Laura Carter

This was a very sweet story and at times very amusing (I was definitely smiling throughout).

The author’s note at the end (and epigraph) dedicates this to “every person who thought they had to be someone else to be loved… stop doing it because you are enough and the good people around you already know that”
What a very touching thing to say, and I like that the whole premise of the book is this. Most people go through this feeling at some point: that they are not good enough as themselves. It explains a lot of why this was written the way it was as both Ted and Abbey feel they have to reinvent themselves to be ideal for the other person: Ted thinks a baseball player is cooler than a programmer to be with an actress whereas Abbey believes being an actress is better than an auditor knowing Ted’s ex is a model and believes him to be a sporty guy. However, when they are their true selves, aka nerds, they are more alike than they think!

Indeed, I especially appreciated the tech nerd aspect of this book, being one myself. Therefore, Laura’s reference to programming here and there, merging it poetically with the narrative was nice.I like Abbey’s "what I want to say is" vs "what I actually say is" moments which, as she grows more confident, align and she says exactly what she wants to say (such as chapter 16 and chapter 48). Unfortunately, this is few and far between. I would have liked more of confident Abbey. She is my favourite character. And then there were very heartwarming moments which I must say did change my opinion on some characters.

There were a bit too many parallels for my liking and I also felt the pacing was off: I am a fan of the fake dating trope but it felt like there wasn’t actually enough of it.… (mais)

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Great for fans of the fake dating and mistaken identity tropes. Low steam book with two earnest and relatable main characters, and an HEA for those of us who like that. I think the characters worked well together, but towards the middle of the book I had to struggle a bit to maintain interest in whether or not Abbey and Mike/Ted eventually revealed their secrets to one another. The last part of the book picks up the pace, although I felt the ending was a bit abrupt with some loose ends I'd have liked to see tied up. Still a fun read, I would rate this at 3.75 stars.… (mais)

A Tale of Redeemed Love
I’m not much for romance books but The Law of Attraction by Laura Carter is a boy meets girl, or rather playboy meets nice lady story. Some parts of the story were amusing, and other parts of the story are serious. Set in New York City, the story revolves around the transformation of a playboy prince charming who is also a ruthless attorney named Drew. He is also well on his way to becoming a partner in the law firm he works for if he doesn’t blow it. Although his co-workers support and condone his playboy lifestyle they put Drew to the task of becoming more human.
Drew’s life is shallow and superficial. He is focused on appearances and conquests in the bedroom as well as the courtroom. Drew is arrogant and condescending. His relationships with women are one-night stands and void of any emotional connection. His life changes when he meets a kind soul named Becky.
Becky turns Drew’s world upside down. Drew has his internal struggles with his feelings for Becky and his playboy lifestyle. His struggles are repetitive in the story but deciding Becky is the one for him makes up for that.
Becky though has her secrets from her past that she keeps from Drew. Drew is driven to find out what those secrets are and goes halfway around the world to chase her down.
This book has explicit sexual content and violent content.… (mais)

Brooks Adams owns a very successful gym in New York City, and is an extremely successful personal trainer. Having come up from nothing, he's motivated in part by the need to prove his real worth to those who doubted him--most importantly, to Alice, the high school girlfriend with whom he had a child while they were still in high school. They never married, and their daughter is starting college now, and Brooks still thinks his life will be fixed if he can prove to Alice that he's really good enough.

Izzy is British, a daughter of a mother whose main focus is social success, and a fitness guru with a very different approach than Brooks's. She's just published her first book, and she's in NYC for her first book tour. Sales aren't off to a good start, but egged on by her publicity manager, she slams Brooks and his gym, and every time she does, her book sales jump.

Soon this leads to a challenge that has them working together, each working out, and eating, according to the other's program.

Izzy even gets moved into an empty apartment in Brooks's building. Whether they can survive the two weeks of the challenge with nearly 24/7 exposure to each other seems like a real question.

They're both determined to be uncooperative, and concede nothing.

The sparks fly, but they each start to feel some benefits from the other's training style. They also start to, grudgingly, sometimes enjoy each other's company.

Further misunderstandings lie in wait for them, though. They include Brooks answering a distress call from his daughter, and picking her up, drunk, from a misspent evening with a guy who had different intentions that she did. Izzy gets a glimpse of him carrying into the building a sexily dressed girl clearly far to young for him, and gets the very worst impression.

Brooks also gets a wrong impression when Izzy shows up someplace he didn't expect her.

Can they clear the air, overcome their rivalry and mutual distrust, and build something good?

Do they even want to, given that Izzy has commitments that mean she'll have to go back to the UK when the two weeks are up?

Enemies to lovers isn't my favorite flavor of romance. However, these are good, interesting characters, who are really trying to build good lives for themselves, each of them against very different challenges.

It's a good read.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher, via Rachel's Random Resources.… (mais)