Title: Hustler
Author: Meghan Quinn and Jessica Prince
Release Date: May 9, 2016
I make my living as a hustler, and I’m great at it.
I don’t have a single tell and I use that to my advantage to manipulate any situation.
I’ve always known what a person is about to do before they’ve even decided.
That is, until I met Penelope.
I can’t get a read on her, and what’s worse, she doesn’t want anything to do with me.
Which only makes me want her more.
Now I’m in for the hardest hustle of my life.
Somehow I have to convince her she belongs with me.
Good thing I’m always up for a challenge.
In this crazy book world, sometimes we forget just how awesome the theme of “boy meets girl—boy does something stupid to lose girl—boy fights like hell to win girl back” is to read and enjoy!
From the very first page I was sucked into Gavin and Nell’s world, and I didn't want to leave. Gavin is a professional poker player—an amazing people reader. Nell is a small town girl trying to survive in the big city and make her dreams come true.
Boy meets girl and holy crap, do the sparks fly. There's snark, sass, fun, laughter, and “fan yourself” sexy times.
Boy does something stupid to lose girl. Gavin is a dumb boy in a man’s body—desperate to not make the same mistakes from the past. A past that haunts him. So desperate he can't see what he has in his life now is so much better than he could possibly imagine.
Boy fights like hell to win girl back. Nell doesn't make it easy, nor does the tough love and reality check Gavin gets from his friends. But, yowza, does he grovel well.
I'm greatly looking forward to more from this writing duo. Ms. Quinn and Ms. Prince are amazing together—bring on Page and Graham’s story!
~ Review by Missy
Gavin Saint is an unlikely hero.
I sort of hated him and his cucumber cool, ice-king ways. I hated his approach and his infuriating arrogance. I hated his unwillingness to show a tell—one itty bitty peek of emotion that would have made him softer, more human, more vulnerable and...lovable.
Then…he did.
And oh, Gavin Saint. I want wrap him up in a lifetime of bear hugs. Keep him safe and protected from the stupid world and all its stupid judgery (new word—in honor of Gavin Saint, y’all!). I want…well, I want more shirtless encounters and the whole nine inches of insane pleasure (I’m only human, I mean, come on…*wipes drool*). But mostly I want those walls to stay down because when Gavin Saint stops hiding his tells, there is no possible way to avoid falling in love with him.
Nell Prescott gets it.
She’s the only one not afraid to get in his face. She’s not cowed by him and she’s not even remotely impressed with that whole slick hustler image he has going for him. She’s feisty and fierce—and maybe sometimes her temper gets the best of her, but her ability to knock Gavin down a notch or two makes Nell the only kind of heroine who would ever work for him. And though she may be hiding behind some walls of her own, I adored her. Completely.
I admit I had a bit of trouble in the beginning of this book. The power struggle didn’t sit right with me sometimes. I doubted the sincerity of the feelings they were supposed to be developing when they repeatedly went toe-to-toe trying to prove who was stronger, who was least affected, who was running the show. I appreciated that Nell was feisty and stood up for herself, but I sometimes felt like the real feelings got lost in the battle of wills.
Then…things took a turn.
While I sat on the fence with this book for nearly the entire first half, I spent nearly the entire second half melting into a puddle of goo. Once Gavin and Nell started letting their walls down, letting each other in, and behaving like real human beings who like each other, it was hard to keep my feels from exploding all over the place. I loved them together, fumbling their way through their feelings. Once they let each other in, things got real. Their relationship was heartwarming, scorching hot (for real—I swear I heard my Kindle sizzle), adorable, and very, very sincere.
Hustler also funny. Laugh-out-loud funny. Sometimes maybe even “snort embarrassingly and then anxiously look around to make sure nobody heard that” funny. The friendships woven within the framework of this book were one of the best parts of it for me. The banter and teasing amongst friends was hysterical. Be prepared to laugh—a lot.
My feelings about this book are as complicated as the characters it’s written about. I took the ride with them, my emotions running the gamut from frustrated and disgusted to unabashedly turned on to—finally—full-hearted and ooey gooey with all kinds of love feelings. The love feelings win…and the ending set my pulse aflutter.
~ Review by Shelly
I’m trying with all my might to think of a suitable adjective to describe Hustler, and not a single one comes to mind. Probably because it’s just too freaking good to be encompassed by ONE word.
So, instead, I shall give you a few off the top of my head…
Sexy. Funny. Charming. Heartfelt. Feel-good. Funny. Frustrating. Sizzling. And, oh, did I mention funny?!
I may have had one or two moments that made me cross—I am categorically NOT a fan of seeing character described as looking exactly like a particular person, because if you don’t like said person (or even if you do), it kind of breaks the magic—but my overwhelming feeling about this book is that is one that people simply MUST READ.
Because if you don’t read this book, you’ll be missing out. Missing out on the funnies and the feels. Missing out on Nell Prescott—she of the sassy mouth, strong will, big heart and even bigger dreams. Missing out on Gavin Saint—asshole extraordinaire, hot, cocky, arrogant and oh yeah, IRRESISTIBLE. Missing out on those moments when I thought maybe these two authors might have taken the back-and-forth between these two too far…
But then again, I should have had a little more faith than that. Meghan Quinn is, after all, a proven author for me; I’ve laughed-out-loud at her crazy humor many times, fallen in love with her fiery females and swooned for her handsome heroes. Her name on the cover was the reason I wanted to pick up this book. The words, seamlessly written by Ms. Quinn alongside new-to-me author Jessica Prince, are what kept my attention. Just when I thought it was too much, they managed to pull it all back together. They presented a simple and simply lovely story of boy meeting a girl, wanting a girl, getting a girl, losing a girl and so on…then added a salty little spin. It was fun. Interesting. A little bit different. And absolutely enough to keep me coming back for more.
And damn, I cannot wait for more. The captivating (and banter-licious) secondary characters have stories to tell—all of them. Scott and Davies, YESSSSSS. Lord, and don’t even get me started on Page and Graham. After that ending, I know they are going to be explosive. Crazy. Love-and-hate filled. Fierce. Possibly even over-the-top. And I cannot WAIT to see it happen—and see if I can come up with one…or more adjectives to describe them.
~ Review by Beth
“Hello Miss Prescott. What brings you here this fine morning?”
Her eyes are glued to my chest, not a single word comes out of her mouth.
“Um, we’re having a picnic,” Page answers for her, poking Penelope in the back with a stick.
“Oh yeah, food,” Penelope answers, shaking her head quickly and turning back around.
Not waiting for an invitation, I take a seat next to her and say, “Well, don’t mind if I do. I’m famished.” Grabbing a few grapes, I pop them in my mouth and then hold my hand out to Page. “Gavin Saint.”
“Page,” she answers, awe in her voice. “Nell has told me so much about you.”
Grinning from ear to ear, I turn to Penelope whose face is bright red. “Is that so?”
“No!” she answers quickly, shooting daggers at her friend. “I have not said anything about you, at all.”
“Not even about the storage closet?” I ask, not ashamed at all.
Davies throws her head back and laughs while Penelope coughs into her drink. I pat her back in a calming gesture, occasionally rubbing my hand over the thin material of her top, wishing it were her skin.
“From your reactions, it seems like our little friend here did tell you. What did she say? Give me all the dirt.” I rub my hands together, loving the way Penelope is seething next to me.
Before any of the girls could cut in, Penelope says, “Just that you told me you had to use your fingers because you have a micro-penis and felt bad that you wouldn’t be able to please me any other way. We all agreed, you can’t have it all Gavin Saint,” she finishes with a sympathetic wince.
Should have seen that one coming. Fucking woman keeps me on my toes.
I lean over to Penelope, placing my hand on her lower back, and speak directly into her ear, keeping our conversation private. “You and I both know that’s a lie, but I’ll let it slide because I look forward to the moment when I fuck that thought right out of your head with my long…thick…cock.” I take my time speaking into her ear, eliciting goose bumps across the surface of her skin. With a quick glance, I also take in how her nipples have hardened.
Bluff all you want baby, I can read you like a fucking book.
Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan Quinn has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if "It's Raining Men" starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped.
Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing... enter her first novel, Caught Looking.
Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh, and she loves a good boob squeeze!
Jessica Prince was born and raised in Texas--where she'll stay because she claims the cost of living in Texas excuses the god-awful weather. She is first and foremost a wife and mother. Because of those two things, she's also a self-proclaimed wino and coffee addict.
She's always been an avid lover of all types of books, but romances are her main favorites.
Jessica's husband likes to say reading is her obsession, but she likes to call it her passion...there's a difference.
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