Author: Mia Sheridan
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Contemporary Romance
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
"It was sex and it was a good time - just for the weekend. It was all I had to offer. And it was all she wanted to take." - Carson
Literally running into each other in a hotel lobby, Stinger quickly introduces Grace and Carson in a classic meet-cute that ends with them volleying quick-witted barbs at each other due to mutual dislike. Both characters have their own reasons for assuming the worst in the other, but it only took a few hours of forced proximity for them to acknowledge the chemistry they had together.
Grace was very uptight and stuck in her own head, a bit of a wet blanket. Her entire purpose in life seemed to be jumping from one well-made plan to another, not leaving any time for enjoying life. She picked Titanic as her all-time favorite movie, need I say more?
"It was The Plan. I'd always had a plan, and I never strayed from it. Never. And once I achieved one, I moved on to the next." - Grace
I disliked how she judged Carson in the beginning but loved that she had enough self-awareness to recognize her character flaws and want to be better. After meeting Carson and spending a whirlwind weekend together, Grace changed her approach to life, opening her mind to spontaneity and becoming less rigid.
"'Why do you call me buttercup?' I whispered sleepily. I'd keep trying until he gave me a real answer. He had to run out of silly ones eventually." - Grace
Carson was so likable once you got passed the mask of cockiness. Wayward, he put up a wall between himself and everyone else, using his looks to as a defense mechanism. Underneath it all though, Carson was considerate, kind, and playful.
"Hot, uptight, little brat, but a brat nonetheless. I knew her type. She could get all indignant stick that haughty little chin in the air, tell me why she was better than me, and walk away, but I saw the way her body reacted. She wanted me." - Caron
Grace and Carson had opposite outlooks on life at the beginning of the book, one had plans and the other none at all. However, both were unhappy. Throughout the book, the characters made huge strides in growth and I loved how much credit they gave each other for helping them each make something of their lives.
"Carson wasn't part of my plan as I'd convinced myself - he was the antithesis of my plan. And I wasn't sure anymore if that was bad or good." - Grace
It's been a while since I've read a book this spicy, but I knew what I was getting into with a porn star as one of the main characters. That being said, this book definitely has a storyline outside of the bedroom which made the spicy scenes even better because I was invested in the characters.
"I craved structure and definitions and control. And here I was throwing all of that to the wind. For sex. With a porn star." - Grace
This book took off in a completely different direction than I expected based on the blurb, and that was a great thing to read and review. There was so much more depth to Grace and Carson and they truly changed for the better after their weekend in Vegas together. Mia Sheridan can do no wrong, and Stinger is no exception, everyone needs to read this book.
"Life is wild, he'd said. Fate could be wild. Putting you just where you should be at just the right time. And perhaps intervening in ways you never even realized until you could see the big picture later." - Grace
Tropes and Themes: Adult Sex Worker, Weekend Fling, Military, Second Chance, Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract, Las Vegas.
Blurb
Grace Hamilton is the girl with a plan. She knows exactly where her life is going, and prides herself on always achieving her goals. She's never stepped outside the lines she draws for herself, and never considered what her heart truly wants. That is, until him.
Carson Stinger doesn't play by any rules except his own. Working in the adult entertainment industry, he doesn't care what others think of his choices, and takes each day as it comes. No direction, no plan. He knows what women want from him, and in his eyes, it's all he has to offer… until her.
When unexpected circumstances force them together, Grace and Carson are swept up into the electric chemistry between them, surrendering to a steamy weekend in each other's arms. But for two people whose worlds could never coexist, they know their time is short.
That is, until their hearts get involved without their permission…
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