Title: Ladies Man
Series: Manwhore #3
Author: Katy Evans
Release Date: April 26, 2016
TAHOE ROTH.
Irreverent, cocky, playful and naughty.
He’s not the guy you date.
He’s the one night stand.
The one your mother warned you about.
The one your body craves.
You’d think the man who called me succulent would want to strip me down and spread me out on his bed—like he’s done with countless others.
But he passed on my offer….
Just like I’d once passed on his.
He’s wary, like I am.
He’s broken, like I am.
And everyone knows two broken parts can’t ever make a whole.
Tahoe and I are strictly friends.
So I distract myself with other men.
He doesn’t think my new man is good enough. This blond blue-eyed beast doesn’t think any man is—himself included.
But the more time we spend together, the more confused I feel.
I'm trying to open myself to love.
Yet I'm quickly realizing that the only man I want is Tahoe Roth.
The one man who will surely break my heart.
If this review were based on the last 25% of the book alone, it would be an easy five stars. The last quarter of the book was everything—sexy, sweet, and almost overwhelmingly emotional. Everything came together perfectly. My heart thumped with excitement and my stomach fluttered with butterflies and I felt so invested and rewarded and happy about how things all worked out.
It took a while for me to feel those things though.
I struggled with some character likability issues throughout the book. Gina, in particular, came off as whiny and insecure (more so than was intended, I think), and made some decisions that made me want to shake some sense into her and thump my head against the wall in frustration. I know she was going through some things emotionally, but I wanted for her to believe in herself more, to have more self-respect. I think I needed her personal storyline to go deeper in order for me to feel less annoyed with her and fully invest in her happy ending.
I didn’t have exactly the same problem with Tahoe—though he wasn’t always likable to me either. I adored how he behaved around Gina when they were together, but was deeply frustrated by his mixed signals. I understood much more once his layers were peeled back and his story came together, however it didn’t really excuse the confusing messages he was sending Gina throughout the majority of the book.
Having said that, there were moments that took my breath away. I loved how the romance was a slow build—as friends that smoldered into lovers. I didn’t always love the process; it was ugly and frustrating and heartbreaking, but I adored some of the moments along the way. And, of course, I am nuts about the ending.
There was some definite growth here—for both of these characters—but I would have liked to have seen more from Gina especially. She made some great strides, which made most of my early frustration with her worth it, but as I mentioned before, I might have liked to have seen it go a little deeper—her evolution a little more dramatic to make up for some of those terrible decisions she made along the way.
In the end, it paid off hugely. The last quarter of the book was phenomenal as both Gina and Tahoe dealt with their demons and embraced each other. It felt deeply rewarding and over the moon happy! It’s definitely worth the read—the story is solid, if sometimes bumpy, and the heart-racing butterflies in the end make all the angst and frustration along the way completely worth it!
~ Review by Shelly
Katy Evans is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her debut REAL shot to the top of the bestselling lists in 2013 and since then all of her titles have been New York Times bestsellers. Her books have been translated into nearly a dozen languages across the world, with over a million copies sold worldwide.
