A review by bookgyrl
Rude by Stacy Gail

5.0

This is my first book by Stacy Gail and I have not read the other books about House of Payne. This mattered not, as I understood everything and the House of Payne is not mentioned much in this book.

Sass has had a very difficult and traumatizing childhood in the foster care system. When she is a young teenager, she is fostered by the Italian Panuzzi family and she is finally with a loving family. Rude Panuzzi is the youngest son and at first he and Sass are at odds (he is not a bully, mind you) but when he leaves home Sass doesn't really meet him for many years. One day Sass lands in the hospital and Rude shows up and soon he is determined to be a part of her life.

I very much enjoyed the story and the main characters. I think I have a soft spot for heroines with a hard background and Sass has been through a lot. But so has Rude and he understands her (finally). The Russian subplot for me was not necessary.