Model Behavior ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Ben and Olivia (Livvie) have been friends for a long time. He is a wealthy businessman. She is a model. Ben decides to drop the gauntlet and start the 24 hours he has to complete 7 tasks in order to sleep with Olivia.

While Livvie is content to friendzone Ben, he is determined to do what it takes to prove that he is in for the long haul. He wants a long-term romantic relationship.

Opinion

The book…two words: EMOTIONALLY CHARGED

From the synopsis, I was expecting Livvie to be an ice queen. In the beginning, I thought that I did not like her. She makes out a crazy list of things that Ben has to do before she will sleep with him. Who does that? And when he is having success with the aforementioned list, she tries to sabotage him?

Why Livvie? Why?

Ben tries to make his case:

“I’m reasonably attractive.
I like to think I can make you laugh even when you’d rather throw me out a window.” – Ben

Throughout the book, I thought he explained everything adequately and was sincere. I could not understand why Livvie would continue to be a jerk. Here was a guy that was trying to show her how much he cared.

“He’d spent the past five years of his life looking for ways into her life.”- Ben

“I hate men like you.” – Livvie

Not the response I was hoping to hear from Livvie. I kept reading because I really hoped there would be a HEA ending. However, once Livvie elaborates, I felt sorry for her and wondered how this all would end. She protected herself emotionally the best she could. Her modeling career left her so jaded that she was blinded as to what could be happiness.

Livvie thought she knew him, but she had a lot to learn about his complexities instead of pigeonholing him in the simple “rich guy” category.

Ben struck me as a true romantic. While he does not know the full extent of Livvie’s emotional damage, he truly believes his love for her can overcome any barrier. As sincere as he was, to really love Livvie, he has to understand the reasons behind her reluctance. As he developed in that way, my heart fell for him a little bit more.

My only critical comment was that the ending seemed sudden. After all the buildup, I wish there had been an epilogue. I wanted needed more page time for the happy couple.

Should you buy? Yes. This not your standard fluff Harlequin romance. For me, I enjoyed the way that my initial view of Livvie changed throughout the book as I got a fuller picture of who he was. It has some steamy parts but not a lot. Ben is trying to bridge the gap from friendship to lovers while Livvie avoids him at every turn. The author does a fantastic job of giving the render insight into the characters. I think that there is enough depth of character development but not in a melodramatic way. I think you will be entertained.

As a side point, there is some crude language, not excessive, but it is there.

I received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review