Muffin Top (Hartigans #2) by Avery Flynn
Normally, that kind of guy—the player—always left her feeling icky. Really, who wants to be with someone who had more notches on his bedpost than Santa had names on his naughty list? There was just something gross about it.
Hero: Hot temper and a hot bodied firefighter who takes chances with anything but emotions.
Heroine: Curvey heroine who doesn’t take shit or chances.
To continue my exploration of contemporary romances I took a suggestion from @itsmariemccurdy to try out some Avery Flynn - I even started in the middle of a series! This was a super fun read - not terribly profound, Earth shattering or emotional but one of those fun day reads where it is sunny and you don’t want to have to think too hard.
This book includes oldie but goodie tropes including fake dating; high school reunion (complete with That Bitch Who Tortured Me); hero who needs to learn to not fight everyone’s battles; and last but not least - badasses all around who don’t like emotions. It didn’t feel overly formulaic which saved it from being too tropey.
There is a rather serious underlying theme that comes to a serious catalyst in the end that deals with the very human mistake of bringing your baggage to a relationship and measuring someone else against it. It is real and raw and I genuinely enjoyed the reflection that both characters ended up needing to do - which added a weight that I felt the book needed.
This book can definitely be read alone so if you aren’t looking for a series this is definitely a good one to pick up. (I am curious if there will be more in this series? I had quite a nice time with it.) I would say there are some triggers within this more lighthearted story that includes heavy swearing and there are some serious scenes with fat shaming present. This is a very sex-positive book in how it talks about sex toys and how the characters have their own sexual interactions - which at times are graphic (like PG-13 to R but not necessarily M).
