Happy Hour (Charity Case, #3)

Happy Hour is the third book in the Charity Case series, and the first series of Piper Rayne’s that I have read. I read the book quickly, over the course of a weekend, and found many aspects of this enemies-to-friends romance enchanting.

This is the story of Hannah, a strong and accomplished woman. Although she was born into a family with means, Hannah wants to do more with her wealth than pursue a life of leisure. She is the founder of the RISE Foundation whose mission is to empower girls to do everything they can to live their best lives. But rather than hire others to manage her philanthropic endeavors, Hannah is also the executive director, in the trenches every day, and leading the charge. Having extracted herself from a lackluster marriage and successfully launched her dream career, Hannah appears to have it all.

The only thorn in her side is Roarke Baldwin, her ex-husband’s divorce attorney. Much to Hannah’s annoyance, Roarke has a frequent tendency of popping up in Hannah’s social circles. She always greets him with a sarcastic remark or two which his arrogance is more than capable of absorbing. The more unflappable Roarke appears to be, the more flustered Hannah becomes. When she finds herself in a last minute quandary that puts the foundation’s gala fundraiser in danger of being canceled, Roarke seizes the opportunity to save the day.

Roarke’s innovative solution places Hannah in closer personal contact with the arrogant attorney, but as she begins to spend more time with him, Hannah’s defenses begin to lower. The ultimate questions are whether she can forgive him for dragging her through an acrimonious divorce and if she can ever trust her heart with another man.

Happy Hour is a great conclusion of the Charity Case series. Hannah and Roarke are both driven and elegant characters. He is a sharp dressed, silver haired, sharp, and aggressive professional, and a perfect complement to Hannah. Despite their stormy introduction, he may very well be the one man who can restore her faith in love and passion.

If you’re looking for a sexy, whirlwind romance featuring mature characters, then I gladly recommend Happy Hour to you. I enjoyed the story from the beginning and only found myself investing more of my heart with each turn of the page. I’ve spent the past few months reading the Charity Case series and will miss these characters now that their stories have been told. Be sure to give Manic Monday, Afternoon Delight, and Happy Hour a go.

This one was so good! I’m giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.

I loved Hannah in the previous books, and getting inside her head was very eye-opening. I related to her more than the other two woman in certain aspects, and my eyes started watering at one point while reading the book. It hit me in the emotions that much. Now onto Roarke. I really loved him; he was amazing! He’s going on my book boyfriend list for sure. I’m not sure which man of the three is my favorite, but this silver fox is definitely in a tie for first place at the very least.

We got to see a little more of Hannah’s foundation, but I honestly thought there’d be more focus on that given it’s a huge part of her life. The progression of the book was great, and it was definitely a slow burn romance…until it was smoldering and bursting with flames!

I can’t believe this series is over with. It was everything I hoped it would be, and I loved seeing these three women get their happy endings. In the epilogue, the authors nicely set up the next series, which I’m super excited to get my hands on.

This is the first book I’ve read by Piper Rayne. I really enjoy a good enemies to lovers book, and this doesn’t disappoint. Roarke and Hannah are great together. I love the fact that secretly Roarke is a marshmallow. It makes him all the more appealing. Hannah is stubborn, but not unreasonably so. It was really fun seeing their relationship grow and evolve. This was a very satisfying read.

Reviewed by: Clare M.

4.5*

Hannah and Roarke share quite a contentious relationship, stemming from the fact he represented her ex-husband in their divorce proceedings, which left her with some not so very nice feelings towards him. And who can blame a girl? But lord, Roarke was not going to be deterred when it came to his pursuit of her!

Happy Hour is a fun, sexy, enemies-to-lovers story about two very strong, determined, and independent people who think they know exactly what they want out of life, until they take the time to really get to know each other. I really liked Roarke’s character- he’s not quite what you’d expect and I enjoyed getting to know all facets of him. Hannah, she’s a tough nut to crack. She had some walls up when it came to not just Roarke, but relationships in general, because of what happened with her ex. Roarke had his work cut out for him when it came to changing her mind about him, and I loved how he went about it.

The way Hannah and Roarke challenged each other led to some undeniable chemistry that sizzled and sparked every time they were in a room together, it was just waiting to combust. And when it finally did, boy was it worth the wait!

This was a really charming story, just like the previous 2 two books in the series. I liked the peek we got at the next series to come, those books should be lots of fun! And I just love how they find a way to weave characters from earlier books into the current ones, it’s so fun to see favorites pop up!

Happy Hour is the last story in the Charity Case series and I have to say, it was my favorite! It is a fantastic Enemies to lovers romance with the perfect combination of characters that you will love, witty banter that will keep you smiling and an storyline that kept me engaged from the beginning to the end.
Roarke and Hannah may have started their relationship from opposite sides of a court room but once they find themselves in each other’s space all bets are off! Roarke knows what he wants and he wants Hannah. He just has to show her a side of him that he keeps private in order to earn her trust, but she definitely doesn’t make it easy. She has been burned in the past and trust is hard for her. These two challenge each other, keep life interesting and are perfectly matched! They just have to find that common ground and mutual trust because they already have chemistry that is off the charts!

Concluding the Charity Case Series, finally we have Hannah and Roarke, also known as “silver fox.” After the first two books serve to situate these two characters and create a whole tension around them, we now have in fact the development of the story of the two, and if the expectation was high, the final product does not disappoint.
To say that Hannah hates Roarke would be a euphemism. After defending her ex-husband in the divorce process and getting a huge financial settlement for his client at the expense of Hannah’s estate, the lawyer became her disaffected and enemy number one. A pity that despite her common sense hate him, a part of her can not help but find him attractive. And with such hatred among them, every time an encounter occurs between them, they are filled with sarcasm and disagreements.
At the end of the second book, Hannah and the girls need a location for an event, and with all the possibilities occupied, Roarke appears determined to help, but he wants something in return: Hannah. Happy Hour begins exactly from that point with an unbelieving Hannah and Roarke showing that he is not a great lawyer by accident.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts to find a place, Hannah has no choice but to make a deal with the person she despises the most. And she will be surprised to find out how she will repay the favor.
Roarke wants Hannah to forgive him at all costs, and in exchange for his help she must agree with five favors. With that, he hopes she will stop to see the lawyer in which she has channeled all her anger over the divorce, and sees the man behind the professional facade.
If in the other’s books Roarke intrigued me, here he won me. His way of trying to win Hannah was ingenious and brilliant. He wanted her from the moment he saw her and not being able to be close to her, he decides to bring her into his private world, so she could know the true face he does not show to anyone. He was kind, protective, careful, vulnerable, charming, and seductive. Several layers in a man considered complex but deep down is only trying to protect himself. Roarke was charming in every way.
Hannah also showed much more than simply the woman who does not believe in relationships. Her relationship with her parents has a very big impact on the person she has become. The criticism of her mother and her father projecting in her the son he always wanted made her never allow herself to feel anything, the outside world can not know how she feels or what she truly thinks, a smile on her face and good resourcefulness are expected of a lady of society. Her ex-husband was also not a good example of love and faithfulness. It was totally understandable that with everything she went through, she had confidence issues, and the fact that Roarke, who apparently she hated, arouse such intense feelings, left her aimlessly.
The relationship of the two is built slowly, as Roarke shows her a new side of him, she sees him with new eyes until falling in love with him. In the end, the totally improbable and wrong man was right for her. The guy with a cold and calculating reputation is only a good professional who complies with the law. In real life he is a good person, who has family problems, who comes from a poor city and now that he has achieved a good position tries to help others and that very young had his heart broken. Roarke is first and foremost human. And with that, he shows Hannah that as frightening as it is, allowing herself to feel even if its hurt sometimes is better than being in the dark.
Loved the two, loved the book, was a beautiful end to a spectacular series.

This is the third book in this series, I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything from this dynamic writing duo! Happy Hour features Roarke & Hannah! I couldn’t wait to read more about them and I was not disappointed!
Roarke represents Hannah’s jerky ex when they get divorced. Loved Roarke, like a lot! Hannah wants to hate him but there’s a thin line between love and lust lol
As always, so steamy, so funny! I always find myself not wanting P Rayne books to end…
Will the deal these two make work?
Highly recommend!

4.5 Stars – Hilarious! I loved it!

The first quarter of the book was so funny and I absolutely loved it. It ventured off more into the romance part after that which I still liked a lot but I really loved the first part the most with the push and pull between the characters. I loved Hanna as well as Roarke. Both gave it to each other pretty good and didn’t hold back on witty remarks. She was a strong female character who could definitely hold her own and who found a perfect counterpart in Roarke. I loved to see that he also had a vulnerable side though, because she thought that he was arrogant when in reality he was only this tough lawyer at work but a real charmer and sweetheart on the inside.

The Story:
Roarke was quick-witted and determined to win Hanna over. Though she rather ran in the opposite direction of her ex’s attorney; the man who robbed her of half her fortune for this cheating bastard. Will he ever be able to make her see beyond that? Is there a chance for them to get over the circumstances on how they met?

Thoughts:
Roarke’s a lawyer through and through in everything he did which was actually really refreshing to read because it was different to all the characters who usually rarely act in a way that lets you guess their profession.

He was actually really sweet. Who would have thought? And I liked how he took care of everything to show Hanna that he didn’t need her money and only wanted her for herself. Obviously, he had a way with words and I was surprised that he wasn’t anything close to what I imagined him to be.
He was thorough in what he did and seemed like to have a plan for everything. He surely liked to be in control of any situation but he still let Hanna have her freedom and voice instead of pushing his way on her, he was only nudging her in the direction. =P

Roarke didn’t have it easy with a strong and independent woman like Hanna who got hurt and betrayed by her ex-husband. Naturally, she was suspicious and comparing his actions to her ex-husband’s and wondered if she could really trust a man ever again.

There was a glimpse into the next series at the end of the book but I only read what was part of Hanna’s story because I never read sneak peeks of upcoming books. I just prefer to read the full book when it’s out and I’m definitely going to read them.

This was the third book in the Charity Case series, you must read the first two before even jumping into this one, as the characters and a running plot throughout the series just makes more sense. For Hannah, every time she sees Roarke Baldwin the hate she feels for him comes rushing up to the surface, so she does her best to avoid him, its just that he doesn’t avoid her. When Hannah is in need of a venue, Roarke overhears and offers his assistance, but at a price. At first Hannah tells him where he can shove that offer, but when it turns out he is her last option, she decides that she will have to see just what his price is. Favors, five favors to be exact, five times that Hannah will need to do whatever it is Roarke is asking of her, and if the last is as easy as the first she has this in the bag… that is until one of the favors is to go out of town and be his plus one at his sisters wedding. Now Hannah is being shown a completely different Roarke, and its one that she likes…. Hannah is more confused than ever, how can she go from hating someone to being in lust with someone in twenty-four hours? Can she trust the feelings that she has for Roarke?

So this was not my fav of the three, but it was still a good read. I wanted a bit more from the ending of the series than what we got, but once again, I have never denied being greedy! With some really hot sexy times, some laughs, and a really great cast of characters, I give this 4 stars.

Plenty of humor, passion and really, just all kinds of feels

Book 3 in the Charity Case series, you don’t need to have read the previous books to enjoy this one, but they do help set the stage and are certainly worth reading on their own.

I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read from this writing duo, but this one really resonated with me. I empathized strongly with Hannah from the beginning and completely understood her feelings towards Roarke and why she had trust issues. At the same time, the authors did a terrific job of getting me to feel for Roarke as well, and I found myself cheering him on, admiring his cleverness in his campaign to win Hannah over and hurting for him in his frustration.

Of course, there were great secondary characters as well, not only those from the first two books, but we get a teasing introduction to the trio of friends featuring in the next series that definitely has me intrigued.

With plenty of humor, passion and really, just all kinds of feels, this is my new favorite book from this author duo. Can’t wait to see what happens with the next series! 5+ stars

B2B Kelly