Inna (Semi-Hiatus)'s Reviews > The Dirty Truth

** spoiler alert ** 4.5 stars. Wow, this was really enjoyable! Just the right amount of angst for me, a strong heroine, and a hero who really learns from his mistakes. The storyline was well paced, and never boring. This was my first book by this author, but hopefully won’t be my last.

The heroine, Elle, works at a men’s magazine, which is owned by the hero, West. She is back at work after recovering from a near death experience caused by a brain aneurism, and after a negative interaction with West, she decides that she would rather spend her life doing something more worthwhile than what she had been doing. She quits, but fate has other plans when she runs into West’s troubled 15 year old niece in a coffee shop. West, who is at the end of his rope with his niece behaving badly, offers Elle a job to be her “companion”. However, Elle, in her attempt to be a better person and not wanting to be beholden to West, rejects the money and decides to just become a friend and mentor to the girl. This is a truly slow-burn romance, where the two MCs slowly built their relationship from enemies (Elle didn’t think at all highly of West) to lovers. The progression of their relationship felt natural and realistic. There are a few hiccups along the way, but they get a really sweet HEA and a great epilogue.

This book is available to read & listen for free with a kindle unlimited subscription, which is just a great bonus!

Safe for me; but the heroine and hero have sort of known each other for 5 years since she started working for his magazine. The heroine was in a LTR for a couple of years with a man she learned was cheating, and the hero had a FWB who he saw sporadically. She does message him for a hookup after a four month break, but he decides he’s not interested. Neither are with anyone else once this story starts, no OW drama, minor OM drama, no cheating, no scenes with om/ow.