Cheater by Rachel Van Dyken is NOW LIVE!
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Book Description:
Lucas Thorn wasn’t born a cheater. All it took was a single moment—say, a certain disastrous incident on the night before his wedding—and boom. Reputation destroyed forever and always. So now he owns it. He has a lady friend for every night of the week (except Sundays—God’s day and all), and his rules are simple: No commitments. No exceptions.
But a certain smart-mouthed, strawberry blonde vixen is about to blow that all to hell.
Avery Black has never forgiven Lucas for cheating on her sister. And suddenly being forced to work with him is pretty much a nightmare on steroids. Of course, it does afford her the opportunity to make his life as difficult as possible. But no good revenge scheme comes without payback. Because he didn’t become the Lucas Thorn without learning a few things about women.
Now Avery’s lust for vengeance has turned into, well, lust. And if Lucas stops cheating, it’s definitely not because he’s falling in love…
Buy Links:
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2moJX2y
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2lRtyR9
Our Review:
Reviewed by Donna ~ 4 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***
“That’s the Lucas Thorn effect.”
Rachel Van Dyken has had me in hysterics reading this book,
I have had tears of laughter and even had a “spat my tea” incident and I have
to admit I haven’t laughed as much in ages. The dialogue in this book is some
of the best I have read in a while and the humour, wit and banter was prevalent
throughout.
“Never did figure out how he got
his little hot dog in there!”
However, I will preface this review with a little
disclaimer. If you have an issue with a total manwhore who has a schedule for a
different woman in his bed Monday to Saturday, you will not like this book.
However, if like me, it doesn’t bother you and you can read it for what it is, tongue
in cheek, then you will definitely laugh as much as I did. Some of the
treatment of secondary characters is rather shady and definitely not
empathetic, but if, like me, you read it for the rom com it is, then this will
not bother you either. I read this as a light hearted, funny read, yes, it is a
bit unrealistic, yes, the situations are a little over the top, but it is rom
com and it is that, that I base my review. Do I condone some of the actions,
definitely not, but it made for hilarious reading none the less.
“Sometimes a guy just needs good
sex.”
Lucas Thorn was engaged to his childhood sweetheart, the
prom king and queen, the “it” girl and boy and because of the length of their
relationship and the friendship of their parents he kinda felt he had to go
through with it, even though, deep down, he knew he had feelings for someone
else. The night before the wedding though, he gets cold feet and is determined
to come clean and this night will forever be known as “the night that shall not
be named.”
Having escaped “wedded bliss” Lucas is determined to never
fall into the same trap again, so he has a different woman in his bed six
nights of the week. They all know the situation, they all know they are one of
six and all are happy with the arrangement. It works perfectly, until the
woman, the one that made Lucas question his engagement all those many years ago,
comes to work for him. Oh, and did I mention that she is the younger sister of
the original bride to be!!
“It’s not cheating if you know.”
Avery Black was a fantastic heroine, her witty comebacks and
her ballsy attitude really brought Lucas to his knees. It is her spitfire
personality that really reigns him in and makes him want to change. Avery was
always his unicorn, the one he couldn’t have, but give him the possibility and
this man changes in the blink of an eye. It was this immediate change that really
emphasised the depths of his feelings towards her. Lucas just needed a reason
to change.
“There would be blood, folks.
There would be blood.”
Rachel Van Dyken seemingly does the impossible with making
me root for these two as a couple, I mean come on, this is Lucas Thorn,
manwhore extraordinaire. However, once Rachel Van Dyken explains their past and
explores Lucas’s feelings all those many moons ago you begin to understand why
he did the things he did. He was trapped and he didn’t know how to escape. So,
while getting a huge dose of the feels and all those emotions that an “I’ve
loved you forever” storyline brings Rachel Van Dyken cements these two in your
heart as a couple you want to make it. With love/hate thrown into the mix and
some decidedly dodgy situations Rachel Van Dyken will also have you in fits of
laughter and it is this light-hearted side that really cemented this as a great
read for me.
“The last time I tried I fell for
someone else. A girl with bright green eyes and strawberry-blonde hair who
smelled like grape gum and called me by my last name. She made me feel alive. I
think she’s the only one capable of giving a cheater a reason to change his
ways. That’s all I can give you, the truth.”
Excerpt:
The office building loomed ahead of me. I squinted up at it, covering my face with part of my hand as the sun cast its glare against the glass.
“What are we looking at?” Lucas whispered in my ear.
I let out a little yelp and jumped away from him, and I would have run into a passing biker if Lucas hadn’t pulled me out of the way with his coffee-free hand.
“Must you be such a pain in the ass?”
“Must you try to kill me?” I fired back.
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.” He started walking, hauling me with him.
We weren’t walking in the direction of the office.
“Um, Thorn—”
“I will seriously shove this Starbucks up that skinny ass if you don’t stop talking and just listen for once in your life.”
I shut up and followed, but only because he’d said “Starbucks” and was very purposefully moving in the nearest outpost’s general direction. If I looked pathetic enough, would he buy me coffee?
That was what my life was coming to.
Pity coffee.
My shoulders slumped at the thought when we walked into the building. The smell of fresh baked goods hit me with full force, and my stomach growled loudly, saying to everyone, I’m a hungry bear and may eat my young. Out of the way, please!
I followed Lucas to the line, still tempted to speak, but I figured if he wanted noise from me, he’d say something like, “You may grace me with your voice now, Avery.”
Even though I wasn’t talking, every time I heard someone order pumpkin bread I sighed, loudly, so loudly that the barista eyed me cautiously. Chill, Starbucks, I’m not going to steal a piece of pumpkin bread.
My mouth watered.
I mean, I wasn’t that desperate.
But if I took two, maybe three, steps toward her, yelled “Fire!” and then screamed nonsense about a bee attacking me, the pumpkin bread she had in hand would probably fall to the ground, and it would be wasteful if I didn’t rescue it from the ants.
All creatures deserve food—but pumpkin bread was too good for ants, too rich, and they’d explode all over the floor from the richness and it would be my fault—for saving the barista’s life, right? From the bee?
I think I just confused myself.
“Why are you breathing so heavy?” Lucas asked from my right.
I snapped out of my pumpkin-bread daydream and shrugged. “Sorry, low on sleep.”
He gave a noncommittal nod and then it was his turn, greedy little bastard already had one coffee now he was getting two! “A venti macchiato and a large coffee with room for cream, two slices—”
I elbowed him hard in the ribs.
“Sorry, um, three slices of pumpkin bread, thanks.”
He handed the barista his card, while my greedy eyes locked on the pumpkin bread as the barista placed it into a bag and gave it to him.
With an exasperated sigh, he shoved the bag into my hands. “Just leave me one bite.”
“No promises.” I was already digging into the bag, my mouth watering as I followed him around the counter with a little pep in my step.
Lucas grabbed our drinks and motioned toward one of the tables. I sat, stuffed more pumpkin goodness into my mouth, and managed to chug some coffee almost all at once.
Lucas shook his head. “I always forget how seriously you take your pumpkin bread.”
I moaned and took another huge bite. “My theory is this.”
He leaned forward, a smile curving around his gorgeous mouth. “Alright, out with it.”
More pumpkin bread found its way into my mouth as I talked—I didn’t even care if I looked like a starved animal. “Pumpkin bread has the same addictive properties as cocaine.”
“That’s your theory? That it’s a drug?”
“Right.” I sighed and leaned back. “Except it doesn’t make you skinny, unfortunately.”
His smile widened, and he grabbed a small hunk of bread. “Want to know my theory?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking—I hope Lucas tells me his theory so I can eat his portion of bread.”
Lucas scooted the bag toward me and whispered, “Merry Christmas.”
“Oh, pumpkin gods.” I moaned again.
His eyes darted to my mouth.
“What?” I wiped my lips. “Is something on my face?”
“No.” He looked away. “So my theory is this . . . pumpkin flavoring is a conspiracy by the government to see how many ways we can market a flavor and make money off it.”
“Boo.” I gave him a thumbs-down. “Thanks, grinch. Oh, and stop ruining holidays.”
He smirked. “You’ve known forever that Santa isn’t real. Still doesn’t stop you from leaving him cookies every Christmas Eve, then sneaking downstairs and eating them all by yourself.”
“One”—I held up a finger—“it’s genius because nobody will touch them for fear that I’ll get mad. Two”—I held up a second finger—“when everyone else is sad about the Christmas cookies being gone, I know I’ll have them all to myself. It’s like . . .” I sighed, “. . . a Christmas present. To myself.”
“Except for that one time.” He smirked.
“Cruel man.” I glared at him. “How dare you eat my cookies?”
He shrugged. “They were sweet.”
Was it hot? In this little Starbucks? By the window where the sun was searing me alive like I was under a magnifying glass?
I tugged at my sleeveless blouse.
“About Saturday . . .”
Uncomfortable conversation, here we come! I strapped in and waited for the inevitable. And then realized, to my dismay, that he’d just bought me coffee and food without letting me go to the office.
My eyes filling with tears, I shook my head a few times. “Lucas, I may give you crap, but I really need this job.”
He frowned, like he was confused.
“Don’t say another word.” I held out my hands. “I’ll do anything, Lucas—and I mean anything—to keep this job. I wasn’t kidding when I said my parents were chomping at the bit to get me to move home, and I don’t want to. It’s not just about me being defiant; they want me to take over the family business.”
Lucas burst out laughing and then sobered. “Oh, you’re serious.”
“I can’t sell chicken, Thorn.”
“I mean, to be fair, Avery, your parents own a very lucrative organic meats company. I’m sure they could offer you at least five figures.” His smile was way too smug, but I still had to be nice to him rather than throw him off a cliff, because he could fire me.
About the Author:
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!
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