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Review

4 sassy, funny and flirty stars

I “fudging” love Alice Clatyon! Her stories always make me laugh, with strong heroines, charmingly sexy heroes, and heart-pounding but slightly quirky romance that is both hot and hilarious. While technically, this is book four of the Cocktail series, it could very easily be read as a standalone – although each of the books in this series are fantastic, so I highly recommend you indulge!

We met Chloe briefly in Screwdrivered, where she was introduced as the cousin of Clark, and had just skipped out on her own wedding. Well, this book gives us the full story, where Chloe is essentially a Stepford daughter, about to step into the role of Stepford wife. A pageant queen since a young age, she has been controlled by others for her whole life, until she wakes up on the morning of her wedding to the seemingly perfect Charles Preston Sappington (I kid you not, that is actually his name!), and realises that not only does she not love her fiancé, but that she is not living the life that she wants to live.

“I want it all. I want all encompassing, knock your socks off, can’t live without you, can’t be in a room without wanting you naked, love.”

And so, she makes her great escape and heads north to the shores of Monterey, to her father’s holiday house where she plans to spread her wings for the first time in her life and do something she is passionate about – opening up a rescue and rehabilitation centre for pit bulls. A little quirky, perhaps, but Chloe’s love for her dogs, and the passion that she has for what she is doing forms a great part of her story.

And, of course, it gives the perfect opportunity for her to meet vet and local hottie, Dr Lucas Campbell. Looks-wise, he is everything that Chloe wants in a guy, and she recognises him as her absolute kryptonite. And judging by his response to her, he feels the same. And as they work together to get Chloe’s business up and running, a deliciously flirty friendship develops. They both know they find the other attractive, and they play up to it at every opportunity, but they are both recovering from bad relationships and agree that it’s best not to just get involved, just be each other’s “rebounds” and hang out and have fun. And that’s exactly what they do… all the while growing closer and falling harder and harder for each other.

I love Lucas! Sweet, caring, funny and oh-so-sexy, he is a genuinely great guy. He is laid back and easy going, and is determined to be a part of Chloe’s life, in whatever way he can. And Alice Clayton knows how to do the friends-who-are-attracted-to-lovers thing so well! Chloe and Lucas’ relationship is fun, it’s sweet, their conversation is realistic and jokey, and the flirting is sensational, and just a little dirty!

“What are we doing?”
“It’s a surprise, but you’ll get wet, so wear a bathing suit, please.”
“A bathing suit?”
“Notice I said please. Something really skimpy and preferably see through.”
“Lucas!”
“Kidding. Not kidding,” he deadpanned.

The story is told entirely from Chloe’s POV, and she is wonderful! Smart, witty and funny, she is endearingly relatable and her inner monologue is fantastic! This book is very much focussed on her moving forward with her life, and as usual with Ms Clayton, it’s done with fantastic commentary, and jokes that are continued throughout the book

And, as seems to be the style with this series, the flirting and UST are drawn out and we are kept waiting painfully for the hook up, but when it comes… hot damn!

“Holy sweet fuck, are you kidding me?”
Here’s the thing about an enormous penis. They don’t just live in romance novels …
“Pardon me?” he finally said, his hands frozen on my hips, his lips halfway down my neck.
“Sorry. Actually, not sorry. Actually, congratulations.” I pointed down. “This is kind of amazing.”
He threw his head back and laughed out loud.

Chloe and Lucas’ story is fun, sweet, full of laughs and highly entertaining. My only complaint is that I would have liked some more time with them after they got together. After the epic build up, I wanted some more romance! They are so amazing together, I needed to see more! But I still loved it, and finished the book with a big smile on my face

4 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.