Violet, in an faux accidental meeting with a prominent politician Wade, finds herself being asked to marry him -- as she planned -- to act as his fake wife for Wade's political aspirations. But Violet has other ulterior motives and she didn't expect Wade's son, Miles, to become a thorn in her plans or her attraction to him. Miles has been through a number of new gold-digging stepmothers who, through various inappropriate and often salacious acts, pranks, and other misdeeds, he inevitable makes leave. But is it because he detests them for their greedy ways or is there more to the story?
This book was creative, something entirely new from the traditional bully romances and enemies to lovers with the usual themes. First a (reverse) age-gap and second having two main characters who were not necessarily redeemable, particularly the heroine, Violet, as the book's title falsely leads you to believe. Even with the creatively of the plot, the clever intrigue, it was hard to feel root for and really invested in a story in which the heroine was not really a good person, at the very least whose motives were not explored in a way that made you feel empathy or like her.
And in fact Violet didn’t really redeem herself. We weren’t given sufficient detail of her life, her history to resolve her perception as a gold digger or interloper, or motives against her new husband as literally only a couple of sentences explained her time in the foster system and her betrayal of her sister.
Sure, the sexy times were great (3/5), and it was plus that the hero, Miles, was so very supportive of Violet, coupled with the fact that he, too, had a story. He was the bad boy with the unsavory father.
He was sexually free and confident. Prepare for an unconventionally story start up as we learn of his sexual adventures. Totally hot.
Miles and Violet's attraction, however, didn't feel authentic; it didn't come about organically. A matter of writing style, as in some ways part of the story were too fast -- motivations, backstories, the main couple's attraction, and the agreement and move in with Wades. Simultaneously, parts moved at a normal pace. The story seemed to be more an attempt at artistic impact that needed a little more to realize itself. It felt disjointed as a story, as if started in the middle, but interesting as a plot line, which I can't deny was inventive. But because of cohesiveness I found absence in some
cases, I found myself struggling to keep my attention.
First person point of view allowed me to delve in the characters' minds. Additionally, the side characters very much contributed to the story development and grittiness.
This book wasn't dark for me, but it did have dark themes such as violence, abuse, and dirty underbelly of a secret society. Overall, while I like the plot premise as well as the hero, there were some flaws in execution. I would read another book by this author, though, since I was charmed by the unusual, fresh, and twisted storyline as well as atypical characters.