Review ~ Royal Pain (His Royal Hotness, #1) by Tracy Wolff

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: September 19th 2017

Publisher: Loveswept

Description:
He’s a womanizer. He’s cocky. He’s not exactly a prince. Only he technically is. Meet your new royal obsession in this addictive novel from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff.

Being rich opens a lot of doors. When you’re rich and royal, those doors lead to a new bedroom every night. I should know. The tabloids call me His Royal Hotness, Prince Kian of Wildemar. Women across the world see me as a naughty fairy tale, an image I’m happy to indulge. As the spare to the heir, I’m the prince with none of the power . . . and all of the perks.

Then my twin brother is kidnapped, and suddenly I’m the one who could be king. The crown chasers start circling—and yet it’s a luscious waitress who catches my eye. With a smart mouth and the curves to back it up, Savannah Breslin is as brazen as I’d expect an American commoner to be.

But Savvy’s not interested in playing Cinderella. As sexy as she is, she’s no stranger to heartbreak. Besides, a nice guy wouldn’t drag her into all the drama that comes along with royalty. Lucky I’m not a nice guy. And, as it turns out, I might not even be her first prince. . . .

My Opinion

After reading Down and Dirty a few months ago I was excited to get to this book and read more from this author. However, while I enjoyed Royal Pain I did have a few issues so it has split my opinion. 

To start with, Royal Pain seemed to have everything I love in a book and be setting up for an interesting read. It has 2 princes, a commoner, suspense, romance, and drama. As ideas, I liked these elements. I also liked Kian. He had a good balance if playboy prince, but also genuine love and concern for his brother. He seemed like a good guy and I liked him 

However, I'm not sure I bought into the whole romance. It started off interestingly enough, but it moved too quickly for my liking and I didn't feel the spark. I also skimmed some of the sex scenes as since I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters they didn't work for me and felt more like padding. 

Moreover, while I liked the idea of this books, I think it had the potential to be more. It felt undeveloped to me. A lot of situations happen behind the scenes or out of sight. It left a lot to be desired for and aided in the disconnect I felt. It's a shame because this could have been a great read and it had the potential. I just felt it lacked in execution. It also led to a swift resolve in the end. Things just happened too fast for me in this book--feelings, plot, ending. It was kind like a whistle stop tour of this world. 


Overall, this is a short easy read. Down and Dirty was a much better read by this author, but this one was okay.  I thought more could be made of it had it been developed more. 

3

Review ~ Down & Dirty by Tracy Wolff

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: May 23rd 2017

Publisher: Loveswept

Description:
Emerson: Talk about bad first impressions. I have too much riding on this job to show up late on my first day looking like the winner of a wet T-shirt contest, all thanks to an arrogant quarterback who drives like he owns the road. Hunter Browning thinks that because he’s famous, he can fix everything with a smile and a wave of his hand. He’s too bronzed, buff, and beautiful for his own good. Or mine. I can’t let on that I’m a fan . . . no matter how much fun we’d have in the sack.

Hunter: Hitting that puddle was my best play since winning the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass. Sure, it’s not my preferred way to get a girl wet, but I’ll make an exception for Emerson Day. She’s got a sharp tongue and a red-hot temper, even with her soaking clothes plastered to her every curve. Now I know exactly what my next play will be: hire Emerson as my personal real-estate agent, save her job—and see if I can take her off the market.

My Opinion

I was hooked from chapter one with Down and Dirty. I only intended to start it to kill some time while waiting for a friend to arrive. However, I ended up reading 50% and struggled to stop and get on with my day after that. This read definitely surprised me.

Down and Dirty captured my interest most because of the banter and battle of wits between Emerson and Hunter. From the second they meet they're hurling jabs at one another, and I liked that Emerson could hold her own against Hunter. As they spent more time together the banter became more playful and flirty. I definitely thought there was chemistry between them, and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop.

The plot also kept me engaged with its mix of angst and lightheartedness. I will admit that having got to the end I'm not sure I believe in the relationship completely because of the short time period. I felt the book moved away from the playful and flirty banter in the second half and focused more on the sex. If I'm honest, I did skim these sections more. For me some of the chemistry was lost in favour of standard sex scenes, which I'm becoming bored of when they're repeated numerous times. It feels more like a filler than adding anything. I wanted more of them getting to know each other to build up first.


Overall, I did enjoy this read. The first half was better than the second, but the characters pulled me through. It had a mix of light and dark that made me smile and pulled of my heartstrings, so pick up a copy if the blurb sounds interesting.

4