Format:
audiobook
Publisher’s Synopsis:
She’s sworn to go solo. He’s once-bitten and twice-shy. Together, their passion is—complicated.
Maddie McComber is driven to succeed. Working her way through Harvard by tending bar, the dual MBA and law student isn’t about to lose focus by letting any of her regulars take her to bed. But the flirty banter she shares with the well-dressed older man definitely makes her tingle in all the right places.
Daniel Jones has no faith in love. The high-flying billionaire divorce attorney knows from both personal and professional experience that almost all perfect affairs end in expensive disasters. But the way the attractive grad student at the pub sees past his wealth and acknowledges his true self has him totally hooked.
Moved when he rescues her from an attacker, Maddie starts to feel her anti-dating regulations may require serious review. But though Daniel recognizes she’s everything he wants, his heart remains mired in the pain of the past.
Can these two legal eagles soar over their fears and into a happy future?
Point of view:
1st person
Rellim’s Thoughts:
This launches Zee Irwin’s Fated Mates series.
While this is a billionaire romance, I liked that everything Daniel did for Maddie was thoughtful, practical, and often under the radar. In some respects he rescued her yet it was respectful to her need to be self-sufficient. I enjoyed the slow burn friends-to-lovers for the first half of the book.
The pacing was a little slow and I’m mixed on the “I don’t believe in real love” trope. I think what kept the story from working well for me here was too much angsty back and forth from both Daniel & Maddie. Daniel was needlessly cruel in an effort to “create a clean break” and never actually apologized for it.
I did like the epilogue and it was nice to see their HEA.
Narration:
Matt Haynes is new to me. I enjoyed his performance, especially the Irish & Boston accents.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Home Cooked Books and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Rellim Reads 