A Nix Review & Giveaway : Plus One by Scarlett Parrish (4 Stars)

Plus One by Scarlett (NA) Parrish
on 25/07/14
Genres: Erotic Romance
Format: eBook
Goodreads

Something doesn’t add up...

Lydia's looking for a job not a lover, but after her interview at Saint Joseph's University, she ends up with both. There's a need for discretion despite her bright pink hair and Doctor Spencer Flynn's candy apple red Mustang—after all, she's an admin assistant now, he's a lecturer in applied mathematics and they work together. So they conduct their liaisons behind closed doors, which is all right with Lydia—she's never experienced chemistry like it.

‘Discreet’ soon begins to look a lot like ‘secretive’ and a last-minute cancellation of a date prompts Lydia to rethink her role in the relationship. Braced for a break-up, she's amazed when Spencer confesses the secret he's been keeping all along. His loyalties are divided and when Lydia's attempts to hold on to his attention backfire publicly, she wonders if playing house with a mathematician is a zero-sum game...

Publisher's Note: This book was previously released at another publisher. It has been considerably expanded, revised and re-edited for release with Totally Bound Publishing.

FTC : I accepted this book for a fair and honest review from the author. It was accepted with the knowledge of the giveaway attached to it but this does not affect the review. I did read this book in its original format.

Scarlett Parrish writes in first POV. That is the first thing to make clear. The other thing is that the main protagonist is a 22 year old woman meaning that some people, and I have taken some polls on this, would class it as NA. The hero is in his 40’s if that makes any difference…. for the basis of the review I’m going to class it as Erotic romance. My overall reaction to this book seems to be the same one I have towards all of Scarlett’s books; I really enjoyed the book but I didn’t always like the characters or their actions.

I liked Lydia; she reminded me of myself slightly. She was spunky, funny and completely open with her emotions. I loved the way that she embraced their relationship and, even with her inexperience of such relationships, that she was open to everything. The only thing that bugged me was that I felt she didn’t stand up for herself enough during the course of the relationship. She never questioned him about his choices of date locations, even though she questioned them internally, and she never told him no. The only time I saw her truly assert herself in the relationship was during a scene near the end of the book where Spencer is a complete arsehole and nearly destroys any good feelings I had towards him. I just wanted her to question him, I wanted her to demand answers and equality but she is so bowled over by him she seems to forget how to be that person on a romantic plane as well as a personal one.

Spencer is a middle aged man who has a romantic history and baggage from it. He is incredibly sexy yet he is not completely forthright about his past. His character is a complete contrast to that of Lydia and I think this is where the tumultuous nature of their relationship stems from; neither of them knows where the other is coming from. There are times when I thought he was fabulous, there were times when I thought that he was being a bit odd and there were times when I down-right hated him; he had no idea what to do with Lydia and he makes so many errors trying to do everything other than just accept her. In-spite of his faults I liked him; he really was a nice man with no clue how to deal with Lydia… it’d be interesting to read this story from his POV 🙂

This book is a fascinating rollercoaster. It doesn’t read like an ideal romance; it reads like two people who have fantastic chemistry, amazing sex and are trying to find out if they can be anything more. Due to the differing characters and experiences, it is incredibly angsty but in a very particular way. This entire book is written from the POV of a woman barely into adulthood. She has the rose-tinted spectacles of youth and the openness of someone who has never had her heart totally trashed.  The only bits we see of Spencer are the ones that we see from her eyes and because of this his actions seemingly have no motivation or explanation. The Spencer we meet through Lydia’s eyes is sexy as hell but slightly confusing. He has secrets and, when they become apparent, he lashes out with the ferocity and thoughtlessness of an injured animal. His apologies and explanations come too late and we are left as in the dark as Lydia; until he explains himself we have no choice to feel about him the things that Lydia does. This made for reading that was possibly as emotionally confusing as the relationship itself is!

Overall, this book is angsty, funny, conflicting and down-right sexy. Written from first POV, it is a truly interesting look into an “opposites-attract” romance from the view point of only one of the protagonists.  

Scarlett is generously giving away a paperback copy of Plus One to one lucky commenter. The giveaway is open internationally.