In Like Flynn by Donna Alam

​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Publication date: 06/24/2018
Cliffhanger: No

I heard “Australian hero” on this one and I was sold. With visions of Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth swirling through my mind, I 1-clicked and started reading. And honestly, the hero wasn’t a letdown at all. But the heroine? Well...that’s a different story.

But first, here’s the stuff about the story that absolutely worked for me:

1. Australian hero. Yum.
2. The heroine, Chastity, is a porn producer. It’s a nice change of pace to read about romance heroines who embrace their sexuality as fully as Chastity has.
3. Love all the English and Australian slang. It’s all very fun and exotic for a Midwestern USA gal like myself.
4. Flynn, beyond general yumminess, is a good hero. He’s funny and self-deprecating and hard-working. He’s a good friend, a great lover, and an overall super nice guy. (Both of the stars I awarded to this book can be credited directly to Flynn, in fact)
5. The hero’s Scottish friends. Yum.           

As for what irked me, there isn’t really enough to list out. I just didn’t like Chastity. Like, at all. I saw no reason for her surliness toward Flynn. I really didn’t see why she thought he was an a-hole. He really wasn’t. He was nothing but hilarious and respectful and sexy throughout the entire story. The way Chastity treated him made her look like a horrid shrew of the highest order. I get that she’s been through things, but hell, who hasn’t? She hasn’t been through anything a million other romance heroines haven’t been through and they don’t treat eligible, nice guys like Chastity treats Flynn. I just couldn’t make myself like this woman, no matter how many times I tried.

There were a couple of other points I could nitpick. I mean, there was an “other guy” character that popped up at the last minute of the story to cause unnecessary drama. This dude could have been totally written out of the story and I think the story would’ve been better for it. There’s a point towards the end when Chastity is willing to believe horrible things about Flynn for no good reason and without any real proof, and that pissed me off. And there’s the fact that Chastity is so intent on pointing out how her porn is so much better than everyone else’s porn. (Chastity, honey, you film people having sex. I don’t care how you light the scene, it’s not arty. It’s porn, and it’s exactly like everyone else’s porn. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?) But all that stuff could’ve been easily overlooked if I would’ve liked Chastity, and I just didn’t. Sorry Flynn, but I think you can do better.   

Long-story-short: it’s just too bad a great hero is stuck with this dud of a heroine. If I could fix Flynn up with someone else, I would.      

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s not really doing anything to promote or crush the stigma. It’s Switzerland.

Other reading suggestions
It doesn’t have an Australian hero, but try Sarina Bowen’s Man Card for a fun, light-hearted, enemies to lovers read with a sassy but LIKEABLE heroine. ​

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