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A review by jscarpa14
Living the Dream by Lyla Payne
4.0
Yes I'm that horrible reader that started at the end of the series, but let me explain why. I heard mixed opinions about the writer and even reading the descriptions the characters didn't really sound like great people that I'd enjoy reading about. That said one of my favorite romance tropes is the fake relationship turned real so I decided if I was going to give this writer a try that I was going to go for a trope that I know I like and see how she makes it her own and if I enjoy reading that. The plan being if I liked how she handled one of my favorite romance tropes I would go and read more of her works, but I didn't go into the story expecting to like it. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong and I really enjoyed Sebastian and Audra's story.
The whole college campus is filled with entitled rich kids that have trust funds and never worry about cash. Because they don't have money worries they have a lot more time to play games with each other and torment each other which is how this story really gets started. Audra's exboyfriend filmed them having sex without her knowledge and posted it on the internet as a website he makes money from. Because she's from a high profile family she can't just ignore it and hope it goes away this is the sort of thing that will make the news if they get wind of it. Sebastian has a way of getting things done that isn't always ethical and he's behind a lot of the dirty deeds that happen at the college. Audra turns to him for help in getting rid of the website, willing to pay almost any price. What she doesn't know but the reader is made aware of upon their first meeting is that Logan, the ex from Hell went to Sebastian with the tapes for help in making them into a website. Disliking most people and thinking most of the students at Whitman deserved to be toyed with even though he's never bothered to really get to know any of them to make this decision, Sebastian agreed. He can easily take down the site because he's the one who put it up in the first place, but he doesn't tell Audra that, instead he black mails her he'll take down the site in return for her pretending to be his girlfriend for the rest of the semester until he graduates. Sebastian needs stability and a better reputation in order to help him find a job in politics because his mother is dying and his father is going to cut him off if he uses any of his money to help her.
Like most fake relationships the enforced time spent together has them falling in love which I was expecting and really enjoyed. The book alternates between Audra and Sebastian's point of view so you really get a first hand view as they grow as characters and people, each bringing out the best in the other. Sebastian has never had anyone he could trust before Audra, Audra has never had anyone who could look at her without expectations of a plan in their minds for her to follow. She teaches him how to actually live instead of puppet master all the people while watching from the outside. He teaches her how to be strong and stand up for herself, how to discover what she wants and go for it. Both of these things I really liked.
The thing I really didn't like was Audra's family. Her brothers make her life hell because they don't want her dating Sebastian and they think they should have a right to decide who she does and doesn't date. They ambush her on multiple occasions, they attack Sebastian and they involve her parents working to make her life miserable so she'll give up Sebastian whether she wants to or not. Audra claims to have a loving family but honestly I couldn't stand them. When the other characters were screwed up at least they weren't denying being assholes. Her brothers never saw themselves as in the wrong, they view themselves as the good guys when to me they were worse characters than Logan with his sex website. I thought they were lowlifes and that she'd be better off without having family in her life than having the siblings she had. But Audra and the author continue to defend that she has a good family who love and support each other. If Audra's family is what's considered a good family I don't think people need families. I'd rather be alone in the world than be related to the people Audra claims to love. The author or character would TELL us how they all respect and care about women, then show us the brothers bullying her and trying to deny her the right to choose who she wants to be with. I don't call that respect or family worth having. I spent a lot of the book really hating Audra's family which was the biggest downside of the book for me.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it. It's an interesting read with engaging characters and surprising plot twists.
The whole college campus is filled with entitled rich kids that have trust funds and never worry about cash. Because they don't have money worries they have a lot more time to play games with each other and torment each other which is how this story really gets started. Audra's exboyfriend filmed them having sex without her knowledge and posted it on the internet as a website he makes money from. Because she's from a high profile family she can't just ignore it and hope it goes away this is the sort of thing that will make the news if they get wind of it. Sebastian has a way of getting things done that isn't always ethical and he's behind a lot of the dirty deeds that happen at the college. Audra turns to him for help in getting rid of the website, willing to pay almost any price. What she doesn't know but the reader is made aware of upon their first meeting is that Logan, the ex from Hell went to Sebastian with the tapes for help in making them into a website. Disliking most people and thinking most of the students at Whitman deserved to be toyed with even though he's never bothered to really get to know any of them to make this decision, Sebastian agreed. He can easily take down the site because he's the one who put it up in the first place, but he doesn't tell Audra that, instead he black mails her he'll take down the site in return for her pretending to be his girlfriend for the rest of the semester until he graduates. Sebastian needs stability and a better reputation in order to help him find a job in politics because his mother is dying and his father is going to cut him off if he uses any of his money to help her.
Like most fake relationships the enforced time spent together has them falling in love which I was expecting and really enjoyed. The book alternates between Audra and Sebastian's point of view so you really get a first hand view as they grow as characters and people, each bringing out the best in the other. Sebastian has never had anyone he could trust before Audra, Audra has never had anyone who could look at her without expectations of a plan in their minds for her to follow. She teaches him how to actually live instead of puppet master all the people while watching from the outside. He teaches her how to be strong and stand up for herself, how to discover what she wants and go for it. Both of these things I really liked.
The thing I really didn't like was Audra's family. Her brothers make her life hell because they don't want her dating Sebastian and they think they should have a right to decide who she does and doesn't date. They ambush her on multiple occasions, they attack Sebastian and they involve her parents working to make her life miserable so she'll give up Sebastian whether she wants to or not. Audra claims to have a loving family but honestly I couldn't stand them. When the other characters were screwed up at least they weren't denying being assholes. Her brothers never saw themselves as in the wrong, they view themselves as the good guys when to me they were worse characters than Logan with his sex website. I thought they were lowlifes and that she'd be better off without having family in her life than having the siblings she had. But Audra and the author continue to defend that she has a good family who love and support each other. If Audra's family is what's considered a good family I don't think people need families. I'd rather be alone in the world than be related to the people Audra claims to love. The author or character would TELL us how they all respect and care about women, then show us the brothers bullying her and trying to deny her the right to choose who she wants to be with. I don't call that respect or family worth having. I spent a lot of the book really hating Audra's family which was the biggest downside of the book for me.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it. It's an interesting read with engaging characters and surprising plot twists.