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A review by pgchuis
Deal Breaker by Tara Leigh
2.0
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.
Nixie, lost in an unfamiliar part of Manhattan, is rescued by Nash, who sees two men follow her into a dark alley. It turns out that Nixie is hiding from her ex-bofriend, but is unwilling to accept any assistance from Nash, despite his persistence and vast resources.
I enjoyed the early text conversations between Nash and Nixie, where she repeatedly turns him down, but after that, I struggled a bit, both with the plot and the characterization. Both Nixie and Nash behaved in ways that were contradictory, and they never had a straight conversation with each other. They spent too much time being carried along by circumstances or just plain dithering, despite the fact that Nash is supposed to be some corporate wizard and Nixie claims to be able to look after herself.
Nixie doesn't need Nash to be her knight in shining armour, except that he does save her after she is knifed, and she agrees to move into his hotel suite, allows him to have her locks changed and security in her apartment block upgraded, allows his driver to take her everywhere, and allows the hotel staff to walk her dog. Nixie is not afraid of Derrick, except that actually she is afraid of him and he successfully forces her to do all sorts of things. Nash will never love again or get married because Eva betrayed him with his own brother, except that maybe Nash will marry Eva and help her raise her children. Nash never allows a woman to sleep at his apartment, except that he brings Nixie there, except later she has to sleep at the hotel.
Low points for me:
The marriage of convenience hatched by Eva (into which Nixie and Nash seem happy to sleepwalk) so Nixie and Nash can marry, divorce, and Eva can then marry Nash.
The fact that it turns out Derrick doesn't have any gambling debts because his father has been secretly paying them.
Nash's comment:
"Over the years, I'd realized it wasn't a good idea to work closely with attractive women. They usually wanted to be the future Mrs Knight much more than a current colleague. They were a distraction, and inefficient."
Nixie, lost in an unfamiliar part of Manhattan, is rescued by Nash, who sees two men follow her into a dark alley. It turns out that Nixie is hiding from her ex-bofriend, but is unwilling to accept any assistance from Nash, despite his persistence and vast resources.
I enjoyed the early text conversations between Nash and Nixie, where she repeatedly turns him down, but after that, I struggled a bit, both with the plot and the characterization. Both Nixie and Nash behaved in ways that were contradictory, and they never had a straight conversation with each other. They spent too much time being carried along by circumstances or just plain dithering, despite the fact that Nash is supposed to be some corporate wizard and Nixie claims to be able to look after herself.
Low points for me:
The marriage of convenience hatched by Eva (into which Nixie and Nash seem happy to sleepwalk) so Nixie and Nash can marry, divorce, and Eva can then marry Nash.
The fact that it turns out Derrick doesn't have any gambling debts because his father has been secretly paying them.
Nash's comment:
"Over the years, I'd realized it wasn't a good idea to work closely with attractive women. They usually wanted to be the future Mrs Knight much more than a current colleague. They were a distraction, and inefficient."