Driven by K. Bromberg

​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Publication date: 05/08/2013
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: I dunno

Audiobook narrator: Tatiana Sokolov
Length: 12 hours, 1 minute

Here’s a book by an author I’ve read and enjoyed before, it has a decent cover, a decent blurb, and it has over 43K ratings on Goodreads with a 4.3 average reader rating. What can possibly go wrong?

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I’m going to do this review a little different than usual, because I think some of the quotes in this book speak more eloquently to why I hated it than I could ever express on my own. So, here it goes:

Quote 1 (1% of the story)
​“And that’s when I hear them. The flirty, feminine giggle floats through the air, followed by the deep timber of a masculine moan. I freeze instantly, shocked at the audacity of our party’s attendees, when I hear the unmistakable sound of a zipper followed by a breathless but familiar feminine gasp of, ‘Oh yes!’  in the darkened alcove a few feet in front of me. You couldn’t pay me enough money to do something like that in public.”

Followed literally on the next page with the heroine falling into the hero’s arms and doing damn near the same thing. Because I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve stumbled (literally) into a hot stranger and ended up almost having sex with him up against a door. For me, that’s like...Tuesday. So, so common and boring. Amiright?

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 Quote 2 (2% of the story):
“Oh … um … I’m so sorry.” I hold my hands up in a flustered apology. “No apologies needed,” he responds in a cultured rasp of a voice with just a hint of edge. “I’m used to women falling at my feet.”

Ladies: if a guy ever says this you in a serious manner (not joking), nut-punch him and run the other way. It’ll keep him from saying stupid crap like this to women in the future. All of womankind will thank you for your service. ​ 

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Quote 3 (about 3%): ​
“Despite my submission, I know this is wrong. I can hear my conscious telling me to stop. That I don’t do these kinds of things. That I’m not that kind of girl. That I’m betraying Max with each continuing caress.”

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Quote 4 (about 10%):
“You have twenty-four hours to respond. Or else. If you refuse to give me availability, I may have to take matters in my own hands. Maybe someone taking control is exactly what you want? What you need?”

Quick PSA: Stalking isn’t sexy. If anyone sends you a message saying you have 24 hours to respond “or else,” you should not be flattered. You should call the police, take out a restraining order, and consider buying a big, vicious Rottweiler who isn’t fond of men. That is all.

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So, as you can see,  I noped my way right of this one at  about 10% of the story. If anything sexy or cool happened after that, I missed it. And frankly, I’m glad I missed it because I just don’t have the energy to enjoy sexy times between a doormat, cheating loser of a heroine and a douchenozzle, stalker hero who gives off a distinctly rapey vibe VERY early on. I’m out. I’m out with extreme prejudice. I’m out, never to return to this series. May it never darken my Kindle ever again.

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Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s a stigma fest. Blech.

Other reading suggestions
Kristen Ashley is my go-to for alpha males who aren’t alphaholes, and who are never stalkers or the least bit rapey. Read anything of hers. You won’t be disappointed.

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