His best friend’s little sister never looked so good… Two weeks. A trial period, in which hockey superstar Zac Quinn will prove to Reagan Thomas–his best friend’s younger sister and the one woman he can’t seem to keep his hands off of–that they can’t possibly date for real. After all, the Thomas family is the only family he’s ever had. He can’t risk losing them, no matter how much he wants … no matter how much he wants Reagan. She’s too important to him; he can’t let things get weird.
But Reagan has known they’re meant to be since forever. She’s not about to back down now.
If she has to play dirty to bring him around?
No problem.
This book is approximately 70,000 words
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
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This is a very steamy read with lots of feels. Because it touches on some sensitive topics such as spousal abuse and grief over the death of a loved one, have some tissues handy. While I liked Reagan’s tenacity, I felt she let Zac get away with too much. Yes, Zac was dealing with some childhood trauma, but I didn’t feel it warranted his hot and cold approach. Loved the family dynamics of Reagan’s family and her BFF, Letty. I teared up during the talk with Reagan and her dad as well as the scene where Zac confronts his mother. The book cover is hot!
I received a free copy from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.
I fell first and foremost for this cover. It’s delightful, fun, and makes me want—no, scratch that, need—to know more about these characters. I was also drawn to the BIPOC heroine with an AOC, as I’m making a concerted effort to read, review, and promote more diverse books. There are countless talented and skilled BIPOC authors out there, and their voices have been silenced or overlooked for far too long. I refuse to sit on my white person privilege and do nothing any longer.
Okay, off that soap box and onto this delectable story. I was surprised to realize this was a debut, as the writing was tight and the dialogue witty. It flowed nicely and kept me engaged with minimal effort. I also adored the characters. Salah does a wonderful job of portraying a strong female lead without falling victim to any of the stereotypes, while also giving us a smexy male lead who is equal parts sweet and charming. On top of having strong leading characters, they also play off one another very well. There is palpable chemistry and I was rooting for them from the get-go.
This is a very character-driven work, which is my personal preference. I love conflict of any sort, but when I read my romance, I fall extra hard for the challenges characters face within themselves and as a couple as opposed to most of them coming from the external environment.
At the end of the day, there was really only one thing that stuck out as a “not for me” downfall. I’m just not a fan of having the main storyline interrupted by seemingly unnecessary flashbacks. Everything in the “past” depicted by the flashbacks could’ve easily been handled in the present without constantly taking the reader out of the moment. Again, this is just a personal pet peeve.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am leaving a voluntary review.
Ahhhh I seem to be striking out with these Netgalley books that I have requested, this is the second new author I took a chance on and really wished that I did not. I really never got the best friend of your brothers situation that you can’t man up and say hey, I really like your sister or the other way, but I guess this seem to be a problem since almost every author feels that this is the case. Anyway So we have Zac and Reagan who have known each other for years, and Reagan as we kind of knew has a huge crush on since forever. Zac didn’t realize it at first no yeah he does so they decide on giving this a chance for two whole weeks since apparently everything can be found out and worked on in yup you guessed it two weeks. It seem like Reagan was really the only one really wanting this as she was the one gave and gave and he took and took. Yes I get he had a not so great home life growing up, but dude lets move on and stop dumping on Reagan, and Reagan lets get a backbone on you..
rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions
Reagan is my kind of woman. Caring, compassionate, and feiry streak a mile wide. She’s also tenacious and determined, poor Zac will never be able to recover!
Dirty Tactics work. I have zero shame in admitting to committing some of the moves mentioned in the book. (Smirks proudly) I find that a determined woman can be very successful. (Smirked enough that my dimples pop)
No shame in her game, Reagan is going to dish out more than Zac can deflect. Dirty Tactics is heartwarming and full of feels, some painful, some very sexy but it will give you the happily ever after you have been rooting for!