The heroine is annoying (blames alcohol and everyone else within a mile of her for her own lack of verbal self-control), self-centered (literally only thinks about herself, her wants, her needs, her reputation, etc.), selfish (only receives, never gives), rude ("borrows" her cousin's robe to sleep in and has sex on her cousin's bed without permission), insecure (doesn't believe the guy's sincere compliments), arrogant (judges her own voice as "objectively great"), judgmental (is literally constantly judging this dude as "inferior" to her...even as she has already made up her mind to have sex with him but claims that she has a "lapse of judgment" when she tells him the truth about her physical attraction to him), fake submissive (lets the guy "have his way with her"...as long as it's done her way), and a control freak (disobeys his command about what to do with HIS body part) who turned the one-night stand into a power struggle when the "hero" was honest with her about not wanting a relationship before they got horizontal. He's not smart because her pauses spoke volumes. He should've run away right away!
An example of the heroine's lack of likability and character:
"The doorbell rings, and I tense up. A deep sense of relief surges through me. It must be Lilly. She left earlier without shoes on her feet. I’m sure she didn’t have her keys either. I run-walk out of the bedroom, ready to give my cousin a piece of my mind. How dare she leave me with her guest, especially after I said what I said about my panties. I needed her to take the edge off and help foster enough rational conversation between him and me to make him forget about my momentary lapse of judgment. I swing the door open with fire in my eyes and a lashing on the tip of my tongue. But it’s not Lilly standing in front of me. A tall, strapping figure impedes the light flowing in from the hallway. My eyes expand beyond a comfortable limit, and I’m infused with shock..."
She's a guest in her cousin's house yet wants to give her a "tongue lashing" about...leaving her to clean up her own verbal mess? Really? She's in "shock" that a man returned to see if he can have sex with a woman who just told him that she's sexually aroused by him? Really?! The author keeps posting the time (e.g., "5 minutes later", "30 minutes later..."), which only served to remind me of how much the story drags even though the two main characters fast-forward through the pleasantries to bump uglies.
By the end of chapter two, I didn't like either of them but felt sorry for him because he's not smart enough to avoid getting into an entanglement with her. Since the story is told from her perspective and I didn't want to be in her head anymore, I did not finish.
Living by the Spirit’s Power (Galatians 5:16-26, New Living Translation)
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: SEXUAL IMMORALITY, impurity, LUSTFUL PLEASURES, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, SELFISH AMBITION, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become CONCEITED, or PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER, or be jealous of one another.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.