*ARC* Cheater - Review

Cheater (Curious Liaisons #1) 

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Published: February 28, 2017 by Skyscape

317 pages

Source: ebook, Netgalley ARC from publisher 

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

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.

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…

MY REVIEW:
I've read a lot of Van Dyken's books. They have all been 3.5 star ratings or higher for me. I have found them to always be quick reads, fun, and entertaining. So when this title came up on Netgalley to review it was a no brainer to pick it up.

The Prologue starts off with Lucas saying "This is my story. You will hate it. You will hate me." Boy, is that the truth! Within in the first 10% of the book I'm cringing because of the flippant way Lucas treats women....a different woman for every night (or day) of the week. But then again, he's open and honest about it with each of them and they know what they're getting in to. The question then begs, why on earth would these women settle for a womanizer like Lucas Thorn?! Is a cheater any more admirable just because he admits to it and lives up to the title? Gag! But hey, I'm all about redeeming characters in books.

Set in Seattle, Lucas is a 32 year old successful man who loves his work (oddly enough working with on apps for kids) and he loves his revolving door of women. No commitments, no attachments, no strings attached. Friends with benefits perhaps? He's seriously jaded though and has the reputation for ruining his parents relationship with their best friends - the middle school sweetheart he had beginning in the 8th grade and engaged to early in college. The problem is that he mistook one of her sisters for the wrong girl the night before their wedding and that effectively severed a lot of relationships that had grown to be very important to him.

Avery, the youngest of the three Black sisters, is now living in Seattle as well. At 22 years old she refuses to go back home to live with her parents so she accepts an internship only to discover she'll be interning for Lucas Thorn. She's well aware of his reputation and even has to help with his "other calendar". The problem is that she used to be very close to Lucas and if she's being honest, her feelings for him never really went away. Thankfully she values herself more than to be another of his days of the week.

One of the biggest eye rolling irritations for me with this story was the mother of Lucas. She was too emotionally over the top and as such it was too unrealistic for me to accept her behavior.

If you're looking for a fast and fun romance, this book will give you a few laughs and you'll enjoy the crazy ride with Lucas Thorn.

Book two should be fun too as it tells the story of Avery's childhood best girl friend, Austin, and a fellow womanizer (ie cheater) friend of Lucas', named Thatch. Both of these are side characters briefly introduced in book one.

Favorite Quotes:
"Because that's what friends do when they don't screw you over and destroy your life by betraying your trust. They stay loyal, friends for life and all that."

Hating him was difficult. Being attracted to him was inevitable.

"One day you were my friend, and then you became something completely different. Because I wanted you. Because I've always wanted you. Because even when it was wrong - and you were only seventeen years old - I wanted you."

The way a man is supposed to love a woman, with such blind madness that nothing made sense when she wasn't in my world.

Language Rating: 2 (medium)
Mature Content Rating: 2 (medium)
Final Rating: 3.5 stars