Review: Dangerous Exes

I love a good romance. I won't shame anyone for reading those types of novels because they can be so rewarding and so much fun. Sooo, it's a bit disappointing when a book isn't so fun. I read Rachel Van Dyken's Dirty Exes earlier this year (you can check out my review here in case you missed it) and found it enjoyable enough. I decided to give the sequel, Dangerous Exes, a try - if nothing else to see what Blaire, Isla, Colin, and Jessie were up to since the last book wrapped. It was a fine book but it wasn't anything special, unfortunately.

Here's the synopsis:

Isla made one teeny little mistake. Now she and her PI company, Dirty Exes, are being targeted by one seriously angry and furiously sexy ex-quarterback. Jessie freakin’ Beckett. But there’s no way some NFL superhunk is going to take her business away. If only he didn’t make her so hot—and bothered.
Jessie wants payback for a ruined reputation. His plan? Top secret. His hard-to-hide arousal for Isla? Not so much. Especially when they let down their guards and sneak a kiss. Like any juicy scandal, it goes so viral, so fast, that only a good lie can combat the bad press. Mortal enemies in a fling? No way. Um…this is love!
Actually…could it be?
Isla’s not faking it. Jessie can’t. As the game of let’s pretend gets real, Jessie forgets all about revenge. That’s the problem. His plan is already out of his control. Now it could undo everything they’ve been trying to build. Coming clean may be the only thing that can save it.

I had a few issues with the way the first book in the Liars Inc. series was written but it wasn't a deal-breaker. While reading the second, though? It bugged me a bit more. It was sometimes too stream-of-consciousness and choppy which made it look poorly written, when I don't actually think Van Dyken is a bad writer. I'm sure it's really hard to find that balance of getting in the characters' heads and relaying what they're thinking and having a well structured novel. I love first person, and don't mind when points of view alternate as in these books, but something about the way these books are written just didn't work for me.

I also had a really hard time understanding what was happening and who was lying to who. I don't think I really understood why Jessie was trying to destroy Isla's PI business especially when his best friend, Colin, was dating the other partner, Blair, who, coincidentally, was Jessie's ex. It just made Jessie seem like the world's largest asshole and so I struggled with understanding how Isla could fall for him.

A note: I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority with not loving (or even liking) this book as Dangerous Exes has over a 4 star rating on Goodreads. So do with that what you will :)

There's not really a whole lot else I can (or care to) say about Dangerous Exes. Rachel Van Dyken's book was a very "meh" for me and, all in all, will probably be forgotten sooner rather than later. Too bad because I think I could like her stories a lot more than I have so far.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Thomas Allen & Son. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Dirty Exes

What you see (or read) is what you get with Dirty Exes by Rachel Van Dyken. Which, depending on your mood, could be good or bad. It was great for me because I was in the mood for a romance with some humour and heart and Dirty Exes, the first book in a new series, totally delivered.

Here's the synopsis:

Blaire has never quite gotten over Jessie Beckett, the ex–NFL star whose kisses were hot enough to ignite the entire Eastern Seaboard. When he chose work over her, Blaire was left brokenhearted. Why else would she have married a skeezy two-timer, just to divorce him less than a year later?
Now Blaire is getting even by becoming one half of Dirty Exes, a PI firm fully committed to humiliating cheating jerks. If only the new jerk she’s been hired to uncover wasn’t Jessie Beckett himself.
Exposing Jessie isn’t going to be easy, especially when she still daydreams about his sexy smile. Further complicating matters is Colin, Jessie’s best friend. He’s gorgeous, a little bit cunning, and willing to help Blaire get the inside scoop on Jessie—for a price.
Now caught between two men—one totally right and the other totally wrong—Blaire will need to decide just how much she’s willing to risk…and whom she’s willing to risk it for.

Was Dirty Exes the best rom com I've ever read? No. But did it give me exactly what I hoped it would (which was some swoons and some laughs)? Yes, absolutely. I love romance novels because I know just what I'm going to get with the story but I especially love the ones that are really well written and provide a great story line along the way to the Happily Ever After.

The story is told from three perspectives - Blaire, Colin, and Jessie - and each is first person. I liked how that worked because you got a sense of what each character was really thinking and feeling. This was especially useful in this story because there were so many secrets between the three of them that it would have been really hard to figure out Colin and Jessie's motives had the story only been told from Blaire's perspective.

The first person narrative also created a very informal, conversational type of storytelling. Lines and thoughts were sometimes choppy which can be a bit weird to read but if you think of it more as though you're following along with the character's train of thought it usually works. For example, this little excerpt shows how Blaire is working through a revelation about Jessie (it's not a spoiler because you learn these details early on through Jessie's POV):

Vanessa was living with him.
Living. With. Him.
And he was flirting with me. With his wife still under his roof.
My phone buzzed again.
Seriously?
I grabbed it and checked my messages.

You see what I mean? It's odd to see that all written out but it's exactly as you would be saying it either to a friend or inwardly as you worked out the issue.

I had a hard time really getting to know Blaire because she had so many walls up. I couldn't really see how she fell for Jessie the first time and why she was so crushed when he left. I also didn't see any glimpse of the woman who would have run straight into the arms of a "nice guy" who ended up being an ass who also broke her heart. She was angry and bitter and I really needed to see her let those feelings go. She was a complicated character whose layers weren't quite as fleshed out as I would have hoped for.

I really wasn't sure how the Happily Ever After was going to work out. I hadn't reread the synopsis before diving in so I had forgotten that I wasn't supposed to be sure who Blaire would end up with. I was sure it would be Jessie but then I realized she was starting to fall for Colin too but, wait, does she actually still love Jessie more? It was a back and forth that kept me on my toes.

All in all, Dirty Exes was a fun read for me. I liked meeting all the characters Rachel Van Dyken created and I'd definitely like to catch up with some - or all - of them in the next book, Dangerous Exes.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the distributor, Thomas Allen & Son, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*