Dirty Match

by Stevie Sinclair

I came to the bar looking for Mr. Right—the stable, compatible match the dating app promised.

Instead, I find the wrong James.

Tattooed. Commanding. Dangerously sexy. Everything I swore I'd never fall for again.

One night is supposed to be enough. A mistake I can walk away from and forget.

Except the Universe had other plans. James Calloway is now my business neighbor, opening his tattoo shop next to my candle store. And every time he looks at me with those knowing eyes, I remember exactly how it felt to surrender to him completely.

He wants more than one night. He wants me to stop running from what we both know I crave—his control, his touch, his demand that I finally be honest about my desires.

But I've been down this road before. I know what happens when you give a man that kind of power.

The problem? My body doesn't seem to care about my rules anymore.

And neither does he.

A steamy standalone romance about mistaken identity, second chances, and discovering that sometimes the wrong match is exactly right.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Spicy

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2025

Reviews

[Reba · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4
1.5 🌶️

I downloaded this book for free during Stuff Your Kindle Day.

This was a sweet, steamy mistaken identity romance with a lot of chemistry between the MCs Nora and James. The author did a good job making the reader feel that push-pull on Nora's end. I could very much relate to Nora. She feared giving up control yet simultaneously wanted to. James was the perfect man to show her what she was missing. I wasn't sure if James would be able to break down her walls, but she came through in the end. The epilogue was very sweet and I really appreciated the fact that this is more of a HFN/soft HEA with no overdone trope of pregnancy, babies, or white picket fence life.

You never know what you're gonna get in terms of writing quality with the SYKD books. But I will say this was pretty well written. There were some dropped periods here and there and a few places where there was an extra or odd word, but nothing egregious. The pacing was good and I was engaged the whole way through. I will definitely be checking out some other works by this author!

[Laci · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

Dirty Match was a fun, flirty, and spicy little read that I flew through way faster than I expected.

This is one of those books you pick up when you’re not in the mood for heavy angst or emotional damage. You just want chemistry, banter, and a good time. The whole “wrong match” setup was cute and immediately pulled me in, and once these two meet? James and Nora?… it doesn’t take long for things to heat up.

The chemistry is instant, the attraction is obvious, and the spice shows up early. I loved that it leaned fully into the instalove vibes without trying to overcomplicate things. It knew exactly what kind of story it wanted to be and just went for it.

The pacing was quick, the dialogue was fun, and it felt like the perfect palate cleanser between darker or heavier reads. Nothing stressful, nothing drawn out just a light, spicy instalove romance that’s easy to enjoy.

[Megan Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a shorter read & i plowed through it super fast! this book was so much more than a spicy encounter between people who met through a dating app. i was rooting for Nora to finally overcome her fears, to finally give into what she wanted. i was rooting for James to help Nora get over her fears and to show her that she deserved to get what she wants. it had a satisfying ending, as Jame & Nora were finally navigating their relationship, and both feeling truly happier than they had been prior to their initial meeting. i would recommend this for a quick steamy but sweet romance! i will be checking out the other books in this series!📚✨

[Lea Propst Fedder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got on novella on stuff your kindle day and it was good until a certain phrase was used almost back to back. I read a section that I could have sworn I already read and went back to see if it was a coping issue. It wasn’t just lots of phrases and verbiage was so similar it felt repetitive. No variety in words and misspelling or unfinished sentences. Same frustrations of characters ch by ch. It had potential but I desperately wished an editor would tear it apart.

The author isn’t on socials. No profile pic on Goodreads. No bio at the end of the book. Just seems off to me

[Julie Juhl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dirty Match by Stevie Sinclair is the first book of The MisMatched Series. Nora and James's story is a great mistaken identity romance. Nora is looking for just one night, and James wants more. To make matters worse Nora's candle shop is right next door to James's tattoo shop. I really enjoyed reading their story and look forward to reading the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Crystal M Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I generally skip over parts of books only reading the dialogue when it gets slow, didn't have to do that once. The book was phenomenal, the author is an amazing story teller. I got this book free on stuff your kindle day and I have already downloaded the next one and can't wait to start it!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute premise: candle shop owner's one night stand turns out to be the owner of the new tattoo parlor next door. Potential! I found myself getting a bit bored with the FMC's internal struggle. She just kept standing in her own way. Maybe more banter to balance out all the feelings being felt? It was okay.

[Daisy J Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the idea of the mistaken identity style trope but wish it was a longer book - I feel like the storyline ended up being a bit rushed as it was a fairly short book (I finished it in approx 2 hours but am a fairly fast reader) & easily could have had more to the background of each of the characters.

[Ang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this

Every now and then a book surprises me. This one definitely did. The intense intimacy they shared was a page turner for sure. I am gonna finish this series before moving on.

The bonus chapter from the author was the icing on this cake.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy enjoyable read over a couple of hours. A little spice and good characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dirty match was Nora and James's story. It was a good mistaken identity romance. I received an early copy. Am voluntarily leaving this review.

[Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I love how he fell first and tried so many times to get her

[Leslie at SheReadsRomanceBooks.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has a great start but the rest is her just pushing him away over and over again which got boring.

[Rah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty fun. A perfect length for the story being told.

[Alesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute novella ! Spicy and sexy

[JACQUELINE CURTIS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to admit what you want

This is an eye opening story. The FMC is having a rough time accepting where she is in life and her MMC is just what she needs.