Series: Vested Interests*
Release Date: February 8th, 2018
Their pasts dictate the men they are, but their present shapes their future.
What happens when these men meet the one person they are destined to be with? Can they fight their feelings and walk away? Or will they each succumb and learn the sweet agony of love?
Bentley
The leader of the group. He is uptight, formal, and cold. Rigid and set in his ways, always following the same path. Until the day, he stumbles upon her.
Emmy
She brings with her spontaneity and light. The world she lives in is so different from his, yet he cannot control the draw to her. Nor can he explain the way she makes him feel.
Happy.
Protective.
Loved.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Hero’s parents died when he was young
• Abduction
• Suicide
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does Not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4/5 stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
Bentley was a super cute–and sweet–romance. Both the hero, Bentley, and the heroine, Emmy, were quirky in their own way, but they worked together as a couple. I loved how Moreland didn’t resort to clichéd stereotypes with her billionaire hero and down-to-her-luck heroine. Bentley wasn’t some suave womanizer, but nor was he a cold asshole. He has had girlfriends before, but most broke up with him because he was too dull (he is super proper). Also, Emmy wasn’t a virgin, and she also had past relationships–and not just assholes either.
Similar to many of Moreland’s other books, the relationship between the main characters moved a bit fast. But, with how the plot and characters were written, it didn’t seem too jarring or even (entirely) unrealistic. The sweetness factor in Bentley was epic… I really enjoyed how the main characters would work out their problems. They actually communicated! Hallelujah! No stewing or jumping to conclusions (sadly, that’s a novelty in romance books).
Of course, there’s a little side plot that revolves around Bentley’s business, but I think this added to the book since it created a more realistic dimensionality to his character. He wasn’t merely another millionaire that had all this money and owned this lucrative business without looking like he actually did his job. He worked–and you saw that (it also helps that Bentley’s company introduces the next two heroes in the series: Bentley’s best friends from college who are his Head of Security and CFO). Emmy also wasn’t someone who just had a bunch of free time–like most characters in romance novels do–throughout the book, she’s actively working towards her degree.
What did annoy me about Bentley was the fact that Emmy’s friends were seamlessly paired up with Bentley’s friends. I usually like that in a series, but at some points, it felt like the focus on their friends’ relationships was taking away from Bentley and Emmy’s story… for Pete’s sake, the book’s titled, Bentley! Not only did this distract from the main characters, but it left me wondering what Aiden’s book (the next in the series) would be about. Like will it pick up when he meets his heroine (which is pretty early on in Bentley)? The fact that I was so concerned about the secondary characters’ relationship demonstrates how the focus wasn’t always on the main characters. I think Moreland could’ve hinted at the possibility of them getting together but left the actual development of the relationship to the next book.
Even though there were brief moments of a lack of focus on Bentley and Emmy, in the end, it wasn’t a huge deal. I adored the sweetness of the main character’s relationship.
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