A review by the_sassy_bookworm
Leading the Witness by Chantal Fernando

3.0

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
This one was just OK for me. There wasn't anything wrong with it per se, but it just left me a bit "meh." All the OW stuff (women he slept with...women flirting with him) got tiresome after a while. Plus, I couldn't stand Riley. I do enjoy this author's writing, so that aspect was very good. The pace was a bit slow for me. The plot was OK. I found myself losing interest halfway through. I think the combination of finding Riley annoying. How slow the relationship was moving, and the constant OW stuff just left me less than impressed with the book overall.


~HERO~
HUNTER...Honestly? Hunter was the star of this book. I loved his character. He was sweet. A good friend. A manwhore, but very recently he had toned it down. He had an endless supply of patience with Riley. Pretty much ALL my three stars are thanks to Hunter.


~HEROINE~
RILEY...Riley was another big reason this one didn't work for me. I couldn't STAND her character AT ALL. First, I hate heroines that let pride get in the way of being smart. She has an entire group of lawyer friends yet she doesn't ONCE ask a single one of them for help or advice about her divorce?? Second, she was as a bitch (IMO) and her flip-flopping about Hunter drove me nuts. Pretty much everything about her drove me up the wall. Hunter deserved WAY better in my opinion.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
Another positive point for the book was it had a fantastic cast of secondary characters. Couples and characters from previous books. Friends and coworkers of Riley's. All of them added a nice extra layer to the story.


~FAVORITE QUOTE~
"I’m pregnant,” she says, sniffing . “And I broke my chair. Probably because I’m pregnant and fat, and my chair knew I was about to get fatter, so it committed suicide because it didn’t want to have to support my fat ass any longer."


~HEAT LEVEL~
LOW. This book was WAY slow burn with no sexy times until 66% (oral) and 71%(intercourse) in. Unfortunately, because of some of the issues I already mentioned, I never felt this couple had any on page chemistry.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
LOW. This one wasn't very angsty. There are a few bumps in the road, but nothing major. Neither were virgins. Riley hadn't had sex in over a year. I have no clue about Hunter. But I got the feeling he continued to have sex with OW right until he knew Riley was getting divorced. There was quite a lot of OW stuff in this one (blah). I wouldn't say drama, but Hunter hires Annabelle a woman he slept with in the past to represent Riley. Personally, I have NO idea why the author needed to have Hunter and Annabelle be past f-ck buddies. Thye could have easily just been good friends and it would have worked just as well. It was an icky situation IMO. We are also reminded A LOT that Hunter was a manwhore. Riley constantly thinks he is sleeping with everyone around him. Plus every single woman that runs across him flirts with him (rolling my eyes). There was a bit of OM drama in the form of Riley's ex-husband.


~IN THE END~
Eh...like I said, it was OK. There were quite a few issues that kept me from rating this one higher. But I also thought it was a well written book, and I loved Hunter and a lot of the secondary characters. So a bit of a mixed bag for me. That said, I don't think I will be carrying on with anymore books in this series since both books I have read have been just been OK. It is what it is. Therefore yours truly is going to give this one a single solid thumbs up.