A decent read, but ultimately not for me as too many things bugged me:
The bad guy never feels really bad...like I kept thinking the mc's were going to find out they were wrong about him and the bad guy was someone else, someone truly evil...this bad guy sorta feels half assed.
Also the heroine gets chummy with the bad guy ( she doesn't know he's bad) , and everyone else takes way too long to tell her why he's bad. And these people are supposed to care about her! Seriously? He's suspected of
(show spoiler)and you don't think that's something you want to mention ASAP?!
Also there were a couple continuity issues, and bits where we're told not shown something...like the hero says he comes from a lovng family which was hard to believe because they never seem all that close. The hero gets annoyed when he talks with his sis and his ma, and pissed off when he talks to his da. there's no camaraderie filled moments so it's hard to buy that they even like each other all that much (well until the end where there's a few sentences showing how much they care...for me though, it was too late and felt tacked on)
And then there a bits of the story that don't feel fully fleshed out, including the whole deal about the H having to get married to keep his company. It gets mentioned but I feel like we could have gotten more details about why it was such a big deal and the heroine reactions to finding out about the stipulation.
Oh and the hero's a total beta...there's a couple moments when it seems like the author tried to make him an alpha but they just didn't work. I'm not opposed to well written beta heroes, but I have to be honest, this guy bored me a bit. He was sweet yes, which I liked, but then he wouldn't take action when I wanted him to, so he was irritating as well.
Also they're technically new adults ( the H is 22) but they mostly come off as much older but get treated as mush younger by all parents/older adults.
There's references to as well as shades of Pride and Prejudice in this, like the bad guy going after the H's little sis ( can you say Wickham wannabe?) this didn't bother me so much, as I like p&p I but maybe its because, like I said before, the bad guy wasn't drawn as bad as he should've been, so while Wickham was very definitely a douche this guys bad guy vibes weren't clear until the final pages of the story.
Also the heroine mentions quite a few times how she gladly gave up all semblance of having a life ( while she was in high school) to take care of her sick mother...so often that it started to feel like she was bragging about what a kind, loving dutiful daughter she was. If someone else has mentioned it I may have not been as annoyed, but because she kept saying it about herself it comes off as self-aggrandizing.
Also the climax of the story sorta came outta nowhere... Like Ms Aleo thought she needed to end her story with a bang and threw it in... But Honestly it left me more bewildered than shocked.
So yeah, there were a few too many things that bugged me, so I can't say I really liked this, but I didn't hate it and I did finish it ( and keep in kind just because it bothered me doesn't mean the same stuff will bother you). And I think Toni Aleo has potential, but needs some polishing. So 2.5 stars ( 2 for the story and .5 for all the irish-isms :D
2
