The Ruthless Gentleman

This was such a great book. A contemporary romance at its best. I loved spending time yachting with these characters, they're so likeable. Louise Bay's writing is always so fun and engaging. I love spending time in her world. This world is no different. I especially loved the background themes with this book - the guilt Avery carried over Michael and his health concerns. Then the thread of suspense with the kind of ‘whodunnit?' Running throughout the story really gave this book that little something extra.

Louise Bay writes some wonderful book boyfriends and Hayden Wolf can be added to the list, sure I had my doubts at times, in fact, he drove me half insane, but, he redeemed himself. It did take me a while to warm up to him, I thought he was a bit of a jerk, to be honest, but, once he got over that little bump he really was the sweetest thing. Avery was such an awesome character, I loved her, she was feisty and independent. The way she cared for and was loyal to her beliefs and her family - it made her so likeable. She's someone you can imagine being friends with, you know, the friend you need to protect so that others don't take advantage of her kindness. She was just the sweetest. I loved Landon and I vote for his story next. Closely followed by Michael, Skylar, and August. Ooooh, maybe that's just two book plans right there?!?!?!

I loved the progression of their relationship. It started out as an attraction and quickly grew into something more. The build-up really made this story special, experiencing the chemistry between these characters and them slowly coming to grips with how they felt and the result of acting on them. It was just perfect. Louise Bay is the queen of sexy times, she writes it so well and it always fits with the story and never feels rushed.

I started reading this book but the last 50% I listened to, it's rare that I don't listen to the full book, and I have no doubt that in the future I will, but at this time I wanted to finish the book and knew I didn't have the time to finish reading it so I switched to the audio version on release day. Shane East and Erin Mallon were brilliant. I just love the emotion they convey and the tone and inflections they use to differentiate characters and emotions. Shane was the perfect choice for Hayden Wolf - and not just between of the British accent, although I'm sure it helped, he has the perfect tone for the character, you believed that he was a multi-millionaire on a yacht. The American accents came across well too. Erin, well, it's no secret I love Erin's voice, especially that male voice...swoon, she was wonderful as Avery and her accent for Hayden was fantastic. I didn't notice any production issues.