Getting Rough (Monkey Business Trio, #2) by C.L. Parker Series: Monkey Business Trio #2
Published by Bantam on January 26th 2016
Pages: 304
Amazon
The next sizzling novel of C. L. Parker’s Monkey Business Trio—perfect for fans of Bared to You and Beautiful Bastard.
Hotshot San Diego sports agent Shaw Matthews and his sexy professional adversary Cassidy Whalen have gone head-to-head in the boardroom—and the bedroom. Now Shaw has scored a big promotion—but only because Cassidy turned it down and ran off. There are many things he wants when it comes to Cassidy—just not her pity. So Shaw rushes to a small town in Maine to retrieve his dignity—and maybe the woman he’s hungry to claim once more.
Cassidy has pushed herself to the max to realize her career dreams—until a family crisis brings her home. But Shaw isn’t letting Cassidy go that easily. Neither is gorgeous heartthrob Casey Michaels, the childhood sweetheart she left behind—and who now wants to win her back. As the rivalry between the two alpha males intensifies, and Shaw’s seductive moves reach a whole new level of heat, Cassidy has to make a choice. And this time, it’s for the highest stakes of all.
Getting Rough is intended for mature audiences.
Getting Rough is the second book in the Monkey Business trio. It continues the enemies to lovers story of Shaw and Cassidy, two competitive sports agents. The first book, Playing Dirty, heavily emphasized their animosity, and I enjoyed their verbal sparring and underhanded rivalry—not to mention their smoking hot chemistry. This book, however, focuses more on their transition from adversaries to acquaintances to lovers.
Despite the fact I thought the story should have been wrapped up in book one, I was happy to visit Cassidy’s small hometown in Maine. You really get the feeling of living in a close-knit lobster fishermen community. The supporting characters in the town are well-developed and entertaining, and the plot itself is interesting. I have no complaints with the quality of writing; however, the pacing is excruciatingly slow and the book suffers as a result. When I finished, I checked the length thinking it had to be at least 400 pages long. It’s actually only 300 pages, but the story drags on and could easily have been told in far fewer pages.
The connection between Cassidy and Shaw is still incredibly alluring though, and once again the love scenes are scorching! A love triangle between Shaw, Cassidy, and her best friend/ex-boyfriend is introduced. It’s a drama-filled situation that gets resolved a little too neatly and—ironically enough—too quickly on one character’s part to be believable.
While the book is appealing overall, the overdrawn story made it less enjoyable for me than it could have been. Topping it off, the book ends with a cliffhanger. I can’t imagine there’s enough story left to fill up a third book. Perhaps the majority of it will focus on one of the other couples. I’m just not sure I’ll be interested enough to find out.
Recommended for fans of:
Love/hate romance
Love triangles
Steamy sexy times
Comfort food
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.**
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