Alison Robinson
Loved it! I started reading the first book in this series a year or so ago and couldn't really get into it but I saw the blurb for this one and couldn't resist. A gorgeous rugby player who's really bad in bed? Sign me up for a good laugh. Sean Cassidy comes from a wealthy privileged Irish family. He has a bad relationship with his team captain Ronan FItzpatrick, hero of The Hooker and the Hermit and two of them are at loggerheads, especially after Sean made a move on Sean's previous girlfriend. That's how he got the nickname Sleazy Sean. Of course the truth is something different and inside Sean is just plain jealous of golden boy Ronan and desperate for approval. His family are cold and unloving, only after furthering themselves and he seeks comfort in a series of unsuccessful one-night stands. Lucy Fitzpatrick is Ronan's baby sister. She is a constant disappointment to their mother whose life mission is to see Lucy find a wealthy man to take care of her. Lucy's rebellion takes the form of quirky clothing and rainbow coloured hair. Lucy also finds her mother's constant criticism of her looks, her clothes, her friends and her job so distressing that only a few hours in her company leads her to bad behaviour. One night Lucy is at a club with her brother and his team when Sean and Ronan get into another barbed fight, she tries to engage with Sean and thinks she makes a connection, until he makes another douchey comment and blows it. When they meet again Sean uncovers Lucy's secret and decides he will get one over on Ronan but baiting him with his little sister, but somehow the two of them enjoy one another's company and strike rather an unusual blackmail style agreement. Sean was not your usual sportsman hero, he likes the good things in life and enjoys nothing more than helping his younger cousin choose clothes and accessories. Although he originally engages with Lucy just to mess with Ronan he isn't unkind or unfeeling and pretty soon he acknowledges (to himself of course) that his plans to humiliate Ronan have disappeared and he just wants to spend time with Lucy, doesn't matter what they do. He is also self aware enough to know why he lashes out and to act rationally rather than some lunatic YA/NA hero. I really liked Sean. Overall, as I said, I loved this and I will definitely be trying book one again.
2 people found this review helpful
Lenore Kosinski
4.5 stars — Well, to say this book surprised me would be an understatement. I did *NOT* like Sean for the first little bit of the book. I mean, I wasn’t supposed to, but I know some readers enjoy jerks more than others…I tend to have little patience for them. And Sean was a D I C K. He was insensitive, out of touch, jealous, petty…like, I could go on. He even had little minor quirks that are on my list of “meh” (like being materialistic and snobby). AND YET. I came to love him. I don’t even know what to do with myself, I’m so confused. Because he didn’t magically transform into another person and this was all a misunderstanding or something. Nope, he was still a lot of those things. But a) we learned about his past and how he grew up, and how that influenced his behavior; and b) he, albeit reluctantly in most cases, grew throughout the book. He finally found someone who took the time to see past the surface stuff of him, and demand better from him. And so, for once in his life, he tried. And it wasn’t without pitfalls, but it was so freaking endearing I can’t even. Like, I’m beside myself. But there it is. I’m a fan. Lucy, on the other hand, I adored practically from the first page (possibly the first page, I can’t remember). She was quirky…but like, quirky like I’m quirky — where you still feel all the judgements and the pressures about who you should be, but you can’t stop being your weird self, and deep down you love your weird self. And thus, I loved Lucy. (*snort*, that was an accident, I didn’t mean to do that, but I’m keeping it. ANYWAYS.) Her heart was so big. I loved the way she took time with the people she met to not just jump to conclusions. She wasn’t a doormat about it, but she didn’t allow her preconceived notions to prevent her from changing her opinion. I felt for what she struggled with with her family. Her Mam was…*sigh* Not great. And having her anxiety manifest in a shoplifting compulsion was really interesting. And then there was the dilemma with her brother. I wanted her to say “f him!”, but I totally got why it was more complicated than that. Sometimes she drove me insane with her back and forth with Sean, and her reticence, but I still *got it*. I just didn’t want to get it. They were so strange and adorable with one another. I loved the way they connected, and how they couldn’t resist the pull. I loved their chemistry, and the ups and downs of their sexual relationship. I could read a whole book length epilogue of them, because I loved seeing them happy together. And now that I finished this series in the most unconventional order (1, 4, 3, 2), I kind of want to reread 3 and 4 now. 1 was definitely my least favourite, but I’m kind of intrigued by Eilish and Bryan again, now that I’ve seen them from a different direction. Also, Broderick was da bomb, and now I want his book…especially after the Songbird novella. So yeah. Gotta love when a book turns you on your head and sets you back down and you have to digest.
