Stripped Bare (Vegas Billionaire, #1)

by Heidi McLaughlin

• ASIN: B01HWKSBME
• Publish Date: 2017
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 213
• Language: English

Reviews

[Eve1972]

This cover like the book isn't that great. Sure the guy is hot, but it's boring and uninspiring. Like someone just slapped a half-naked man on the cover and called it a day. I will say I do like the typography of the title.

OMG...I enjoyed nothing about this book. First Fin was nothing but an asshole for the majority of the book. He doesn't even remember the heroine's name or that he slept with her ten years prior. Macey wasn't much better. She is trying to give her daughter a better life (for ten years she has been trying.) Yet when she goes to Vegas and earns enough money to move out of the ghetto and away from her drunk prostitute of a mother (who she has allowed around her kid. Often leaving her ALONE with her...she has to hide in closets when her grandma "entertains") she gambles it away in one go?!

Of course, Finn sees her and goes all "PRETTY WOMAN" on her ass. Pretty much insulting her or thinking hurtful things. Like after they have sex for the first time he thinks "maybe his dick will rot off" because she sleeps around. This whole book was a hot mess for me. So much so I don't even feel inspired enough to make any graphics for this review...

[chymerra]

I am going to admit, I had very low expectations for this book based on the blurb. I should have known better than to read the blurb and go to myself “Oh, this book is going to interesting (insert sarcasm here) to read”. I really should have known better…sigh.

Instead of getting two people just banging each other for the entire book and then “falling in love”, there was a story. And the love part of the story, which mainly took part over two weeks, was drawn out. Sure there was sex and sure it was mind-blowing but that wasn’t the whole story.

My heart did break for Macey during the book. She really got the short end of the stick in life. She got pregnant at 17 after a one-night stand at a party, dropped out of high school to have her daughter and restored to stripping at night and waiting tables during the day to help pay the rent and keep a roof over her, her mother’s and her daughter’s head. She felt stuck because she couldn’t make enough money to move out of her mother’s apartment and she was upset because while she was working, her mother took care of Morgan, her daughter. Well if you called getting drunk and having strange men over all the time watching her. Macey feels awful because she has told Morgan to hide in the closet if strange men came over and that is not a way for a child to live. She also lives in fear that Children’s Services will eventually show up at her door and take Morgan away.

So, when she is told about how stripping in Las Vegas is so much better than stripping in the town she lives in, Macey decides to jump at the chance. She is desperate to get Morgan out of that living situation and feels that she has no other option but to go strip in Las Vegas. What a hard situation to be in and then to find out that when she went to the paternal grandmother for help, only to have the door slammed in her face, made it unbearable.

Finn, however, was a jerk in the beginning. When he saw Macey playing blackjack, he not only recognizes her as someone from his hometown but he tells Lamarr, his best friend, that he thinks he slept with her back before he went away to college and he pegs her as a stripper and maybe an escort. He then gets punched by Macey as she is leaving the casino in tears because she lost all the money that she earned. When he follows her, he propositions her. One week with him, doing what even he wants when he wants for $30,000.

I found it funny that he assumed that Morgan was either Macey’s boyfriend or pimp. And I found it very ironic that Lamarr knew who Morgan was and if Finn had just asked, he would have known sooner and wouldn’t have put Macey through the wringer about it. I have to give her credit, though, she put up with his crap until the end and only because she needed the money.

Macey did get on my nerves, though, when she was dealing with Brandy. For such a strong woman, she was pretty weak about confronting Brandy and calling her out. She never thought to go to Finn and see if he actually said or did the things that Brandy said he did. She would just run back to the penthouse and cry about it until he came back and he explained things. Uggh.

I will say that the sex was very hot. Off the pages hot. I also liked that safe sex (because you know, I have nothing better to do with my life than worry about fictional characters sex lives) was used until almost the end. But by then, a lot of things had changed between Macey and Finn.

Like I said above, I thought the storyline was pretty reminiscent of Pretty Woman….except that Macey wasn’t a hooker, she was a stripper and she had a kid.

The storylines were wrapped up pretty good. I loved that Brandy got what was coming to her. I was in bed by the time I read that scene and I did a double fist pump. She was put in her place and then some!!!

I did figure out who Morgan’s father was by the middle of the book. I mean, the author didn’t try to hide it or throw red herrings out. So when it was revealed who it was, I was like “Yes” and “What’s next”.

The end of the book was a pretty standard HEA and the author made me jealous with the vacation location….lol.

How many stars will I give Stripped Bare: 4

Why: This was a hot read with a good but predictable plot. What I really liked is how strong Macey was. I also did like Finn towards the end of the book but I did think he was a jerk at the beginning.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes but with a warning about explicit sex.

Age range: Adult

Why: Explicit sex and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[Romance Schmomance]

I'd say this book is a definite cross between contemporary and erotica, which isn't a bad thing, but I tend to stay away from erotica. Despite that little bit, I enjoyed this book so much, it'll definitely pull on your heart. I don't know about all that have read this one, but there were moments when I was on the verge of tears!

We have Macey, who got pregnant from a one-night hookup and the father never seen again. Being a single mother, working two jobs and living in a place where no child should grow up, she does what she can to provide for her daughter. Even working a job that completely despises her, but she'd do anything for her daughter. Willing to do anything, she doesn't miss out on an opportunity in the city of sin to gain enough money to get her and her daughter, Morgan, and make a better life for them.

Macey ends up making enough in a week to move into their own apartment, but with the intrigue of gambling to gain more money, she quickly learns that was her biggest mistake. Losing all that she made, she hits a new low. Looking up from defeat and possibly the worst moment in her life, she sees a blast from the past, someone from her hometown, Finn McCormick. Rich man extraordinaire!

Of course, Finn can have any woman at his beck and call. However, when he sees Macey at her worst, he can't help, but offer something that she couldn't refuse. To be his for a week and monetary payment if she follows through until the end of the week. Macey knows that it could end very badly especially since Finn is such a commitment-phobe and refuses to settle down for anyone.

Some aspects of this book I didn't like one bit and it's pretty evident that Macey did feel like a prostitute. Macey and Finn were ruled by sex and that's where the erotica part came in. It was non-stop between the two. As each chapter goes on, the story just builds and the emotions between the two are evolving. From the beginning, Macey was nearly head over heels, but she knew that she'd get her heart broken in the end. Finn, being such a man takes time to recognize his feelings, but what will happen by the end?

I rated this book 3.75 stars, I think if it didn't have the erotica sense to it, I would have been more than ok with it. My heart kept breaking for Macey and, my goodness, I still think she was such a strong woman in this one. The facts were laid right in front of her and she constantly tried to get herself out of it. But the heart what it wants.

A big secret is revealed towards the end, which is pretty predictable, but that just added another element to the story.

I wouldn't say this ranks among my favorites, but it's a likable read.

**ARC provided for an honest review**