Book Review: The Offer by Karina Halle

Hey, guys!

I'm sorry the last few posts (and probably this one, to be honest) have been fairly shitty. There's a few family, internet, and work related issues going on that have left me too drained or too irritated to post as I should. Hopefully they'll be cleared up soon...at least the family and work one; my internet provider is truly terrible, but they're the only ones that service my area. Of course.



Anyways, today's review Karina Halle's latest novel, The Offer. The Offer is an adult contemporary romance (with a healthy dose of smut) that is a spin off of one of her other contemporaries called The Pact. While it is not at all necessary to read The Pact to understand The Offer, I did appreciate having the insight on the secondary characters and some situations that reading The Pact provided.
This novel releases tomorrow, and will be available in both eBook and paperback form.

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Synopsis:

She thinks he's an arrogant playboy.

He thinks she's an uptight prude.

But he's about to make her an offer she can't refuse.

Nicola Price used to have it all – a great career, the perfect boyfriend, an excessive shoe collection and an apartment in one of San Francisco’s best neighborhoods. But when she gets knocked up and her asshat boyfriend leaves her high and dry, Nicola’s perfectly crafted world comes tumbling down. And stays that way.

Now, Nicola is the proud single mom to a five-year old daughter and living a giant lie. She can barely afford their ghetto apartment and all the men she dates run when they hear she comes with a child. She’s struggling and scared – and nowhere near where she thought she’d be at age thirty-one.

Her saving grace comes in the form of a tall, handsome and wealthy Scotsman Bram McGregor, the older brother of her friend Linden. Bram understands a thing or two about pride, so when tragic circumstances place Nicola at rock bottom, he offers them a place to live in the apartment complex he owns. It’s pretty much the perfect deal, so as long as she doesn’t mind living beside Bram, a man that, despite his generosity, seems to antagonize her at every turn.

But nothing in life is free and as Nicola gets her feet back on the ground, she discovers that the enigmatic playboy may end up costing her more than she thought.

She might just lose her heart.

Those McGregor brothers are nothing but trouble...

Nicola Price is a struggling single mother to a five year old daughter named Ava. After being fired from her job and having no idea how she will support herself and her child, her world is closing in on her. When her daughter is diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, Nicola is pretty sure things can't get any more awful.

Enter Bram McGregor,  the sexy yet arrogant Scottish playboy with a heart of gold and a determination to change his image. As part of that change, Bram has an apartment complex for low income individual and families. He offers Nicola a place as his neighbor, and she's forced to swallow her pride and accept his offer. From there, we are sucked into a world of witty jibs, a checkered past, and sexual tension so thick you can cut it with a knife (ha...sexual tension...thick...ha!). Things go from awful to okay to good to awful and back again in this whirlwind romance.

I'd made it my goal in live to avoid trouble. I wasn't about to start now, just because of his Scottish brogue, grey eyes, dimpled smile, and build physique. And, you know, other terrible attributes.

Nicola was an interesting character for me, and I often found myself having trouble getting a solid read on her. She is an intensely caring, devoted mother, and reading about how her daughter's disease affects her was heartbreaking. 

She has quite a bit of baggage left by her baby daddy, and that causes her to have a wary attitude towards most men. 

I liked how Nicola wasn't afraid to be upset or scared about not being finically well off. I haven't read many books featuring single and/or financially struggling parents, but the few I have checked out tend to gloss over the issue in favor of fawning over their child. Nicola didn't hold back on her frustrations with near-poverty, and it was quite refreshing. 

I couldn't figure her out as certain points during the book because she is simultaneously one of the most selfless and yet self-absorbed characters I've ever read. Bram even makes a point at one part in the novel about how she doesn't seem to think anyone else has been dealt a shit hand in life. 

For her issues though, I enjoyed her voice and found her engaging.

"I've heard one night in my bed and your legs are forever spread."

Bram...sigh. I had a Bram-gasm every time he opened that smart ass mouth of his. He's funny, sexy, caring, and just seems so lost sometimes. Not to mention his filthy mouth, sexual prowess and ehm, stamina. Despite his rather stereotypical playboy attitude, I found him to be quite deep at times, and highly relatable and likable. His honesty about his feelings was raw and intense, and one of my favorite aspects of the book.
It was so awesome to read a book where the leading man is not perfect, is fully aware of that, and scared of how people will react to his issues. Most of the time your hero is the obnoxious brooding type who just loves to share his all of his many problems, or the way too perfect man with no problems. 

I liked the pacing of this novel. It spans a nice time length without dragging much, and it leaves a bigger impact once you get to the climax (the literary climax, pervs!). 

Speaking of which....

While I did correctly guess what Bram's issue was, I loved how it was portrayed and the buildup to it. The parallel Bram has drawn between his situation and part of Nicola's left an impact, but even more so was how Nicola was forced to see the situation from her perspective. It was an interesting angle and one I found to be quite engaging.

My one slight issue is I didn't really feel too much of a romantic connection between the two until the very, very end. Sexual connection yes, in spades, but not so much on the romantic side.

Though there is certainly some angst and difficult situations in the book, it's a very funny and easy read overall. The banter between the two had me laughing out loud more than once, and the sex practically burned me it was so hot. It's a great, quick summer read that I throughly enjoyed and would definitely recommend recommend.


I had to share this bit of Nicola talking about Bram with a friend. I spit my drink out while reading it!

"I know," I grumble. "And I don't need another recap about what you guys did with the sparkly butt plugs you bought in the Castro, either."
She shrugs. "I bet Bram is just as much into that kinky shit. And when he shoves his cock in your pussy and a plug up your sass, I guarantee you're going to call me up and shoot the shit."

This is the point where I would usually add in some smexy photos, but I'm practically falling asleep at my computer so I will add those in later!

Stats:

Rating: 4.5 stars!

Genre: Adult contemporary romance

Series: Spin off of The Pact

POV: Alternating 1st person, primarily Nicola

Steam/sexual content: It's dirty, filthy fun

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

ARC provided for review

- The Bibliophile Babe