Series: Standalone
Release Date: May 23rd, 2014
Never mind. It doesn’t matter, and I won’t remember it, anyway.
I’m Tack Morgan, and I’m Las Vegas Magazine’s Sexiest Man. I’m the host of the most listened-to morning drive-time show on Vegas’s FM dial.
I’m also in therapy for sexual harassment.
My therapist is the one making me write this. The doc says it’ll help me put things into perspective.
To be clear, I don’t have sexual harassment issues. I have sexual frustration issues.
And it’s totally not my fault.
That responsibility rests squarely with the person I’m being accused of harassing. I see her each and every weekday morning at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m.
Funny. I used to think that was the best time of the whole day. I lived for starting my mornings so early, not seeing my bed until many, many hours later.
Unless it was for recreation.
At the risk of sounding cocky, I recreated a lot.
Sex is my sport of choice. Or at least it was, until Jen waltzed through the station door and announced she was my new morning-show co-host.
I swear, she’s developed some sort of pheromone-canceling ESP that follows me around everywhere and cockblocks me at every turn. I haven’t gotten laid in… too long.
Honestly, I haven’t been keeping track.
Actually, yes, I have.
It’s been two months.
Coincidentally, that’s exactly how long Jensen MacKenzie has been my co-host.
I don’t think my balls can get any bluer.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• No OTT sad parts
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have OW
– The Hero’s POV is the only POV, so before he meets the Heroine he’s with OW (no details though)
• 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: 4.75/5 stars
Waking Up in Vegas is the definition of laugh out loud funny. I adore books that are written from a male perspective, and solely a male-POV because they’re always so damn funny (well, ones in the contemporary romance genre are, just look at Tangled by Emma Chase).
I admit, in the beginning, I was incredibly wary of Waking Up in Vegas, mainly because Tack Morgan is a player (and constantly objectifies women) and isn’t afraid to show it. He revels in it (details aren’t explicit–just saying). And his inner dialogue! Holy cow! This dude is funny, but at the start, he’s funny in a way where I was like, “Did he really just say that?” Here’s an example:
I’m confident, but seriously, it isn’t arrogance when you know your strengths and utilizes them. Can I help if I’m better than some people, and can I help that it’s patently obvious?
Yeah. That’s Tack.
But then enters Jensen MacKenzie, who, by the way, is a girl. And turns out to be Tack’s kryptonite. She’s sassy, she’s funny, she’s not afraid to be herself, and she doesn’t take Tack’s shit, which is her best quality (even Tack thinks so).
From the beginning, it was amazing getting to watch and experience the start of Jen and Tack’s relationship and how it evolved from Tack being annoyed at Jen for merely being there, to him not wanting to live without her. It was also highly amusing reading Tack’s inner dialogue about Jensen, precisely because she annoyed him and basically completely flabbergasted him in the beginning:
That-that, right there, is why I had to leave. She’s getting too damned comfortable. Not that I want her on edge but Jesus! Am I that easily read? Or does she tromp all over boundaries, no matter whose?
Waking Up in Vegas isn’t 5-stars because no book is perfect, but I loved, loved, loved reading Tack’s narrative. I didn’t spot any errors, but I wasn’t really looking for them since I was so captured by Tack’s voice. The pace was good, and I was kind of dreading the ending since I didn’t want the book to end. The rhythm could’ve been more upbeat, but then it wouldn’t have been realistic. You can’t win everything.
The plot development was 100% perfect. Why? Because I could actually see the difference between Tack at the start and Tack at the end. Literally, Waking Up in Vegas starts with Tack during his a-new-girl-every-day ways, there are no details (phew), and it isn’t until he actually does meet Jen that everything changes. But all the changes are subtle and most of them he doesn’t even like! However, Jen started to piss me off. The readers get to experience Tack’s emotional growth and maturity. But then Jen runs away? Um, what? It just pissed me off, and to be honest, it didn’t really fit with how I pictured Jen to be like.
In all, Waking Up in Vegas was a delight to read, I will definitely look into Stevie Kisner’s other books and would not mind re-reading this book, or maybe even reading more about Tack and Jen in the future!
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