It's hard for me to rate/review this book because I really didn't know what to make of it. While reading it I was rather engaged and entertained, like I was watching a Hallmark Christmas romance or a romcom. But it was also a slow read for me that got boring at times and I kept having to put it down for something more interesting and then pick it back up again to kind of force myself to finish it, maybe because it was rather predictable. Also the premise of how they both kept being undercover yet running into each other and not recognizing each other or helping each other out while pretending to hate each other was just really too coincidental and far-fetched. It started to get rather ridiculous.
There were also things that seemed contradictory or inconsistent and things that weren't explained, which was frustrating. But maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. The things that I did understand seemed too unbelievable/unrealistic so altogether it just seemed far too convenient. I think I might have gotten a first draft of this story (I've had it on my Kindle for quite a while and finally got around to reading it due to a book club challenge for a Facebook group I'm in, which said to read a book with water on the cover), and I think/hope it has been updated by now because it seemed rather hastily written with plot holes and characters that seemed interesting but weren't entirely sketched out. I was disappointed because I thought it could have been a lot better. But I guess for a simple read to pass the time or imagine myself being at a beach in Hawaii with a billionaire (haha), it was okay.
The worst part of it to me, was (SPOILER ALERT)
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that the guy rejected the woman's advances and straight up told her he liked her but didn't want to move too fast with her because he had been hurt by his ex. For me that just ruins any romance! I understand that the characters have been hurt before and are afraid to love but it should be something they struggle with internally that comes out organically in the plot before they resolve it for love... it shouldn't be something they straight up say when the woman kisses them and they don't want to go any further physically because of some other woman!
He could have just said he didn't want to move too fast physically and/or in their relationship. Then again, that part didn't seem realistic to me because what guy doesn't want to proceed physically??? (I mean unless maybe they're religious but this guy was not.) I don't mean to stereotype and I'm sure there are some guys like this but I just didn't believe it from his character. He goes after what he wants and isn't afraid. Except when it came to her, which was a real turn-off for me and made me not like him and not want to root for them. I really thought she could do better than him but then again, I didn't like her that much either, so I didn't really care about either of their characters or this relationship.
Also one big reason I didn't like her is that she gets mad at him for the dumbest thing! He invites her and her whole family and all her staff AND ALL THE GUESTS at her hotel (which seemed to contradict the earlier part where he had no rooms and it was only going to be her and her parents) to stay at his hotel to avoid a big storm, and then some of her guests like his hotel and want to stay there instead of at hers so she's mad at him and takes it out on him after all his kindness and help. Man, what a B!!!
She later apologizes but I would not go further romantically with a person capable of blaming me and getting angry at me and snapping at me for things beyond my control. It made me think she had some kind of mental illness or personality disorder she needs to work on before she gets into a relationship with someone else and brings her own insecurities and baggage into it and lets it affect him to this extent. It's like, how is it HIS fault her guests don't like her hotel enough to stay? I could see if they were still at the enemies to lovers stage and she still thought he was a rich pr*ck with family wealth (which he still kind of was even though he denied it but she fell for it and decided not to hold it against him and wasn't holding it against him in this case- she was just being a P because her feelings were hurt), but this was after they were getting close and he was helping her, ugh, it made me so mad.
So at that point I pretty much stopped caring what happened to these two losers because I knew they'd get the dysfunctional-ever-after they each deserved and so I just hate-read the rest to finish it.
(END SPOILERS)
I guess when I write it all out like that, I really didn't like this book. I wish it had been different. I guess maybe this clean romance genre where the men don't like seggs and the women like being rejected yet still chase after the man and then get mad at the man for totally unrelated things (or maybe it's related but they never talk about it being related or admit that it is) just isn't my cup of tea. I do think I would have really liked it if not for these parts and would have given it 4 stars but those parts just ruined it for me. So I subtracted a star for him being a D and another star for her being a B. 2 stars. This was a "meh" bordering on "hate-read" for me even though it started out as "hmm, this is rather far-fetched but I'm suspending disbelief and going with it and rather enjoying it."