I have mixed feelings about this book. Reese, the heroine, is awesome—I love her. She’s strong, smart, but a little lost. After getting royally screwed over by her husband of a few short months—she catches him screwing his ex in their shower—she starts to get herself together. Her former stepfather, who’s a better parent than her own mom and dad ever were, is helping her get back on her feet. She’s got a good friend who serves as a good secondary character. And she’s only twenty-one, so you wouldn’t expect her to be all the way set up in life.

The book is funny and the voice is great. Tucker has a real way with words, that’s for sure. Reese and the hero, Ben, have a sarcastic relationship that’s entertaining to read. The dialogue and descriptions are vivid and very real. You really see all the characters and the environments they’re in. And the characters are complex and layered, including the secondary characters.

The issue I have is with Ben. Yes, he’s charming. Yes, he’s really good-looking. And confident. And funny. And on the cusp of having lots of money due to his just-completed law degree. Yippee, great.

But he’s a total ass. He’s a huge playboy and call me a cynic, but I don’t think he’s believably redeemable. I mean, I suspended disbelief long enough to read the book because I wanted to see what happened to Reese. But I kept thinking, “You can do better.” At least for long-term. I mean, it makes total sense for them to hook up, which is how they meet. But I just don’t buy the “he’s totally changed” thing.

They first meet on vacation in Cancun. It’s Ben’s last day before he goes back to start his real adult life at a law firm. And Reese is there with a couple friends to get over the demise of her marriage. Her friends want her to hook up with somebody—anybody—and she and Ben end up back in his hotel room, where something unexpected and mortifying (but still pretty funny) happens. Reese sneaks out of his hotel room later without saying anything and they both expect to never see each other again.

But that wouldn’t be a book. So instead, the job her stepfather helped her get (and which she has become very good at) is being a paralegal at his firm. And that firm also happens to be the one Ben’s starting at, because he’s buddies with Mason, Reese’s ex-stepbrother. Ensue awkwardness.

Anyway, I did really enjoy the book all the way to the end and will probably check out some of Tucker’s other books because she’s an excellent writer. Perhaps I should just get over my reservations about Ben. Romance is basically fantasy, after all. And the long-held fantasy that a woman can change a man into a better person is still going strong in the real world, so why not in books?

I guess I still just prefer betas.