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You are here: Home / Contemporary Romance / Review: Paying Her Debt by Emma Shortt

Review: Paying Her Debt by Emma Shortt

August 25, 2011 by Mandi 10 Comments

Paying Her DebtPaying Her Debt by Emma Shortt
Contemporary Romance
July 11, 2011
E-Book
Evernight Publishing

Reviewed by Mandi

Andy Jones suffered many injuries as a result of a bad car accident a year ago. She also lost her business and has fallen into debt. Working two jobs, fifteen hours a day doesn’t leave her much time for sleep or anything else. Which is why she falls asleep while working at the very fancy Fine Foods company while sorting through boxes. And it is not her lucky day. The owner of the entire company, Alexander Ioannou, comes to the store for a surprise inspection. When he discovers her sound asleep on the job, he knows he has to fire her. But after she is gone, he feels guilty. He notices she looks really thin and worn out.

The next day he can’t get his mind off of her and when he discovers she was mugged walking home to her bad neighborhood and is in the hospital, he feels the need to help her out. He offers for her to stay in his ritzy apartment until she feels better, but it turns into much more.

Paying Her Debt had a pretty good beginning, but it quickly went downhill for me. The characters themselves I enjoyed separately. Andy is just plain broke and still physicaly recovering from a horrific car crash. She is exhausted but determined to persevere. Alexander, is Greek and comes from a strong family background. He promised his grandmother he would settle down in her small town and look for his true love.

Alexander is immediately attracted to Andy, and a little of his dominant side comes out. He wants to protect her, and make her better. He wants to give her money and asks her to be his mistress. Andy is taken back by this, and doesn’t want his help. But in his bed, looking at this attractive man, she can’t help but want something physical from him. This is where I lost interest. Their “relationship” just didn’t flow for me. Alexander goes from this high and mighty business man to having sex with a woman who was just mugged and could barely make it out of this hospital in just a day or two. The sex scenes did nothing for me (I think more because I didn’t feel any build up of chemistry prior to the sex). And a big let down for me: spoiler warning:

[spoiler]They have sex four times in one night and forget to use a condom each time. Really? From here, they both kind of hope Andy is pregnant, which just didn’t make sense to me since they barely know each other.[/spoiler]

I think the relationship is way too rushed in this book. There needed to be more time to explore the characters and their development before diving into the bedroom and more.

Rating: D+

Recent Reviews:
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Kindle l Nook l Evernight Publishing

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Filed Under: Contemporary Romance, D Review, Emma Shortt, Evernight Publishing

Comments

  1. Tori says

    August 25, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    :( Sorry this wasn’t a keeper for you. Sounds like it started out good but it’s hard to get on board when you don’t see a reason why they should be together.

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    • Mandi says

      August 25, 2011 at 8:04 pm

      I did like the start – just didn’t work at the end. But maybe next time

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  2. amyt865 says

    August 25, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    Dang! This one sounded good in the blurb too. Got to have chemistry with the couple to keep me invested!

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    • Mandi says

      August 25, 2011 at 8:06 pm

      Yes…the chemistry is what lacked for me. It was just a little..off.

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  3. Aurian says

    August 25, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    I don’t think I will like it either, thanks for the review.

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  4. Emma Shortt says

    August 25, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Hi Mandy,

    Thank you for taking the time to read Paying her Debt. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. Maybe next time. :)

    Oh, and loving the Barbarian Moobs!

    Emma x

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  5. Lorraine Nelson says

    August 25, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    Wow! To each his own, I guess. I found Paying her Debt very interesting from start to finish. Wish I could find a man to fulfill all my needs as Alex does for Andy. Good job, Emma! :-)

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  6. Lorraine Nelson says

    August 25, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    PS…It’s a novella. Everything has to happen faster than usual.

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    • Mandi says

      August 25, 2011 at 8:08 pm

      mmm…things don’t have to happen faster necessarily. I think it is tough in a novella when the h/h don’t know each other and go from that to love by the end of the book. I think we are told Alex wants to fulfill all of Andy’s wishes, I just didn’t feel it. Not to be vague but the chemistry just wasn’t there – and I found what I put in the spoiler to be a deal breaker.

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  7. Donna says

    August 25, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    I’ll definitely give this one a try!

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