Between Commitment and Betrayal
Hardy Billionaire Brothers #1
By Shain Rose
*Can be read as a standalone*
TheStory
When Everly’s estranged father dies, she discovers his will stipulates that she must enter into a marriage contract with his business partner, Declan, for one year in order to collect the inheritance. Everly moves to her father’s town and meets Declan. In order to meet the conditions, Everly and Declan reluctantly agree to enter into the marriage - and everything that comes with it. They must live together and pretend to be in a relationship.
While starting out rocky due to their opposing personalities, the lines start to blur between a business arrangement and a real relationship. But when fake commitment turns into real feelings, a deep betrayal may unravel everything.
TheReview
This book has me con-flic-ted. So, I’m gonna think out loud and figure out my rating after I write the review. Sound good? Cool.
Let’s start with the weird stuff that I didn’t vibe with because that’s what first came to mind.
So, the first sex scene is on page 28… What??? It was so out of the blue with the way the two MCs felt about each other. I felt like I got whiplash. I get it… They are so frustrated with everything and each other that they just need a release. But like… give me something. Some sort of build up. Some ancillary information. Something.
On that note, the whole relationship gives me whiplash. It could have definitely had some sort of consistency in their feelings throughout. The back and forth was sort of awkward. But still… For some reason I’m kind of into it.
Another part I found sort of off was the “betrayal” part. It seemed sort of forced in there to give the story some oomph for that third-act. It also wasn’t that crazy of a betrayal to me, especially considering some betrayals I’ve read in other books.
Lastly for the meh parts of this book, the ending was… well, meh. It was just sort of blah and slapped together. However, it did wrap up the story like an ending should. I just didn’t get that feeling of “Wow! That was satisfying.”
So why did I still enjoy this book?
Maybe it’s the characters. Yeah, the characters. Let’s go with that. I like that Everly is the calm, cool, and collected one in the relationship. It drives Declan absolutely nuts because he is so NOT calm, cool, or collected. Declan is demanding and forceful - *YUM* - but there still seems to be a respect for boundaries.
On a totally different note, the sex scenes! I felt like the writing of these scenes was done better than a lot of other authors. Am I the only one? There was so much verbiage that still flowed naturally. I could really get into the moment and understand the characters here. And it wasn’t repetitive (you know those books where every other scene starts out with the word “hump” or something?).
Conclusion - the book was still fun to read. The MCs personalities and characters are what really made me like it. I’d recommend it for a light and easy read to get lost into for a day or two without any surprises.
TheRating
Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: N/A
Spice: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Hardy Billionaire Brothers Series
Between Commitment and Betrayal
Hardy Billionaire Brothers #1
Between Love and Loathing
Hardy Billionaire Brothers #2
Between Never and Forever
Hardy Billionaire Brothers #3