The Consequence of Revenge by Rachel Van Dyken

The Consequence of Revenge

by Rachel Van Dyken

After losing his best friend to another guy, the notoriously too-confident Max Emory suddenly feels lost. He may have devastatingly good looks, an abundance of charm, and a claim to one of the biggest hotel empires around, but he has no ambition anymore. So when his fed-up friends decide they’ve had enough of his moping, they sign him up to be the next bachelor on the reality series Love Island. And between his pride and his forged signature on an ironclad contract, Max just can’t say no.

Now he’s stranded in paradise with twenty-four women, one terrifying goat, and Becca, the breathtaking barista who already turned him down back home. The closer Max gets to Becca, the more determined he becomes to win her over. As she gets to know him better, things start heating up. But is Becca really after Max’s heart—or is she after the cash prize she could claim once the cameras stop rolling?

Reviewed by The Romantic Comedy Book Club on

5 of 5 stars

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The gangs all back with the second installment of Rachel Van Dyken’s Consequence Series. I will admit, I laughed so hard with the Consequences of Loving Colton that I didn’t think this one would be as good. I have never been so happy to be so wrong!

The story picks up where the Consequences of Loving Colton left off. Jason, tired of Max constantly hanging around and taking up space, decides to sign him up for the dating reality show “Love Island”. In Max’s defense, being rich, charming, and wallowing in self pity at having lost his best friend (Milo) to another man, he doesn’t know what to do with his life (cue world’s smallest violin). Add in being rejected by an attractive barista (come on – those lines work 70% of the time), he’s in desperate need of purpose and direction (accordingly to Jason – Max is very much in denial).

To the rescue, Jason, Milo, and Colton (with the help a few emails sent on Max’s behave and a forged signature on an iron clad contract) set Max on an adventure with 25 single women looking for love. If you have watched (insert your favorite single man looking for the woman of his dreams reality show here), you will LOVE this book!

If you haven’t noticed already, I will warn that this book references the events in Consequences of Loving Colton A LOT so if you have not read that book, you will not get the vast majority of the jokes between Max and Reid and a few other references. Read that one first before diving into this one.

Now back to the review – As I said above, I had tears in my eyes from laughter by page 7. Being in Max’s head is just a mess as Rachel delivers all of his glorious personality in first person perspective. It may take you a bit to get a grasp on his way of thinking (or at least accept that he easily jumps from one thought to another) but once you do, hold on tight as his quick wit, sarcasm, and philosophical enlightenments will have you finishing the book before you even know what happened.

The one downside (which didn’t take away from the book) is that I personally have never watched any type of dating reality show so I am positive some of the references to those scenarios were lost on me but nonetheless, witnessing Max navigate 25 single women varying from timid to deranged was hilarious!

Side splitting laughter (Max and Reid give a whole knew perspective of sibling rivalry), sensual moments, and one heck of an ending makes me want to keep reading the series to see what happens next!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 October, 2022: Finished reading
  • 7 October, 2022: Reviewed