Title: Dirty Scoundrel
Author: Jessica Clare
Series: Roughneck Billionaires #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Short Novel
Available: Now
In a sizzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Dirty Money, there’s rich, and then there’s filthy rich when an oil tycoon takes being a roughneck billionaire to a new level.
Clay Price has everything he’s ever wanted, except the one thing money can’t buy—Natalie Weston. Years ago, Clay and Natalie were in love… until she turned down his marriage proposal. Now Clay and his brothers are oil-rich billionaires, and they can have whatever they want. And what Clay wants is Natalie in his bed, no matter what it takes. If it means being ruthless, he’ll do it.
Natalie gave up on true love years ago when the realities of the world destroyed her fairy-tale hopes. Giving up Clay is her biggest regret in life, and she’s excited to see him return… until she finds out why. Clay’s got one hell of a proposal for her: he’ll save her father’s business and bail Natalie out of debt if she’ll agree to become his very personal assistant. It’s clear that he wants more from her than just typing.
It’s also clear that Natalie has no choice. This scoundrel’s bet could destroy any hope they had of reconciliation—or it could bring them together once and for all…
Source: ARC provided by the author
I’m not the biggest fan of the old paid-mistress-revenge-reunion plot. I’ve read a lot of them in the past as pure fluff and brain candy, but I don’t particularly like them. However, I love Jessica Clare’s books and she’s carried me past a few of my dislikes before with her mix of sexy, funny, intriguing characters, so I was happy to give this a go.
Having said that, hmm. I don’t know what it was about this book (possibly the fact that I’d read a couple of the old Billionaire Boys’ Club just before), but it never quite clicked for me. Clay is quite sweet beneath his attempts at being a bad boy, and Natalie is far from a stuck-up rich girl, and yet, I don’t know, it wasn’t quite the sexy fun read I was hoping for.
Part of this is because of Natalie’s father and her inability to see him exactly as he is. The way she constantly tries to please him and panders to him was frustrating. Yes, she’s a natural people pleaser, but he’s a horrible man, she knows he’s a horrible man who manipulates everyone, yet she lets him do it to her anyway. It was admirable that she tried to look after him, but any sympathy faded over the way she gives into him almost every time.
Clay… I don’t really know why I didn’t love Clay. He’s actually quite nice when he’s not taking terrible advice from his brother, but at the same time, he just didn’t seem particularly real to me. As for the way things turned towards the end, it didn’t really fit in with the rest of the feel of the book and the romance itself was wrapped up a little too swiftly.
Overall, this was an okay read. It wasn’t terrible, and I certainly found easy enough to read through, but nor was it the best this author can offer. I love that Jessica Clare tries to do things differently, especially with her billionaires, but this time around it didn’t quite work for me.
Dirty Scoundrel is Out Now.
Visit Jessica Clare for more details.
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