Falling for the Bad Boy by Kennedy Fox

Category: Contemporary Romance
Publication date: 11/02/2017
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
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This was far from the worst thing I’ve ever read, but there was enough here to annoy me pretty thoroughly.

via GIPHY

Plot overview:  Feisty romance writer (Vada) with trust issues and writer’s block rents a vacation guest house from cocky, smirky artist (Ethan). Lots of sex ensues. 

First of all, I’ll start with the good stuff. Other than a few missteps, I liked Ethan. He was mostly a decent guy. He had some inner damage that was totally understandable, and I get why someone like him would be reluctant to get involved in a relationship. I felt his pain. The writing itself wasn’t bad, either. Pacing was decent. None of the book seemed to drag at any point.  

But then the cliche bingo started…

1. The romance writer who needs a man with a magic penis to cure her writer’s block 
2. Sexy southern guy who always walks around shirtless 
3. Sexy southern guy who teases “stuck up city girl” for kicks and giggles
4. Sexy scene with a pottery wheel. (Sorry, but that scene should’ve died with Patrick Swayze. He did it great. Why try and recreate it?)
5. Romance writer uses relationship with the magic penis as inspiration to write her book, which, of course, becomes a huge bestseller 
6. Evil, scorned “other woman” lies to heroine, heroine believes her, then heroine runs off without talking to hero to verify evil, scorned other woman’s claims
7. Anal sex that doesn’t require actual lube. Because of the magic penis, I guess? 

Then there was this stuff…

1. Ethan doesn’t know Vada at all, and yet feels the need to “rile her up” by dropping ridiculous amounts of sexual innuendo. In real life, Vada wouldn’t have ever stayed in Ethan’s rental, and she might’ve even sued him.   
2. He watched her masturbate while she had no idea he was watching. Did the rules change at some point, making it OK to spy on a woman? I know everyone thought it was funny when it happened in Porky’s (it’s an old movie, kids...look it up), but it was still a horrible invasion of privacy, even back then. 
3. And while we’re talking about the spying...Vada just flops down on the bed, naked, and masturbates without looking to see if her blinds are open? Who does that? (No one. That’s who does that. No one. You at least glance at the blinds first.)
4. At the risk of being a little spoiler-y, when Vada runs off, Ethan doesn’t go after her. He very passively tries to get her back instead. A REAL romance hero would’ve gone after her. He wouldn’t have passively waited around FOR A YEAR, hoping she’d come to her senses.  
5. At the risk of being a little spoiler-y again, why is it always the woman in the romance novel who is expected to leave her home town in order to be with the hero? Ethan could do pottery anywhere just like Vada could write anywhere. Would it kill him to say he’s willing to follow her back to Chicago if that’s where she wanted to be? He never even considered it. It was just a given that if she wanted to be with him, she’d move from Illinois to South Carolina. 

So, long-story-short, this one wasn’t my cuppa. It wasn’t poorly written—just annoying. Or maybe I’m still just grumpy about how Game of Thrones ended. I dunno... 

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s stigma-laden. Mostly because of the cliche bingo.

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