BOOK REVIEW:
The Truth About De Campo
Since
finishing my 30 book 2014 reading challenge I have awarded three books worthy
enough of five stars (or a perfect score), and by perfect I mean “OMAGAHREALLY
GREAT BOOKS”.
The Truth About De Campo is one
of those reads this year.
The
third (and final) story in the Delicious
De Campos trilogy by Jennifer Hayward, this one follows the baby of
the De Campo brothers, Matteo De Campo (who actually isn’t really a baby, but a
full-grown, hunky-ass man in his mid-30s xD).
So
yeah Matty finally finds his match. The little playboy who kept poking in and
out of the other two stories is tamed by a larger-than-life Quinn Davis. As far
as heroines go Quinn is my hands-down favourite of the two other ladies
starring in this trilogy.
Which
works because Matteo is my favourite of the De Campo guys—win-win!
What
I liked about this book kinda matches with what I enjoyed about the second
story (Gab/Alex) and what I felt lacked in the first story (Riccardo/Lilly).
There
was more substance to this tale, and although the Harlequin
Presents/Mills&Book Modern Romance line is the home of over-the-top
financial fantasies complete with wealthy alpha males I still felt that Quinn
and Matteo’s story wasn’t overwhelmed by all that…fantasy.
Like
sometimes it could be too much and Ms. Hayward really avoided that by doing a
number of things:
1) Quinn
isn’t useless. She isn’t a
damsel-in-distress and she actually has a history and problems and dreams and a
LIFE outside of the romance. Matteo doesn’t just come in like a (effin hot)
fairy god…father and sex away all her problems.
2) The
internal conflict was totally plausible. I’m not going to ruin it because these
category romances are pretty short (think ~50K), but trust me—some great conflict
building! Taking away the wealth and the power of this couple, you’d still be
left with a story that can be held together by the tantalizing pull-and-push of
H/h’s motivation and goals.
3) Usually
I’m wary of the alpha male heroes of this particular category of Harlequin’s
romances, and it was a huge problem with Riccardo from the first book. Matteo,
unlike his older brother, is not an alpha a-hole. Ms. Hayward pulled off
confidence without toeing the fine line into A-holelandia. Matteo knew his stuff,
but he also knew how to shut his mouth. His flattery wasn’t cheesy and he
wasn’t a sneak. The guy knows what he wants and he knows how to get it (and
keep it).
Of
course I could sit here on my comp and go Hulk-like on my keyboard gushing
praises about Matty, but I’ll let you all read the story and prove me wrong…you
know if you can.
And
though at this point it seems redundant…
My
verdict:
✮✮✮✮✮
✮✮✮✮✮
(5
stars)
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