3 (sorry to say) forgettable stars

I read this book a few weeks ago, and I have already sorta forgotten about it. Yeah, the writing is fine. The story itself is paced at warp-speed. I mean you start thinking it's a cool gradual enemies-to-lovers, but then BOOM they're both in love and ready to get hitched within a week. What?

The mystery aspect was fine. Although I was 90% sure who the killer was, it was still more intriguing than the mystery in [b:After the Night|420739|After the Night|Linda Howard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1337053790l/420739._SY75_.jpg|409872] (there you can guess what happened by the end of chapter 1). BUT After the Sun had a much better heroine, hero and general relationship. So...yeah. Unfortunately, not a total winner for me here.

I think this is my favorite so far out of the books I reqd so far by her.

2.5 stars

A surface level romantic suspense that has aged rather poorly, it's pretty incredible how much more sophisticated storytelling in the romance/thriller genre has become in the past decades; other than nostalgic re-read, there's really no point picking up this relic from the 2000s.

Mr. Perfect also has a conservative undertone that's slightly off-putting reading in today's climate; adults were constantly corrected on their cussing (in a joking way, but the novel brings it up constantly), and the romantic couple immediately set a date for their wedding, while they were still in bed after just having their first sex (am I reading a historical romance now? ha!). The central premise involves a list of criteria for a perfect man 'going viral' (obviously not yet a concept when the book was written), and the amount of chastising (and leading to murder) these women received for voicing liking big dick is a little hard to comprehend in today's mindset (I've lived through the 2000s and don't recall we were that prim and proper as a society). There is a twist, but it's very much Alfred Hitchcock Psycho inspired, and that was nothing new since the 60s.

I still finished Mr. Perfect, but mostly due to my own morbid curiosity, rather than its quality as an enjoyable novel. The 2000s is definitely an awkward era to read now, because it's not distant enough to evoke a nostalgic atmosphere (like the 30s, or even 80s), but also different enough from today's world view that things often come across slightly off-key. I simply had to cringe-chuckle when the male romantic interest utters phrases like "your sperm-eating egg" and "PMS is called PMS because 'mad cow disease' was already taken", as acceptable fun banter material. After 2 mediocre experiences (the other being Dream Man), I can officially say Linda Howard is not an author for me.

I read this book years ago. Linda Howard is one of my favourite authors, and this book is a favourite.

I'm listening to the audiobook now, and it's as good as I remembered.

This was such a fun read! As someone who reads mostly thrillers, I tend to seek romance when I need a palette cleanser, but this was like the best of both of those worlds. The thriller aspect was nice, I didn’t figure out the twist until the author gave us the info to do so. The romance part was cute (albeit there was a certain thing that was way too fast, but I guess if you know, you know.)

i’m used to and even sometimes fond of linda howard’s typical over the top alpha jerk mmcs but this one was just too much for me.

for a romantic suspense it seemed to be lacking in both romance and suspense?? i found the romance between jaine and sam to be unbelievable and rushed. i mean the met and fell in love within like two weeks and planned to marry a few weeks after? it didn’t even seem like they liked each other before he dropped the love bomb.

i usually love howard’s romantic suspense books and love a lot of vintage (70s-90s) romance but this book really made me understand why so many people hate them.