*disclaimer*
I received an ARC of this book.
Normally I don’t take ARC’s. As sure as shootin’ as soon as I get one, I’m not in the mood to read it. If I do try, I know I won’t be unbiased because I’m only reading it because I feel obligated to and if I don’t read it then I feel guilty for taking the book in the first place. So for me it’s a lose/lose. So I’m good with just buying my books that interest me. But I had a flurry of reread of books by Ms. Kriss and each and every one was a five star so I sent her an email just letting her know how much I was enjoying them. She emailed back asking if I would like an advanced copy of her next book. At this point I would normally say ‘thank you very much for the offer, but I don’t really accept ARC’s. I can’t handle the guilt.’ But since I haven’t read a Julie Kriss book I haven’t loved and this was the 3rd in a series that I was loving, I broke my self-imposed rule and said yes.
Phew!! What a long explanation that was.
The book arrived yesterday and couldn’t have come at a better time. I’d been book jumping around, not really able to settle on any particular book. So I started this one. And I finished it either late, late last night or early, early this morning. Whatever you call it, it was 3:00 am. Despite working an 8-hour shift, I could not put this book down.
As I mentioned, this is the third book in the Filthy Rich series. I don’t think you have to have read the first two books to enjoy this book, but the first two were so good, I say read them anyway. The series is about four life-long friends who for one reason or another, had lousy childhoods. They became roomies when they were 15. One of them was a total tech geek and came up with a program that sold and got them started. They formed a venture capitalist company. One of them works out of New York, one Chicago, one Dallas and one LA. Noah is the one who works out of LA and this is his story. We’ve met him before in both the previous books since even though they live in different cities, they keep in close contact. Noah is known as the easy going playboy of the group. Living in LA as a young, hot, wealthy, single guy he gets his share of women.
Emma is the heroine. We know her too. She is the sister of Samantha, heroine of the first story. She is a ball busting, successful woman who has established her own business finding and providing top notch executive assistants to the important and successful CEO’s of the country. She puts all potential assistants through rigorous training so they are the best of the best and her company is known as the one to go to. Despite being in the same circle, Noah and Emma haven’t met in person. This changes when Emma is called to LA to try and explain to a potential client why three of her EA’s have either wedded or had an affair with their bosses. This is not a good look.
Emma is stressed after the meeting when she get a call from Noah. It was her sister Sam who suggested to Noah that he call Emma and take her out to dinner while she’s in LA. Emma isn’t in the mood but Noah is charming and talks her into it. Sparks fly as soon as they meet and what was just supposed to be dinner turned into something much, much more. But neither of them expect anything more than the one night. They live on opposite sides of the country and both have issues that keep them from wanting anything serious.
I love both Noah and Emma. When I knew Noah was going to be the hero, I was wondering how it would go since I don’t care for rich playboy type heroes. But Noah has unexpected depths to him. He has the charm but not a single drop of the sleaze I was a bit worried about, thus making him a hero to cheer for. I also love Emma. The author could have made her cold and distant, Emma has the potential for that type of character. But instead we get to see the inner Emma where some of what she shows is just a mask and she has covered up well her feelings of insecurity. As such she’s a relatable woman and the reader can see how perfect these two are for each other and hope the managed to overcome the issues keeping them apart.
It's also lovely to see the characters return from the first two books. While they played important roles in advancing the story, they didn’t overshadow Noah or Emma at all.
It’s hard for me to say which is my favourite book by Julie Kriss and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the one I’m reading. I reread her books a lot, they are perfect comfort books and we need comfort especially in times like these. So for now, Dirty Talk is my favourite book written by Julie Kriss.