Early Review ~ Mr. Romantic ~ JA Huss

Mr. Romantic by J.A. Huss
Mister #2
Release Date: June 22, 2016
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: I received an eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. I also pre-ordered my own copy from Amazon.
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #2016NewRelease
Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ B&N

Synopsis
Charm is the key to the world.

Charisma, magnetism, sex appeal--that 'it' factor that can't be described.

Nolan Delaney has it in spades.

The infamous Mr. Romantic.

And maybe he is out of my league... But I'm going to give it the old college try anyway. Because I didn't travel two thousand miles for a job interview at his request just to be put out like trash.

Don't  underestimate me, Mr. Delaney.

I'm not really as innocent as I look.

First things first - I'm giving y'all a trigger warning. There is a taboo topic discussed in this book. There is plenty of warning and everything that happens is consensual. But if you have triggers, you have been warned.

I thought Mr. Perfect, as y'all might recall, was "straight-up sexy." With Mr. Romantic, Huss returns in true Huss-style. And by that, I mean with a riveting story with suspense, a twisty, mind-bending plot, and conspiracies abounding. Mr. Romantic had:

• an anti-hero in Nolan. I admit to not knowing whether to believe him. He's suave, arrogant, completely charming...until he isn't. But he's also vulnerable. He kinda scared me at times. He kinda creeped me out. He definitely made me swoon at times. And he won me over in the end.
• a likable, if naive, heroine in Ivy. I say naive because she was way more trusting than I'd have been. But she's a recent college graduate and has very little experience, both professionally and emotionally. So she didn't always listen to that inner voice although if she had, it might have led her in the wrong direction. And even though she was trusting, she had pluck. She didn't bend to anyone's will...she was thoughtful and stood up for herself when warranted.
• a plot, that despite an element that may give some readers pause, was at times mind-boggling, at times fascinating, at times cringe-inducing but kept me turning the pages while gripping my kindle (white-knuckling on occasion).
• some familiar faces *wink*

Although, Mr. Romantic is a standalone, I think you get a better connection to everyone and everything if you read in order. But that's just my opinion. As always, Huss' writing is incredible. There was an issue I had with Ivy - something very minor that she did that I didn't think matched who she was. But overall, Mr. Romantic was excellent. I'm still thinking about it 2 days later, throwing out conspiracy theories, thinking "Hmm...", and "Oh!" and "Um..." There were even connections drawn between Mr. Romantic and Mr. Perfect that didn't occur to me then but now have me scratching my head. And I honestly stayed as confused as Ivy over Nolan,  although in the end she and I both just *knew*.

One final thought...Huss really impressed me by touching upon not only that taboo subject, which she did with aplomb, but also upon the repercussions of having your life changed by a negative event. I'm obviously being purposely vague - but I think we, as a society, don't often consider the ramifications of wrongly judging people. 

Kudos, Ms. Huss, for writing a thought-provoking and gripping story that has my brain working overtime and the next in the series on pre-order. ;)