On the Plus Side
Alison Bliss
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Forever
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Reviewed by Hellie
Valerie Carmichael has been in love with her
brother’s best friend, Logan, since she was a teenager. Logan has returned to
their hometown and he is once more in her orbit, and this time she is
determined to make him notice her. Logan has never had a problem noticing
Valerie, though he sincerely wishes he wouldn’t. He would never betray his best
friend, and Valerie deserves so much better than Logan.
Logan needs to hastily raise $10,000 to save his
mama’s house from foreclosure, and the brisk business at his new bar is likely
to raise the money just in time, but Logan finds himself in a bind when his
head bartender quits. Valerie volunteers to replace him, but Logan doesn’t want
Valerie anywhere around him. Valerie refuses to let the opportunity go, and
while Logan is trying to fix one problem, Valerie gets behind the bar to fix
his bartender problem. When he returns, and Valerie is whipping up cocktails
like a Tom Cruise movie, he realizes he doesn’t have a choice. At least for
now.
Meanwhile Valerie talks with her friend Leah
about the fact Logan won’t look twice at her--and as the topic progresses (and
perhaps tangents), Leah encourages her to create a list of all the sex stuff
Valerie would never do. Valerie makes a list, then throws it away. But guess
who finds the list? Yes, yes, Logan does. Logan’s #1 rule about Valerie takes a
nosedive, as he believes this list is her Sex Wish List and he goes
about fulfilling it.
Valerie loves working at the bar--even though
she told a “little lie” to make Logan give her the job--but that won’t be a
problem will it? Of course it is. And things can’t get worse for Logan, can
they? Of course they can.
I’m not sure what “genre” this truly falls
under, but it reads a bit like a erotica-lite. Logan thinks and speaks in very
rough language, so if you happen to be someone who reaches for their smelling
salts when someone expresses a desire to be “balls deep” with his “dick” in
you, you might skip this one. If you prefer sex scenes that take place in
bedrooms, or basically nowhere public, you may want to skip this one. If you
prefer heroes (and characters in general) who don’t throw fists and ask
questions later, assume the worse of the heroine when she’s in a compromising
position (rather than making sure she’s okay), or blame her entirely why his
life has gone to hell? This book may not be for you. I will grant you the sex
was hot in this book, but it got to a point where I started skipping because I
was tired of reading about them doing it. That doesn’t happen. Also, in the
first sex scene when he “forgets” to put on the condom and then apologizes
later--and she says, “It’s all fine. I’m on the pill.” Yeah, no, that is not a
pass. These just happen to be a few of my personal reader rules.
Granted, I can say both characters felt
believable in their behavior and actions on the whole, but I just didn’t care
about their happy ending because I didn’t care about them. I wanted to get him
into some anger management classes; and her in some healthy relationship classes.
Mostly, I thought, these characters feel very young (far younger than they are
portrayed) in their actions and dialogue and it made me feel old reading it.
Very, very old. And puritan at times.
Well-developed characters, fast-paced plot,
sexual tension and hot scenes, witty and funny scenes--it checks the marks, but
for me, wasn’t my cup of tea.
