Stuck-Up Suit

I could not put this book down once I started it. I flew through this one. LOVED the banter, texts, columns, phone calls and in person conversations these two engaged in. Bantering between characters is the easiest way for me to connect with them..when done right it makes a story for me and this one was done perfectly! Makes the connection quick and solid. Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward were made to write with each other, being super fans of both of these authors I seriously can not tell which one writes what and where one starts and one ends...it's flawless. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment of these chance meetings...

So this happened ... maybe 2.5 ‘cause I'm practicing kindness As we've been made painfully aware a house built on a faulty foundation cannot stand. Maybe I'm asking too much of this book and that's on me. Once again I let a pretty cover and, in this case a good narrator, [a:Maxine Mitchell 7259691 Maxine Mitchell https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], seduce me. I'd dare to say that one star of my review is for her performance. The other narrator, [a:Joe Arden 8285266 Joe Arden https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], is good but ... meh. However this is not about the performers. They did the best they could with what they had.The problem with this book starts with the title and the cover. You see a title like Stuck-Up Suit, coupled with the cover model and you figure, or I did, “we're in for one of those a%#hole, Master of the Universe, hot as all get out MCs”. Well one of those things is true. Graham is tall, dark, and handsome. Oh and he's also a sex god. But as for the other things? No. Yes he is demanding, brusque, and forgets the names of his secretaries (there's a revolving door of them) but he's also sincere, generous, and open. He's the guy who respects his partner's wish to wait to have sex, who after knowing a woman for few weeks is giving her full and unrestricted access to his life and history. He goes on and beyond the call of duty to please and reassure Soraya and towards the end engages in a romantic gesture which is sure to please high school girls from the 80's everywhere. I wasn't mad at that. I was just scratching my head as to who the stuck-up suit is meant to be. Oh yeah. Soraya.Soraya is, or female characters like her, one of the reasons lately I delve sparingly into M/F. Maybe if I were 15 she would appeal to me. Soraya is supposed to be a free spirit: she dyes the tips of her hair according to mood, has tattoos, and piercings. So yeah ... a modern woman. Except it's only cosmetic or on paper. In reality she's a whinny, annoying, stereotype of the soap opera female lead with daddy issues who doubts everything Graham does. She violates his privacy even before she knows him and later feels free to snoop around his apartment. If a male MC did this it would be such a red flag, but sweet Soraya is just being quirky. ugh Towards the end she drops a giant turd which would've made me toss my phone (I was listening on my Audible App) but I saw it coming a mile away. Still the stupid was HUGE. Also I'm sick and tired of female leads described as having big boobs, big butt, great hair and generally curvaceous IG models, going on the faux body shame thing and thinking her man is lusting after a petit blonde he broke up with 4 years ago. Rant over. Having said all that the horrible foundation, which could be unnoticeable to non New Yorkers, is that the whole set-up of the romance is Soraya and Graham meeting on the morning train while they're each headed to work. What's the problem you ask? Soraya lives in Brooklyn. Graham lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I'll take a pause for the folks at home who are playing along to get out their maps. Got it? There is no possible or logical way that these two would be on the same train if they're coming from their respective homes. Just no. I'm not being dense. I'm cool with Graham, who at 29 manages a billion dollar hedge fund, taking the train. It happens. But Upper West Side and Brooklyn DO NOT intersect. Add to that the train described, a couple of times, seems to be something like Metro North, LIRR or NJPATH, which are commuter lines to Westechester and its environs, Long Island, and New Jersey respectively. It sounds petty but I just tripped on it and then the story didn't deliver. Bummer. Note to self: maybe these authors are not for me. I just realized that they also wrote [b:Cocky Bastard 25772000 Cocky Bastard Penelope Ward https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436524506s/25772000.jpg 45620597], which once again: spectacular cover and good female narrator (male not so much) but I pretty much hated the book. Live and learn.