Celebrity (Politics of Love, #1)

by Sienna Snow

[Eve1972]

~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I have been reading a lot of books lately that have been really great books (overall), but there seems always to be one tiny element that sticks with me and bothers me enough that I can't get into them 100%. This book was actually very, very good. It had great writing. It was well paced. The plot was super engaging. The characters interesting, but I just could not get past the fact that Devin kept their marriage a secret for FIVE years. Going so far as to go on dates with OW (and she went on dates with OM). That isn't love in my book. And, honestly, who puts up with something like that? Sami was portrayed in this book as a super strong and independent heroine, yet she put up with being a dirty little secret for five years? Watched her husband go on "dates" with OW? Watched him get sworn in as a judge from the sidelines? I wouldn't have put up with that for five days, let alone five f-cking YEARS! Even after hearing her lame reason as to why she stayed. I honestly just couldn't get past that level of douchebaggery to find it at all believable that these two would stay together. And ultimately, that is what brought this book down to 3.5 -Stars.


~HERO~
DEVIN...Gosh, Dev was such a mixed bag for me. I LOATHED him for the way he treated Sami before this book. Quite frankly, I found it unredeemable. That said, he is charming and devoted (not to mention hot as F-CK) in this story. Did he grovel enough? NO, not by a LONG shot, but I did feel he was genuinely sorry for the way he acted. I don't know; honestly, for me, his behavior prior was just too disgusting for me to completely warm up to him.


~HEROINE~
SAMINA...Like Devin, Sami was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I really liked her in this book (although I thought she caved into Dev all the time WAY too easily). She was strong. She was feisty. She was independent. A good friend and sister. My main issue was the Sami of this book wouldn't have put up with being anyone's dirty little secret for five minutes, let alone five years. I couldn't quite reconcile the Sami of this book with the Sami that allowed herself be treated like dirt for so long. I mean even Dev's family told her to leave his a$$.





~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
Lord have mercy there were a plethora of secondary characters in this one. All of which seemed to be in politics or running for some office. A bit like the Kennedy's these peeps were. That said, all of them were exciting additions, and I can't wait to read more about them. Especially Veer!


~HEAT LEVEL~
High. This couple has tons of sex. Smokin' hot sex. Dev may have been a douche, but dude had the moves for sure. This couple also had a fantastic on page chemistry.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Low. Honestly, for a book about a couple on the brink of divorce, this was a pretty low angst read. Dev has his head out of his a$$ right from the start and Sami pretty much falls right back into his arms three seconds after he declares he is "never letting her go." Neither were virgins (obviously) although Dev was Sami's first (and only). There was a smidge of OW drama. Dev went on dates with OW, and one is nasty to the heroine. Nothing ever happened on these dates, so no cheating. Although, going on a date with an OW while married IS cheating in MY book, but Sami also went on dates with OM, so I guess they had an agreement. There was no OM drama.


SIDE NOTE: One thing that pissed me extra off in this one was that these two were dating other people in the guise of keeping their marriage a secret, and those other people had NO clue that they were on dates with MARRIED people. How shitty is THAT!?


~IN THE END~
I liked it. There was a lot of good in this one. I would even go so far as to say the majority of it was fantastic. The author has a very readable way to her writing. It was fast-paced. The plot was very engaging. The characters were interesting. The sex hot. The drama was kept at the minimum. I just couldn't get past the way Dev treated Sami for SO long. It was just a bit too much, and there wasn't enough groveling. Maybe if it hadn't gone on for so many years. Maybe if he hadn't gone out on dates with OW. I just don't believe you can love someone as much as Dev claimed and treat them that way. Anyway, it is what it is. I'm still going to recommend this one, and I am onboard (and looking forward to) reading the next book in this series.