Tabs’ review of Hooking Up by Helena Hunting
Contemporary Romance published by Swerve 07 Nov 17
Can a tropical island rebound turn into forever? Amalie has always displayed poor judgement in men, but she thinks she’s turned a corner when she agrees to marry a respectable a man her parents are proud to see her with. When he publicly cheats on her at their wedding reception, it’s clear that he wasn’t what she thought he was. She’s in no condition for a rebound fling an,d the man she keeps running into has plenty of reasons to keep things platonic between them. But some things are just inevitable.
Amalie spends a great deal of this book reeling from her situation. The more distance she gets, the more she sees how toxic her relationship was and how much damage her assface husband has done to her psyche. After letting the crazy out a little, she rallies and decides to stick it to the man by going on their honeymoon alone. Of course, fate intervenes and she ends up on the same plane and on the same tropical island as the assface’s handsome cousin Marcus.
Marcus should definitely keep his hands off of Amalie. He and his cousin have been in a bizzare competition with each other for most of their lives and it’s gotten especially toxic in recent years. He’s not a fan of leaving human casualties in their feud’s wake, so he’s long since given up dating anyone lest they get stuck being a pawn in a nasty game only one person is playing. But the attraction between them is more powerful than Marcus can resist.
I’ve been a fan of Helena Hunting’s for a while and I’ve been really pleased with the direction her writing has been taking lately. She’s still writing funny romances, but the crude humor of her hockey books, which aren’t to everyone’s tastes, has been dialed down a few notches. I’m really enjoying it. This isn’t the world’s lightest rom coms, but I did enjoy watching Amelie get her confidence back and Amelie and Marcus compliment each other well. I look forward to future Hunting books in this vein.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Amalie Whitfield is the picture of a blushing bride during her wedding reception–but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of proclaiming his undying love, her husband can be heard, by Amalie and their guests, getting off with someone else. She has every reason to freak out, and in a moment of insanity, she throws herself at the first hot-blooded male she sees. But he’s not interested in becoming her revenge screw.
Mortified and desperate to escape the post-wedding drama, Amalie decides to go on her honeymoon alone, only to find the man who rejected her also heading to the same tiny island for work. But this time he isn’t holding back. She should know better than to sleep with someone she knows, but she can’t seem to resist him.
They might agree that what happens on the island should stay on the island, but neither one can deny that their attraction is more than just physical.Filled with hilariously scandalous situations and enough sexual chemistry to power an airplane from New York City to the South Pacific, Hooking Up is the next standalone, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from Helena Hunting, the New York Times bestselling author of the Pucked series and Shacking Up.
Other books in this series:
