Once Upon a Dare by Jennifer Bonds (Risky Business #1)
Released: April 7, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Entangled
Reviewed by Mandi
Olivia is all about work as a high-powered ad executive and rarely goes on a date. She can’t remember the last time she had sex. It’s a somewhat stale life, but her work is important to her so she powers through each day. One night. after celebrating a big ad win with the hopes of being announced partner after the weekend, her friend dares her to approach a guy and try for a one night stand. At first Olivia blows her off, but after a few sips of her martini and a look at a gorgeous man at the end of the bar, she thinks ,what the hell.
Cole is very attracted to Olivia and excited when she drags him off to his place. A one night stand and orgasms happen. Hooray for everyone.
But at work on Monday, when Olivia gets called into her boss’s office, instead of being told she is going to make partner, he introduces Cole as the new partner. *cue the sad trombone* Olivia is ticked, and Cole is….well let’s talk about Cole for a minute.
First – I feel like I’ve read this story several times already. The one night stand that leads to the surprise co-worker revelation the next day has been done and done. Maybe I should have read the blurb better! Oh well.
Anyway, this isn’t my favorite set-up but what really didn’t work for me in this story is Cole. He swaggers into what should have been Olivia’s job and is kind of ajerk. Instead of being an asshole who is really hot (you know the type I’m talking about) he is an asshole who got on my nerves. He is kind of cocky and cold. Olivia is nicknamed the Ice Queen because of her cool demeanor at work ,but it’s Cole who comes across as cold to me. He calls her “sweetheart” when they are discussing business and that bothered me. It came across condescending. They had a lot of sexual work interruptions that got repetitive. I just didn’t like their work/lust relationship – which is one reason this trope is hard for me to handle. I get angry on the heroine’s behalf because this new guy swoops in and takes her job.
It ends on a happy note, but overall the story didn’t work for me.
Rating: C
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“First – I feel like I’ve read this story several times already. The one night stand that leads to the surprise co-worker revelation the next day has been done and done. Maybe I should have read the blurb better! Oh well.”
Ahhh, yes, I too victimized myself recently by not reading a blurb well enough.
We need some new tropes, this stuff is getting stale!
Agreed. This trope is not one of my favorites, either. I think the only time I enjoy it is when the story is very cute and funny with characters I’d get a kick out of being friends with.