Series: Holliday Family #1
Author: Esme Brett
Published September 18th 2024
Goodreads Synopsis
He's a strict and stuffy ethics blogger who loves knitwear and decorum.
I'm a professional seductress who breaks all the rules.
When my last chance at a paying burlesque gig in New York ends in humiliation, I accept a sketchy job impersonating an heiress to ruin the reputation of a trust-fund dudebro. The problem is the dudebro’s older brother, who isn't proving susceptible to my (many) wiles.
But the more time I spend with Chase Sanford, the more I think there's more to him that meets the eye. He’s not as boring and sexually repressed as everyone believes. Beneath the glasses, and the cardigans, and the excessive wealth ... Chase is nursing some deep wounds and a serious case of Stern-Brunch-Daddy-itis.
Things go from bad to worse when I brat him too far and *things* happen on top of the bar at an upscale club.
The spark between us could ruin my career and send me and my pink sequin luggage back to parochial New Zealand. I tell myself I'll get out, I’ll wash my hands of the Sanford brothers, and go back to minding my broke-a$$ business. But Chase Sanford and his particular brand of goodness is like a drug, and I'm so hooked I can't see straight.
We're from different worlds. The trust fund guy might bang the downtown showgirl, but he’ll never keep her.
... So what could be the harm?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.
New Zealand burlesque artist Caroline Holliday is down on her luck. Sharing a tiny apartment with her new friend Lyssa, complete with bunk beds, she needs to get a break before she has to call out out, and head back home. So when she's headhunted by club owner Gerard, asking her to pretend to be a stuffy socialite for an evening, to ruin a reputation, for $20,000, she can't really say no. However, she didn't expect to be drawn so much to the handsome professor-type Chase Sanford, who looks like he doesn't know his way around a woman, but underneath it all, there's a fire that's dying to get out.
This was definitely an enjoyable read, especially the funny parts when Caroline was pretending to be Teddy. Chase had always hated the real Teddy, who had got her claws into his younger brother Joe when they were teens, so knew from the beginning that Caroline really wasn't her. He was drawn to Caroline like he'd never been drawn to someone before, and it was hard for him to come to terms with that. Caroline's Teddy and Summer personalities really messed with Chase's head - but in the best way - and he was drawn to them all, but Caroline was always his number one. The angst was a bit too over the top for me, but I liked the reunion, and I'm definitely interested in seeing how Lyssa and Caroline's brother, Mike, get on in the next book.
Dates Read:
October 11-12, 2025
Rating
3 Stars
