SYNOPSIS:
I have one rule: Don’t shit where you eat.
Several of the women in the condo complex I own would love some one-on-one playtime, and why wouldn’t they? I’m young, fit, attractive, and loaded. Not to mention I’m packing a sizable bulge below the belt. It’s a combination that drops panties on a regular basis.
Yay, me, right?
But my cock, troublemaker that he is, has been confined to my trousers by my business partner. A concession I agreed to, and one that’s never been hard to enforce until Emery moves in across the hall. She’s smart, young, determined, and sexy as hell. I want a taste. I won’t stop until I’m buried deep inside the succulent new-in-town brunette.
After being warned about my past, she does her best to steer clear, but I’m about to show her that underneath it all, I’m a guy with a heart of gold and a cock of steel.
My name is Hayden Oliver, and this is my story.
SCREWED is standalone romantic comedy by New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Kendall Ryan.
Review:
I had sooo much fun reading this one.
Hayden Oliver, hero of Screwed, is very similar in type to Drew in Tangled by Emma Chase. Cocky and full of himself, so many of the comments he makes (usually about his physical endowments and/or prowess with women) have a tendency to make you shake your head in a he did NOT! kind of a way…
He’s not *quite* Drew, but he is very similar. Similar enough to make this a very entertaining read for someone who really enjoyed the Tangled series, anyway 🙂
Even though he had me shaking my head at him–a lot–I really liked Hayden’s character. He’s been on a one-man mission to love and leave as many women in LA as he can ever since…well, something happened. I can’t say what, because he doesn’t reveal it for quite some time. But suffice it to say, he’s an unrepentant man-wh*re and doesn’t care who knows it.
Until his business partner lays down the line…right as a new tenant moves into the apartment just below Hayden.
Emery Winters has just moved to LA from Michigan for her law internship and scored a fantastic furnished apartment. The only problem? She hasn’t even moved in yet when one of her neighbors warns her off of the hot-as-heck co-owner of the building, the guy who lives just downstairs and has been staring at her since her moving truck started unloading. When Hayden approaches her, she’s forewarned and forearmed–and shuts him down. But then he suggests friendship and offers to find her a yoga class to attend Monday morning, and she finds herself saying yes.
Except neither of them wants to keep it “just friends.” Still, they do. Until they don’t any more…
There was a lot of snort-laughing going on as I read this book. Fortunately, I was home alone for most of it, so the odd looks were kept to a minimum. 🙂 I loved both Hayden and Emery, and was rooting for them from their very first scene together. The secondary characters were a lot of fun as well, especially Hayden’s sisters Beth and Gracie and his business partner Hudson (Gracie and Hudson are going to be the heroine and hero of the follow-up novella, Monster Prick –yay!)
I still don’t quite understand Roxy’s animosity toward Hayden, though. Their backstory wasn’t quite what I expected, and I’m not sure why she was so vehemently bitter about him…oh, well. Still a four-star read as far as I’m concerned.
This was my first book by Kendall Ryan, but it definitely won’t be my last.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt:
“Tell me more about you,” Emery asks, leaning in toward me.
“What do you want to know?”
“Enlighten me.” She shrugs.
Leaning back in my seat, I cross my ankles. “My job is pretty much my life, and I love what I do. Taking an old rundown building and turning it into luxury units that rent for top dollar is awesome. It never gets old. I love seeing the transformations.”
“That’s amazing.” She nods. “What else … surely there has to be more to you than just work.”
“You want to know something deep, huh?”
She nods, eager.
I think about it for a second, and memories of my checkered past flash through my brain. But rather than watch her expression turn to one of sympathy when she learns my past, I’d rather see her face light up with a smile. “Blow jobs are my spirit animal.”
She rolls her eyes at me, but laughs.
Mission accomplished.
“You seem normal enough. What in the hell did you do to piss off Roxy?” She chuckles as she says this, and suddenly all the blood in my veins turns to ice water.
I scrub a hand across the back of my neck. “Roxy and I . . . it’s a long story, and not one I care to discuss right now.”
She pouts. “Fine. Regardless of your history with Roxy, you didn’t deny what she told me about you.”
“What exactly did she say?” Now I’m actually curious.
She shrugs, playing with the long strands of hair from her ponytail that rest on her shoulder. “She just warned me to stay away from you. Told me about your man-whore background.”
“Well, your virtue is safe. I made a deal with my business partner. No more sleeping with tenants.” I’m not sure why I’m telling her this, maybe because it’ll be easier to enforce the friends-only rule I’ve set for myself if she knows that she’s off-limits to me.
“So sleeping around in general is still fine?” There’s a mocking tone to her voice.
“Absolutely. This will be just friends.” I gesture between us. “Unless, you naughty girl, you’re trying to tempt me.” I give her a flirty wink.
She frowns and shakes her head. “Not a chance in hell. I told you. I’m done with men, and you, Hayden Oliver, by all accounts are a piece of shit.”
“Excuse me?” I cock an eyebrow at her.
“I’ve dated guys like you before. And I classify all men who think with their dicks under S for Shitty.”
“I do think with my cock on a regular basis, so I can’t argue with you there. But he’s so much more fun than my brain.”
This gets a small smile from her, and my heart beats just a little faster.
“Seriously, why would I take a chance on you and have my heart broken again?”
“Because I have a nine-inch cock and I know where the G-spot is?”
Her cheeks turn pink, belying her cool, confident tone. “Tempting, but not good enough.”
Kendall Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance novels, including Hard to Love, Unravel Me, Resisting Her and When I Break.
She’s a sassy, yet polite Midwestern girl with a deep love of books, and a slight addiction to lipgloss. She lives in Minneapolis with her adorable husband and two baby sons, and enjoys hiking, being active, and reading.
Visit her at: www.kendallryanbooks.com for the latest book news, and fun extras
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