I picked this off of Hoopla, and realized after a couple pages I had already read it. It appears that I did not record my thoughts though, so I skimmed it to refresh my recollection, and here goes. Jude, who is 36, is like a roided out 19 year old frat bro. He is repulsive. Not because he screws every hot woman who crosses his path. He is honest with all the women about just being in it for the fun and scrupulous about consent, so on that score I say have at it. No, he is constantly proving his manhood -- posing as a stripper to win a bet, gaslighting a woman he later purports to love so he can be free, talking and dressing like one of those men who writes books about how to nail women (think Tucker Max before he saw the error of his ways), calling women "babe" and "sweetheart" and more. He is gross. And Sophie buys into a lot of it which makes me question her too. They are so basic in so many ways that I found them off-putting. Also, they never had a meaningful conversation about anything other than their families and sex. This in not a solid foundation for love.

One note: To the women who make up Max Monroe, I appreciate you did enough research to house the one "artsy vegan" (their words) in Bushwick, but as usual despite having two lifelong New Yorkers as your leads, nothing seemed like it was happening in NYC other than not being able to get a cab in the rain. New Yorkers do not go out for prime rib dinners or think that filet at The Plaza is top of the line dining. (High end steak eating means Gallagher's or Keen's, not conference hotel food.) Honestly, I don't think I know anyone who has eaten at The Plaza other than if they were at a wedding or a conference -- that is true of me, but also pretty universal, I think. Ditto on wanting good Italian and going, not to Lilia or I Sodi or the hundreds of Italian cafes sprinkled across every borough and neighborhood, but to someplace in what used to be Little Italy 40 years ago. No one dresses to go out the way it is described here unless they are Eastern European woman looking for a green card marriage. There are sex clubs, and as represented their locations are pretty secret, you need to know someone in that community to know, but they are not walking distance from Soho unless they are in private brownstones, generally West Village, or Tribeca lofts. There are no industrial buildings around there anymore, so those are out. On the good side, I was pleased to see these people sometimes used the subway -- they rarely do in romance, and nearly everyone without a driver uses the subway sometimes because it is so much faster than a cab.

One more thing: The speech at the end made me want to vomit, and I am someone who loves reading mushy romance. The ending monologue seemed like a parody of romance.

Things that saved this from being 1-star
1. Jude's relationship with his niece.
2. Sophie's relationship with her therapist.
3. I always say I can't stand it when characters I don't like in romance books have good sex, but this book proved me wrong on that. It wasn't realistic sex (15 orgasms in 24 hours?) but the whole illicit public sex scavenger hunt was really fun. ( )

Jude is one of Winnie's brothers that was introduced in Broody Millionaire: The Wes Lancaster Collection. Ty, Jude, Flynn, & Remy. Jude is a thirty six year old club promoter that's always up for a good time with no commitments and never backs down from a bet. He accepts a bet from one of the exotic dancers at the club he's promoting and dances in the VIP room for a bachelorette party. He's enthralled with the bride-to-be who happens to be filling in for her twin. Sophie is trading places with her twin for the party and has a night to remember with hardly any contact with Jude dancing for her. Running into each other later, Jude takes her on a date and to bed which continues for months before it becomes something more that has the asshole running. Working on commitment issues that he and his brothers have has Jude seeking Winnie's help dealing with fallout and what he really wants. Sophie was a little weak for Jude's strong personality. Looking forward to the next book in the series ( )