From the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game, soon to be a movie starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, an unforgettable romantic comedy about a woman who finally has a shot at her long time crush—if she dares.Crush (n.): a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach… Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.
When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.
Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that’s inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.
This next hilarious romance includes a special PS section with two Happily Ever Afters—one for this novel featuring Darcy and Tom and the other, an epilogue featuring fan favorites Lucy Hutton and Josh Templeman from The Hating Game!
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last year I wanted to read this book so badly but then like the first three chapters were moving kind of slow for me so I put the book down. This year I decided to give it a second chance and so far I’m loving the book.
This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was written in a really unique way and I enjoyed it thoroughly. So much so that I actually had to go back and re-read The Hating Game after I finished.
I love a couple with a complicated history, and these two are the epitome of complicated. I really loved this book. Funny, interesting, couldn’t put it down.
Just started. So far… Really good!
boring and unoriginal
For a second I wasn’t sure if I was going to get into it. It started off a little slow for me and then it picked up and I read a huge chunk of it. This is a case of “I’m so glad I didn’t listen to the reviews” because I actually really liked Darcy and Tom. It just shows that we all read the same book in different ways. Hence why I hate prejudging a book based on reviews. But that’s just me. I really enjoyed both of the epilogues in the back, I love me some Lucy and Josh.
There is a lot to say, so bear with me, and I will try to condense it as much as possible.
I really liked this book and I do recommend it. It was definitely different from Sally Thorne’s “The Hating Game”. It should be. It is a completely different book. I find it fascinating that Ms. Thorne is able to create such a wide array of convincing characters for her books. Impressive. That being said, you may not find all characters’ personalities endearing, but I assure you that you won’t find them boring either.
Character Assessment:
Darcy is a very strong female lead character. She is independent and tries to hide her short comings by having a bristly exterior and a wandering spirit. This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love the people she is close to with a fiery passion because underneath that bristly exterior, Darcy has a huge (even if it is defective) heart that loves unconditionally.
Jamie is Darcy’s twin. He has a competitive spirit, is a bit of a jerk, and loves his twin. It couldn’t have been easy to have a sibling with a heart defect that tends to take off without any notice and without much communication. His constant worrying about whether she is ok or whether her heart has given out in some unknown location has had a negative effect on their relationship. Sadly, it has also affected his opinion of his twin.
Tom is a sensitive soul, caring and warm, but also protective. He is easy-going, confident, and could soothe an angry honey badger. Tom could make anyone melt. He is Jamie’s best friend and Darcy’s long-time crush.
Grandma saw a lot of herself in Darcy. She once told Darcy how she somewhat regretted that she married so young and didn’t use her youth to be free to do what she wanted. When she passed away, she left her cottage to the twins with instructions to fix it up, sell it, and split the profits.
Plot:
After his feelings were crushed by Darcy when they were teenagers, it makes sense that Tom would try to keep some emotional distance between them. Which wasn’t difficult, because as soon as Grandma found out about the whole thing, she gave Darcy a plane ticket and helped her bounce right out of there. Seemingly, to stop her from making the same decisions that Grandma made and then later regretted. After a little time passed, Tom started dating his now fiance, leaving no room for Darcy in any romantic capacity. However, things are turned upside down when Tom is the one hired by Jamie to renovate Grandma’s cottage and Darcy is stuck there after realizing that her passport is missing. Shenanigans ensue.
I laughed out loud a lot from the start to about half way through. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about it besides the occasional weird thrown in Australian slang that didn’t make much sense to me given that as far as I could tell the story takes place in America I could be wrong but overall those portions didn’t fit to me. Darcy definitely wasn’t my favorite main character but she did make me laugh. The way she acted about her heart condition was troublesome and how she was with Tom and pretty much every guy was odd. I didn’t quite understand the way she acted with the crew at first either. She has this alpha mentally with men that makes her come off like a lunatic lol. Her brother is obviously an asshole but it gets glossed over as well. I didn’t love how they magically do a 180 after Tom gets sick of their shit. I don’t think he should have gotten with truly it was weird. The whole story and interactions were weird to be honest. But I laughed a lot especially about Tom being a chew toy (I have two chihuahuas so patty was the best character hands down), the underswears were hilarious too. There was a part where Darcy said her grandmother told her to leave Tom alone and that was why she left I guess but we don’t get more into it. Overall it was over dramatic and over cheesy most of the time. But I still enjoyed reading it
I cared about Darcy–strong, passionate, obstinate women that she is–from the start. I even cared about her twin brother way before he hit the pages, because of how she spoke of him. And ooooh boy, did I feel for Tom, the boy next door that became a part of their family when they were all just 8 years old.
Darcy’s grandma died, and now she’s living at the house for the 3-month renovation project Tom (her twin’s BFF) is heading. It’s emotional to be there, but it must be done. And it might just be exactly what she needs.
The crackling sparks between Darcy and Tom absolutely make this a tingle book, but it’s also deeper than that. Familial love. Romantic love. How to treat those we love (including ourselves).
I tore through this one. So, so good.
Ugh, such a let down after the Hating Game. I couldn’t really connect with Darcy, the main character. She was kind of whiny and irrational. She is reconnected with Tom, a guy she’s had a crush on since she was a teenager. Tom was okay, just kind of a doormat. There didn’t seem to be a good reason why they haven’t been together all these years if that is what they wanted. And I was excited about Darcy having a twin brother and how that would play out. But Jame was just awful to her, borderline cruel.
I thought this was a cute book. The characters are well developed and easy to like. You feel their emotions and only want them to be happy.
Loved it, every bit as much as I loved The Hating Game!
I have a thing for the strong, stoic type in heroes, and Tom hit all the sweet spots. Darcy’s a fireball I couldn’t get enough of.
All in all a great read! Highly recommended.
I (and I think many other readers) had high hopes for Sally Thorne’s sophomore novel. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not The Hating Game. I didn’t want it to be The Hating game. I was looking for something different, but with the same style and charm. And I feel like I really got that with 99 Percent Mine.
The characters were super quirky (and dare I even say a little “weird”) in this book. It was a little tough for me to get a read on both Darcy and Tom, but once I did I was all in. I’m a sucker for an unrequited love/brother’s best friend book (even if I want to smack said brother for being a jerk). Darcy was sassy. Tom was a really nice guy. I thought they were both likable, and I enjoyed how things progressed before them. It was a fun, swoony and charming. It wasn’t THG, but I loved it for what it was.
Favorite Quotes:
“Why are you always trying to convince me that you’re not perfect? To me, you are. Completely perfect. Believe me, I’ve undertaken a worldwide census. No one else measures up.”
“Once someone’s mine, they’re gonna stay mine. One hundred percent, forever. You know what I’m like.”
“No one else is kissing you anymore. Your mouth is mine.”
I’ve never read this author before, but from the first moment that I saw this book (somewhere)…I was DYING to read this. It just screamed at me. I’ll also admit that I’m HORRIBLE at remembering release dates…so when I saw this was out, I pretty much ran to my library to see if they had it (thank god they did!)….and I immediately started it.
I was instantly intrigued by Darcy and Tom. I loved their history, and friendship. I loved how even though he was engaged, Darcy just wanted him to be happy even as it killed her. Darcy didn’t pull any punches. She was blunt and honest and…brave. She said things that would make most people balk. She knew she’d get rejected but she said it anyway.
I’ll admit, I didn’t like Darcy’s twin brother Jamie. I didn’t like how he treated Darcy, or Tom. I didn’t like how he was spying on her, using her best friend or any of it. I knew he’d show up at some point, as more than just someone that was talked about, talked to on the phone or in memories…and I was both dreading it and anticipating it. I wanted to see how things would go down yet I knew it was going to piss me off. I was right. As soon as he set foot on the page, I got pissed at him and wanted to drop kick him right out of the book.
One of my favorite things was the connection between Tom and Darcy. Every time they were in a room together, it was just magic.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book!
I finished this book in a couple of days. The main character was a little more harsh than I expected, but it worked for the story. It’s an easy to read, light love story. Good beach reading.
Flat. That’s how I would describe this book. 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne fell flat for me. It could have been so much better, but it was just disappointing.
Darcy Barrett is a wedding photographer turned bar tender who is currently living in a house her grandmother left to her and her twin brother, Jamie. She is a wanderer, never stays in one place for too long, but *predictably* she can’t find her passport. Leaving her stuck in the town she grew up in. Plus in the house that she and her brother need to remodel.
Insert love interest. None other that the boy turned man Darcy has been madly in love with since she was little, Tom. He has been hired to do the remodelling on the house, and is also Jamie’s best friend. Tom is the one man who has been able to get under Darcy’s skin and into her heart, but she blew is once and he’s now engaged to someone else. Forced to work together on the renovation, Darcy and Tom have to fight their feelings in order to get this house done.
Can anyone else see the clichés and predictable love scenarios going on here? I thought I would love Darcy’s character. She is edgy, independent and strong. But the minute this man, who she has always been in love with, walks into the scene, she completely changes. She is a goofy flirt, not confident and falls at his feet. I don’t get where these romance novels feel that the only way a woman can find love is to completely change for the male romantic lead. Darcy’s character felt forced and wishy-washy. Major let down number one.
Tom seemed like a nice guy. A man many female readers would equally fall in love with. But Darcy’s onslaught of him throughout the novel was down right scary. The jealousy and horrible things she said about Tom’s fiancé — it left a bad taste in my mouth. I honestly felt sad that the two were forced into a romantic relationship in the end. Major let down number two.
The last issue I had with this book was the relationship of the two siblings — Darcy and Jamie. This was dreadful. It totally didn’t read well! Don’t even get me started on this cliché of Darcy falling in love with her twin brother’s best friend. He is the only man I could ever be with? Had there been more back story of Jamie and Darcy growing up and their childhood with Tom, this could have made the abrupt sibling resentment and feud flow better.
The only reason I’m giving this a solid three out of five stars is because the sex scene was EPIC! I wouldn’t mind having a peep-hole into Sally Thorne’s brain because those scenes were described with every little detail a sad, single and sexually deprived person needed. Let’s just say soccer moms who aren’t getting anything at home can just flip to page 255 in this book and take it away from there!
This book fell flat for me. It only really picked up with the sex scenes and then fell flat again after that. I didn’t enjoy Thorne’s debut novel, The Hating Game, so it’s no surprise this one was a let down too. I hoped it could have been better, but this was equally as boring as her first. If you’re looking for a something that doesn’t require much of your brain or heart 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne is just the book you need. As a side note, you certainly will feel the need to fan yourself off with this one — but you might just want to skip to page 255 to get to the good stuff!
Read my full review here: https://bit.ly/2uQajN2
Darcy’s long-time crush moves in to help her renovate her grandmother’s house – and sparks fly. Loved this funny gem.
Ummmm…this is a tough one. I preordered this as like pretty much the entire world I fell in love with Thorne’s writing with “The Hating Game”. I think the consensus seems to be that readers were disappointed with Thorne’s second book, and I was no different. The big thing she was missing in this story was character motivation. Why is Darcy such a bitter shrew? I have no issue with unlikable female characters, I just need to know the WHY (like I do with all characters). Why do Darcy and Jaime hate each other so much and are so awful to each other? Why does Tom even like Darcy or put up with all her immaturity and bullshit? It felt to me that this book was rushed to publication without going through a sufficient developmental edit, which may not have been Thorne’s doing at all, but rather her publishers as they tried to capitalize on the success of The Hating Game. On the upside, the book gathered steam by the final third, and there were some redeemable parts (the first sex scene was quite excellent). I just finished writing my first romance after having success with memoirs, so I totally get it – nailing romance beats and character development is HARD. Writing a second book when the first one was such a smash hit must be REALLY hard. I still think Thorne is an incredible talent, and has many, many amazing books within her. I’ll definitely pick up her next one!
2.5-3 stars
I am a little conflicted over reviewing this book. I feel like this is a 2.5 star book based on the characters but it can be bumped up to maybe a 3 star because the angst kept me hooked and wanting to know what happened. It is very hard for me to enjoy a book if I don’t like any of the characters and I found that happening a lot during 99 Percent Mine. At first Darcy seemed like she was a tough female lead who was full of attitude and spunk, but then the more I listened to the book I felt like she was just annoyingly self-absorbed and very dependent on her twin for her survival. Don’t even get me started on her twin, Jamie. I honestly wish he would have been left out of the book, I could not believe the way it was made to seem like he was always there helping Darcy thru her heart troubles but then he would verbally tear her down and call her garbage in the next minute. Both of the Barrett’s redeemed themselves in the very end but it was almost too little too late in my opinion. Tom and the angst between him and Darcy are the only things that kept me going and not quitting on this book. Tom had his own problems through the book with his mom, him trying to be perfect so the twins wouldn’t cut him out, his new business and his feelings for Darcy. He made mistakes, he lied and was completely back and forth with his emotions towards Darcy, but he was still the redeeming factor because his issues seemed more real than the way Darcy and Jamie behaved. I love all types of romance books and I am a sucker for the alpha men who claim their women, but the constant percentage of ownership mentioned in this book just disturbed and annoyed me. Jamie and Darcy fought over Tom like he was a toy and each one wanted total ownership of him. When Darcy bragged to Jamie that Tom was 100% hers now and she was keeping him just seemed very childish, at that point I was hoping Tom would leave them both. The ending did get wrapped up nicely which I appreciated because I love HEA books, but the journey to get there was not that enjoyable.
2.5 stars. While I really liked THG, I didn’t absolutely love it like so many did, so I was fully willing to give 99 Percent Mine a fair shot and not compare it to Thorne’s first novel. That said, 99 Percent Mine just really fell short for me. I love the friends to lovers trope and enjoyed the slow burn aspect of this book, but so many other things kept me from really enjoying it.
I can get behind an imperfect character, but Darcy just rubbed me the wrong way the majority of the novel. Her inner dialogue, as well as her actual dialogue, gave me such whiplash. I was also just so tired of reading about her hair. I don’t even really fully understand why she chopped it off so drastically and why it was made to be such a big deal. I did like Tom, who seemed very cute. But I had a hard time keeping up with some of their conversations and actions? It’s like they were going one direction and then BAM total opposite direction and I couldn’t figure out what happened. It was just weird and I missed the funny, witty banter I know Thorne is capable of writing. I don’t recall ever laughing out loud like I did with THG and this is marketed as being “hilarious.” I also found it boring that apart from the first chapter and the end, every single part of the book takes place in one location. I get it, they’re redoing this house, but still. I don’t know. I just wanted more from this book.
I’m not ruling Sally’s work out in the future, but I hope she realizes she doesn’t have to write the complete opposite from her previous book every time. I also found the price tag on this book to be substantially higher than the quality. I’ve read much better romance novels with much lower costs.