Mae Wood – For The Love of Fictional Worlds

Marisa Tanner’s most important client, multi-billion dollar family-owned Brannon Company, has been sued by nine of its employees for sexual harassment. Marisa is a pro at handling sexual harassment allegations, but will she be able to handle the CEO’s prodigal son as well as she can handle the lawsuits?
Clients are off-limits and Marisa could lose her law license and livelihood, but Memphis playboy Trip keeps making strong plays for her. Their attraction is undeniable and chemistry electric. Can she have her career and Trip, too, or will she have to choose?
A steamy debut novel by Mae Wood, “Risking Ruin” is a standalone novel that blends the styles of chick-lit and steamy contemporary romance to create a world filled with strong characters in the lush environment of Memphis, Tennessee.

I won this E-book in a giveaway. That in no way reflects any influence on my thoughts and opinions written in the review.

As a rule, I don’t really read Chick Lit – not because I don’t like the genre, but because I somehow feel that I have never felt as close to this genre as other genre (Yes, I have favorites!! Shh! Don’t let them know?)

So, when I read the blurb, I actually sorta surprised myself by getting interested in this book!

This is a light-hearted book with enough mystery to keep you engrossed till the end of the book (really! I am not kidding! It even had me stumped).

I loved the writing style of Mae Wood – the dry sarcastic tone was on point and hilarious that I did my best to try speaking out the dialogues in the driest voice I could muster – that did not actually go well with the people around me, namely my supervisor but I really had so much fun doing it 😀

Mae Wod has created a character – Marisa – that any independent ambitious woman would actually identify with, insecurities and all included. It was like looking into a mirror, figuratively – all those thoughts and overthinking she does is so reminiscent of myself that it was eerie to read!

Trip (seriously? Trip?) is as adorably hot as he can get – at least the Trip we get to know through Marisa’s view. He is tenacious, hot and absolutely intelligent – perfect enough to actually not be a jerk at first like most fictional guys we meet (and let me tell you, we do meet a LOT of fictional guys!).

This book was hilarious from the start till the end, and the bonus mystery plot-line was the icing on the cake. I mean, seriously! I did not see that one coming – and somehow it’s really hard to surprise me anymore!

The only thing? I waited like crazy to get Trip’s POV – but I soon realised that I was reading a Chick Lit and you don’t really get the other side of the story and that’s just a shame – not only cause I NEED to have double POV – but because Trip’s mind would have been a brilliantly hilarious minefield to walk through!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Love chick lit? This is definitely worth your time. Need something light to brighten mood? Definitely pick this one up!

Lust or love? Can Marisa even tell the difference?

Juggling a new boyfriend who is constantly MIA for work, his mom who likes her just a little too much, a best friend whose husband might be sneaking around, and a busy career saving clients from sexual harassment lawsuits is pulling Marisa Tanner apart at the seams. Being with Trip is good, but is it real? Will he bail on her like her past boyfriends or for once in his life will Trip be able to maintain focus longer than the time it takes to close a business deal?

A follow-up to Risking Ruin, Borrowing Trouble maintains Mae Wood’s distinctive style of smart and sexy chick lit.

I received an eARC of the book via the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is the sequel to Risking ruin (and the review of which you can find above – just being helpful :P) and therefore, will contain some spoilers.

This sequel starts of where Risking Ruin left off – with Trip having a permission slip from his father to have a relationship with Marisa (cue the embarrassment and mortification, because ewww!) and both Trip and Marisa settling down (or trying to at least) into a relationship.

This book has a little more depth – and by depth I do mean a little more serious and definitely a lot more angst that was definitely a surprise but nevertheless welcome. It showed a lot of growth of not just the characters but the author’s as well.

It’s always a little difficult to show something other HEA for your characters after you are done with one part of their lives, but the author handles it with aplomb! She shows great insight but making us see that while we might want to live in the fairytale lands of our favorite fictional characters having a smooth ride for the rest of their life, it isn’t always so but that never does mean that you can’t have a few laughs even while you are down!