Well, at least that's over.

Rowan has to be one of the most unappealing romance heroes I've ever met. He spends the majority of the book being a raging prick who is so out of touch with reality that he has no concept of how the 99% lives, and even when he's being "nice", he's so possessive and demanding that I found myself rolling my eyes at most of his dialogue. He's wounded because his dad was mean to him, but having an unsupportive parent is no excuse for half of the things he says and does. I saw a review on here that said he doesn't view employees as human beings until he starts to have sex with one of them, and that's spot on.

It would have been bad enough to deal with how much I disliked Rowan's character, but I had mixed feelings about Zahra, too. I like her sunny demeanor, but I could have done without her frequent outbursts at work and how immensely unprofessional she is. Rowan deserved it, but who gets away with yelling at their boss in front of their co-workers numerous times without any repercussions or anyone at least giving her the side-eye?

All of that said, the chemistry between these two wasn't anything I could buy into either. Rowan thinks with his dick from the very beginning and even once they develop strong feelings, it still felt like the only way they knew how to bond was through sex. And the bit with him requesting unprotected sex the moment she gave him a second chance (er, third? fourth?) because "nothing can come between us"? I'm too pragmatic for this shit because I physically shuddered in revulsion at the idea of her risking pregnancy with this fool five seconds after he groveled again.

The only thing I liked about this was the disability rep. Ani, Zahra's little sister, has Down Syndrome and is an absolutely delightful character who stole the show every time she was on-page. I loved her! Everything else about this book, though? It's a no from me.

Buddy read with Misty!

✨ Representation: Zahra is half Armenian, Ani is half Armenian and has Down Syndrome