good push-pull but when it spans that much time and with a guy that I’m not loving, well, I felt myself disengaging. To be fair, slow burn isn’t my favorite approach- I love watching a couple get together, but I like also getting to spend time with them once they do. And this is a drawn out “getting together” story, less on the actual together- which I know many people love. My challenge thorough was that when they did get together, I didn’t see enough remorse, enough growth from Preston for it to feel gratifying.
The writing here is great, and I know many will enjoy this story- so pick it up and decide for yourself! For me personally, wasn’t my cup of tea.