Dirty Exes (Liars, Inc., #1)

by Rachel Van Dyken

They’re serving up some red-hot revenge. A sizzling series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel van Dyken.

Blaire has never quite gotten over Jessie Beckett, the ex–NFL star whose kisses were hot enough to ignite the entire Eastern Seaboard. When he chose work over her, Blaire was left brokenhearted. Why else would she have married a skeezy two-timer, just to divorce him less than a year later?

Now Blaire is getting even by becoming one half of Dirty Exes, a PI firm fully committed to humiliating cheating jerks. If only the new jerk she’s been hired to uncover wasn’t Jessie Beckett himself.

Exposing Jessie isn’t going to be easy, especially when she still daydreams about his sexy smile. Further complicating matters is Colin, Jessie’s best friend. He’s gorgeous, a little bit cunning, and willing to help Blaire get the inside scoop on Jessie—for a price.

Now caught between two men—one totally right and the other totally wrong—Blaire will need to decide just how much she’s willing to risk…and whom she’s willing to risk it for.

• ISBN10: 1503954374
• ISBN13: 9781503954373
• Publish Date: 5 June 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Skyscape
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 302
• Language: English

Reviews

[Romance Schmomance]

BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM

Let me just start with that this book was NOTHING that I expected it to be. There was just a lot going on and soooooo much shade being thrown around. After reading some of the reviews, I gotta say that I definitely enjoyed this one. I was expecting a second chance romance, which I absolutely love, but that as you delve more into the story, you learn that, that's not the case at all. It had elements of a love triangle, but it wasn't really that either. I have a feeling writing this review may come across very confusing because writing this without any spoilers seems impossible, but I'll do my best.

Guess what, everyone? Ian has a sister, for all you The Matchmaker's Playbook fans out there. And her name is Blaire and one of the owners to Liars, Inc. , where their job is to catch cheaters in the act and reveal them, publicly ... on the dreaded Facebook. This kind of business is not my cup of tea, but to each their own. Looking at their potential clients, one she wasn't expecting was her ex, now retired NFL player, the one that walked away without a second glance. The past comes storming back into her life bringing back all her insecurities and "what ifs". As she starts her "work", stumbling into his best friend, Colin, was something that she could definitely use to her advantage in more ways than one ;-) And he seems to be more than willing, I guess anything to stay in the presence of Blaire. Blaire has lost love to a man who loved football more and another to her best friend. Trust doesn't come to her easily, so who will be the one to gain it, completely?

And that about sums up this book as lightly as possible and I'm sure you're wondering if this is a love triangle.  There were moments when I thought it was, but sorta is-ish? Shoot, even I'm a bit unsure. As far as other love triangle books go, this one is nothing like it.

Trusting men is something that Blaire struggles with a lot. With the ex who left to pursue his dream without a second thought and a cheating ex, can you blame her? To me, this book was truly about Blaire and getting over what she's been through in the past with her exes and discovering and diving into something new with someone else, Colin. Having to spy on Jessie (the ex/football player) really opened her eyes to his true self, parts of himself he rarely shows anyone. Jessie wasn't exactly my favorite person in this story, it's evident that once they see each other for the first time in years, it brings back a lot of things. And they can't help, but wonder. But I didn't hate Jessie, at least by the end I didn't, he really just married the wrong person for the wrong reasons and found himself in a really unhappy place. He's a people pleaser, making sure everyone else was happy except himself. Now he wants a divorce because the woman he married has turned into someone he no longer loves.

And we have Colin, the man you'll all adore! Once he met Blaire, it was game over and he'd do anything to spend time with her. Even teaming up with her as she tries to bust his friend for possibly cheating. Their little duo was the best and I loved their banter, it was hilarious. And you'll just be rooting for this duo from the very beginning. But Colin has some vulnerabilities of his own, he found love once and was never able to pursue another relationship since. But there was something about Blaire that wanted him to possibly try again.

So, we've got three characters weaving an unbelievably tangled web, I'm sure you can figure out how complicated this all seems. But I loved every bit of this story and the whole time I was just curious to see how it was going to end. There's definitely a happy ever after, maybe a little betrayal, thoughts going astray into territories that it should never go, and some punches were thrown. See, like I said, a tad bit messy and complicated, but still such a fun and sweet read in the end.

This was definitely some way to write a story, Rachel and I loved it very much. It's pretty easy to guess who the next book will be about and I'm eagerly waiting for it! I've been seeing a lot of things about the fact that Blaire fell in love so quickly when she was dating Jessie. I make no judgments on how long it takes to fall in love with someone. I found my happily ever after in such a short time as well, so all I have to say is that you never know.

Brava, Rachel!