canadianbookaddict's review against another edition
4.0
This book is cute, quick and sexy read that is a stand alone.
This book isn't my most favorite book by Jennifer Probst but it is very good. I read it fairly quickly too because I was enjoying this book and I did like the characters.
This book isn't my most favorite book by Jennifer Probst but it is very good. I read it fairly quickly too because I was enjoying this book and I did like the characters.
lisamh68's review against another edition
3.0
I did not care for this book. They were very immature for successful adults. There was something missing for me.
moonwisher's review against another edition
1.0
Man, I normally find Jennifer Probst's books enjoyable, but this one... Damn. The writing was so awful and cliche and ridiculous it's almost offensive.
kara_hildebrand's review against another edition
5.0
The Charm of You is Jennifer Probst's newest fun, sexy, second chance romance. Jennifer is one of my go-to-authors and I love her writing more and more with each book. She's also a funny, great person in real life! This second chance story has all my favorite things. Fantastic writing, fun, likable characters, sexiness, amazing movie references, fabulous clothes and beer. Presley and Nolan have a history. One she hasn't been able to forget and it's the reason for her insecurities. She thought it was all behind her until Nolan comes back to town. When all of her memories come back and begin to crush her, she and her friends develop a plan. Make him fall for her then dump him! Her friends are hilarious and fiercely loyal. They help get her dolled up and she dazzles Nolan to the point where all he thinks about is the sexy Presley. He doesn't recognize her and that just fuels her fire. But the more time they spend together, the more Presley falls for him again? Can Presley let the past got and trust a future with Nolan? What happens when Nolan finds out about their shared past? I loved this story! It's funny, sexy and sweet. They had a connection all those years ago, and the chemistry is still there. Nolan does fall hard and fast for her, but it didn't seem unrealistic to me. He recognizes something about her and she just calls to him. I loved their flirty banter and it was fantastic when Presley let her guard down. She thinks she was being a sex pot and pretending, but Nolan always saw the real Presley. Overall, I laughed out loud, cheered, got hot and bothered and read it in one day! I'm hoping we see more from these women! I loved the girl power!
"You're new."
"You're hot."
"I know."
"You're the type of woman I want to linger with. Sink into. Dig deep. One I definitely would not want to let got, especially from my bed.
"Presley, I'm very good at sex. Trust me when I say I know how to satisfy a woman."
"I believe you."
"No, you don’t. I'll have to prove it to you."
"What about your sister?"
"Hell no, she gets allergic the moment she's around a pot or pan."
"I'd like to meet her. She sounds like my kind of person."
"The two of you could rule the world. I'll keep you apart, thank you very much."
"You're new."
"You're hot."
"I know."
"You're the type of woman I want to linger with. Sink into. Dig deep. One I definitely would not want to let got, especially from my bed.
"Presley, I'm very good at sex. Trust me when I say I know how to satisfy a woman."
"I believe you."
"No, you don’t. I'll have to prove it to you."
"What about your sister?"
"Hell no, she gets allergic the moment she's around a pot or pan."
"I'd like to meet her. She sounds like my kind of person."
"The two of you could rule the world. I'll keep you apart, thank you very much."
mlcarl's review against another edition
1.0
I’m starting this with a content warning for the book, mostly because I’m bothered that almost no one else seems to mention something that I found really problematic and potentially triggering for people. It is a major plot spoiler, so click at your own risk.
Once upon a time, Presley Cabot was the overweight girl who gave her virginity to the charming athlete Nolan Banks, only to be crushed when he never again acknowledged that it happened. But that’s not who Presley is anymore. Now she’s a brilliant owner of a massive company and the kind of woman that men want. And when Nolan shows back up in their college town to open a bar, Presley is ready to use that newfound power against him, especially when he once again, doesn’t even bother to remember who she is. Nolan wants to woo Presley. But Presley is determined to use his emotions against him and break his heart, just like he did to her all those years ago.
My biggest fear going into this book was that Presley was going to lie to Nolan about who she was, which is a thing I really despise. Good news, that didn’t happen. Bad news, what Presley actually did, I ended up hating even more. She played a lot of games with Nolan and by the end, I was having a hard time understanding why he even still wanted her.
The Good
Here’s the thing about Jennifer Probst. She is a very excellent writer. So even while I despised what was going on, the book was written well enough that I was willing to commit to the end and see if something happened that changed my mind.
I also was a Nolan fan. He was a little cocky and everything happened a little too easily for him, but he was more than just a charming and sexy hero. He didn’t just think Presley was hot because she’d lost a ton of weight and wore nice clothes. He also thought she was brilliant and wasn’t intimidated by her being a fierce and successful business woman. There’s a couple situations where he proved himself to be a really stand up kind of guy and by the end, I felt like he deserved someone better than Presley.
The Bad
There was a lot of bad. Specifically the revenge plot. Because Nolan didn’t acknowledge Presley after they had sex in college and then doesn’t remember her now that it’s been years and she looks totally different and doesn’t fully introduce herself, she decides the best course of action is… revenge. By playing hard to get and letting Nolan woo her and then breaking his heart when he eventually falls in love with her. It just all felt utterly ridiculous. Especially coming from a grown woman who’s the billionaire owner of her own multimedia company. Doesn’t she have better things to do? Apparently not, because her friends (who I also didn’t care for at all) didn’t just encourage this, they helped facilitate it happening.
But more than anything, I hated how much of a hypocrite Presley was throughout all of her and Nolan’s interactions. There’s one point in the book where Presley and Nolan are out on a date and he asks about how she started her company. She accuses him of googling her and then says “How about laying our cards on the table, Nolan?… [I bet you] armed yourself with a bunch of information in order to play me the right way. If you did, you’ll realize one big thing. I can take anything but a liar.” Wait, what? She’s the one refusing to tell him about their shared history that he doesn’t seem to remember and actively lying to him to get him to fall in love with her just so she can hurt him later. For no other reason than to feel some sense of satisfaction about something that hurt her years ago. But she can’t take a liar.
The Ugly
One of the most cringeworthy things about this book was how much underlying fat shaming there was. Presley was overweight in college so obviously no one could ever want her. But now that she’s lost a ton of weight she feels worthy of male attention. There’s a line about how her personal trainer makes her throw up for fun and later a scene where, after wallowing by eating bad for you treats, her punishment is to work out so hard that she feels like she’s dying. There’s just such an underlying theme that Presley wasn’t anybody worth knowing until she got thinner and worked out to the point where it’s unhealthy and I just had a hard time not being disgusted by that.
But the very worst part for me was that Probst used a rape as a plot device, and definitely not in a healthy “working through it/learning to trust again” sort of way.
Spoiler
This book involves a reveal that the hero’s friends drugged him and facilitated him being unable to give consent to a sexual encounter. I felt like it was very disregarded and was uncomfortable with how it was never referred to as rape, despite the fact that it absolutely would have been had the person being drugged been a woman.Once upon a time, Presley Cabot was the overweight girl who gave her virginity to the charming athlete Nolan Banks, only to be crushed when he never again acknowledged that it happened. But that’s not who Presley is anymore. Now she’s a brilliant owner of a massive company and the kind of woman that men want. And when Nolan shows back up in their college town to open a bar, Presley is ready to use that newfound power against him, especially when he once again, doesn’t even bother to remember who she is. Nolan wants to woo Presley. But Presley is determined to use his emotions against him and break his heart, just like he did to her all those years ago.
My biggest fear going into this book was that Presley was going to lie to Nolan about who she was, which is a thing I really despise. Good news, that didn’t happen. Bad news, what Presley actually did, I ended up hating even more. She played a lot of games with Nolan and by the end, I was having a hard time understanding why he even still wanted her.
The Good
Here’s the thing about Jennifer Probst. She is a very excellent writer. So even while I despised what was going on, the book was written well enough that I was willing to commit to the end and see if something happened that changed my mind.
I also was a Nolan fan. He was a little cocky and everything happened a little too easily for him, but he was more than just a charming and sexy hero. He didn’t just think Presley was hot because she’d lost a ton of weight and wore nice clothes. He also thought she was brilliant and wasn’t intimidated by her being a fierce and successful business woman. There’s a couple situations where he proved himself to be a really stand up kind of guy and by the end, I felt like he deserved someone better than Presley.
The Bad
There was a lot of bad. Specifically the revenge plot. Because Nolan didn’t acknowledge Presley after they had sex in college and then doesn’t remember her now that it’s been years and she looks totally different and doesn’t fully introduce herself, she decides the best course of action is… revenge. By playing hard to get and letting Nolan woo her and then breaking his heart when he eventually falls in love with her. It just all felt utterly ridiculous. Especially coming from a grown woman who’s the billionaire owner of her own multimedia company. Doesn’t she have better things to do? Apparently not, because her friends (who I also didn’t care for at all) didn’t just encourage this, they helped facilitate it happening.
But more than anything, I hated how much of a hypocrite Presley was throughout all of her and Nolan’s interactions. There’s one point in the book where Presley and Nolan are out on a date and he asks about how she started her company. She accuses him of googling her and then says “How about laying our cards on the table, Nolan?… [I bet you] armed yourself with a bunch of information in order to play me the right way. If you did, you’ll realize one big thing. I can take anything but a liar.” Wait, what? She’s the one refusing to tell him about their shared history that he doesn’t seem to remember and actively lying to him to get him to fall in love with her just so she can hurt him later. For no other reason than to feel some sense of satisfaction about something that hurt her years ago. But she can’t take a liar.
The Ugly
One of the most cringeworthy things about this book was how much underlying fat shaming there was. Presley was overweight in college so obviously no one could ever want her. But now that she’s lost a ton of weight she feels worthy of male attention. There’s a line about how her personal trainer makes her throw up for fun and later a scene where, after wallowing by eating bad for you treats, her punishment is to work out so hard that she feels like she’s dying. There’s just such an underlying theme that Presley wasn’t anybody worth knowing until she got thinner and worked out to the point where it’s unhealthy and I just had a hard time not being disgusted by that.
But the very worst part for me was that Probst used a rape as a plot device, and definitely not in a healthy “working through it/learning to trust again” sort of way.
Spoiler
And because it was the male character that was raped, I felt like it was brushed aside and just became no big deal, almost like the horrifying misconception that “men can’t be raped, they always want sex!”, which offended me. We learn about the one time in college that Presley and Nolan had sex through flashback chapters that set up the night and then show the aftermath. During the scene where the sex actually happened, I already knew that something wasn’t right with Presley blaming Nolan for not remembering- they were drinking at a party and ultimately the encounter happened because Nolan was asleep and Presley literally took her clothes off in the dark, woke Nolan up, and offered herself to him. And then was upset that it wasn’t a magical first sexual experience and he never acknowledged it ever again. But even worse than that, later in the story it’s revealed that the real reason Nolan had no memory of the event was because his fraternity brothers roofied him and then specifically sent Presley up to his room. They facilitated the rape of Nolan. And rather than it being a real discussion about consent, it just magically made it okay for Presley to finally forgive Nolan because he didn’t remember anything about it. I was already unhappy with the book and this was the last straw for me.thereadingbel's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fast read. The use of women power to bring a man who hurt you to his knees. It’s always entertaining when you want to do something, but your heart fights you equally hard to do the complete opposite. This is the story of Presley and Nolan. Presley seeks revenge after one day she met Nolan in a bathroom he was drunk and they had sex. A friend of Nolan made a bet for him to do it. Presley overheard that and when she got success in her life she wanted to do the same thing back to Nolan use him and then dump him. The story felt a little predictable. It was still a fairly decent romantic comedy. Revenge from a women can be a bitch but when the revenge is not merited it can leave your heart unsure.
clare_s2395's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
kathis_wonderland's review against another edition
3.0
I am on a mission to finish my 2020 reading challenge! The Charm of You by Jennifer Probst is my second to last book of this year! Presley was humiliated and hurt back in her college years by her crush Nolan. After she changed her life drastically by losing loads of weight and owning the LWW Enterprises, she knows nothing can stop her. But then Nolan comes back into town and Presley can't wait to get her revenge. But old feelings start to creep in again.
I was in a bit of a hurry to finish this book as I really want to finish my reading challenge this year. Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and good for an in-between read. I did not like the concept of the story so much. I just do not really like revenge stories... It is just a very childish thing to do. And most of the time it does not turn out well. This is also were Presley annoyed me - wanting her revenge, but falling for Nolan again, but not admitting to her feelings because they are not meant to be. I liked Nolan more than I liked Presley! Even though his goal was to get her into bed, he tried to date her and show her the real Nolan. Presley just hid behind a mask. Other than that, the book was sexy and a light read. I also really like the idea of the LWW. That’s an interesting concept and the way Presley and her friends use this company is just awesome!
All in all, the book was not bad. It was a light and fast read. I enjoyed it.
I was in a bit of a hurry to finish this book as I really want to finish my reading challenge this year. Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and good for an in-between read. I did not like the concept of the story so much. I just do not really like revenge stories... It is just a very childish thing to do. And most of the time it does not turn out well. This is also were Presley annoyed me - wanting her revenge, but falling for Nolan again, but not admitting to her feelings because they are not meant to be. I liked Nolan more than I liked Presley! Even though his goal was to get her into bed, he tried to date her and show her the real Nolan. Presley just hid behind a mask. Other than that, the book was sexy and a light read. I also really like the idea of the LWW. That’s an interesting concept and the way Presley and her friends use this company is just awesome!
All in all, the book was not bad. It was a light and fast read. I enjoyed it.