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A review by lillyreads_08
Scandalous Park Avenue Prince by Brooke Blaine, Ella Frank
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Ranty and Spoilery Review ahead. Not hiding it under a tag because the authors forgot to include an important CW.
Going into Scandalous Park Avenue Prince, I hoped for a forbidden <i> Scandalous </i> romance between Preston and Archer. It’s girlfriend’s dad! But nope, it really wasn’t.
So I read one Ella Frank series years ago, and I have not read anything by Brooke Blaine before, but these authors are super popular and this series looked good (also the covers - they're gorgeous).
The first 50% was good, however it was really tame and healthy for a story with Scandalous as a title. While there’s chemistry and attraction between Archer and Preston, their relationship was lacking in the romance area but nothing too bad. I was enjoying seeing Preston and Archer’s relationship grow.
We learn the girlfriend isn’t really a girlfriend, Serena is Preston’s beard. They do have pressure coming from Preston’s political family to settle down and have children, but other than that they do their own things while keeping a front in the public eye. So it's not really forbidden?
It’s all too healthy and by chapter nine Serena knows that Preston and her father are together. I’m glad that a female character is not painted as a villain so I give points to that. Their friends are so understanding and not even phased that they discover Preston’s not straight and in a fake relationship.
Due to all this, it did not feel forbidden at all. Honestly, the authors could have removed the girlfriend part, and the story would have still worked. The issues will stem from how the public will view these two high-profile men and the reaction of Preston’s family.
Now, this is where the story took a downhill turn for me; at 60%, there's a scene when Preston and Archer are getting a massage from two men, and there's a "sharing scene" with hand jobs, but still. It literally came out of nowhere and I wish <i> I wish </i> the authors had put a CW for it. I would have not read it.
Going into Scandalous Park Avenue Prince, I hoped for a forbidden <i> Scandalous </i> romance between Preston and Archer. It’s girlfriend’s dad! But nope, it really wasn’t.
So I read one Ella Frank series years ago, and I have not read anything by Brooke Blaine before, but these authors are super popular and this series looked good (also the covers - they're gorgeous).
The first 50% was good, however it was really tame and healthy for a story with Scandalous as a title. While there’s chemistry and attraction between Archer and Preston, their relationship was lacking in the romance area but nothing too bad. I was enjoying seeing Preston and Archer’s relationship grow.
We learn the girlfriend isn’t really a girlfriend, Serena is Preston’s beard. They do have pressure coming from Preston’s political family to settle down and have children, but other than that they do their own things while keeping a front in the public eye. So it's not really forbidden?
It’s all too healthy and by chapter nine Serena knows that Preston and her father are together. I’m glad that a female character is not painted as a villain so I give points to that. Their friends are so understanding and not even phased that they discover Preston’s not straight and in a fake relationship.
Due to all this, it did not feel forbidden at all. Honestly, the authors could have removed the girlfriend part, and the story would have still worked. The issues will stem from how the public will view these two high-profile men and the reaction of Preston’s family.
Now, this is where the story took a downhill turn for me; at 60%, there's a scene when Preston and Archer are getting a massage from two men, and there's a "sharing scene" with hand jobs, but still. It literally came out of nowhere and I wish <i> I wish </i> the authors had put a CW for it. I would have not read it.
His eyes narrowed, and I felt that bit of jealousy all the way to my cock. “How many others do I have to worry about?”
“Not many. Just a few here and there,” I said flippantly, and Archer’s hands stilled on my calf. “Which translates to how many, exactly?” “You really want to talk numbers? What about yours?”
“Tonight was different. It was with you.” I lifted a shoulder, like I wasn’t as affected as I really was. “If that’s what you want, I can give you that too. As long as it goes both ways.”
There's possessiveness and jealousy between them so it didn't make sense to me and it killed the romance for me. How can you say something like "I don't want you to be with anyone else while you're with me." after? Make it make sense! Preston's words and Archer's actions (and words) contradict everything.
Overall the first half was stronger for me and it would have been an easy 4 stars but I could not bring myself to enjoy the book after that scene. Do I recommend it? Not really because there's other books that do this forbidden trope better but I think fans of these authors will like it.