ARC Review: Mister Romance by Leisa Rayven

Book Title: Mister Romance
Author: Leisa Rayven
Series: Masters of Love #1
Release Date: April 30th, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance

Max Riley is the man of your dreams. Or at least he will be, for a price.

As his alter-ego Mister Romance, Max is a drop-dead gorgeous escort who makes romantic fantasies come to life. No sex, just swoon-worthy dates to die for, and the cream of New York's socialites can't get enough. Whether they want a dominating billionaire, bad boy with a heart of gold, hot geek, sexy biker, or best friend who loves them from afar, Max can make it all happen, but he's careful to keep his real identity a secret.

Enter investigative journalist Eden Tate. Having caught wind of the urban legend of Mister Romance from a lovestruck client, Eden is determined to publish a scathing expose on Max and his ability to swindle lonely society women out of their fortunes.

Desperate to protect his anonymity and his clients, Max challenges Eden to give him three dates. If she doesn't fall in love with him, she can run her story with his blessing. If she succumbs to his charms, the story dies.

Cynical Eden has no doubt she can resist his fake romance personas, but when the real Max admits he’s falling for her, she has to decide if the professional liar is telling the truth, or if the passionate man with the mysterious past is just one more character designed to con her out of her career-making story.

I must admit, it doesn't matter who the author is, if I see a blurb revolving around an escort plot, I'll read the book pronto. It's one of my all-time favorite tropes so I couldn't wait to get my grabby little hands on Mister Romance.

Max is an unconventional escort. He's highly paid to make every client's biggest fantasy come true (aside from the sex). It's all about the swoonworthy romance- say you're into men in uniform- he will recreate Richard Gear's An Officer and a Gentlemen to perfection. He has the costumes, the acting ability, and definitely the prowess to swoon his high-end clients unlike anything they get at home with their too-busy or too-stuffy husbands. When our heroine, Eden, catches wind of this Mister Romance, her struggling journalism career suddenly looks brighter. This could be the game-changing story she needs to move out of fake news to the real deal articles.

So here's the thing, I liked this book, I just didn't love it. I really struggled staying tuned into the story- it taking me a long five days to finish it. It would pick up then really wane for me again. I'm not sure I entirely bought their love connection so as it grew, my skepticism grew too. One other issue I have with escort books is the guy needs to not go back and forth between the heroine and his 'johns.' It feels like cheating and although I know people need to make a living, it really throws a bucket of cold water on their romantic possibilities, in my opinion.

So, all in all, I liked this but it's not a love. I see lots of positive reviews out there for Mister Romance so I'm guessing this is just me and I'm not in the majority with my opinion.

Advanced copy received by author in exchange for my honest review.

Writing has always been a passion for Leisa, and even though she originally intended to be an actress, it wasn’t long into her time at drama school that she began writing plays.

Those plays were bad. Very bad. Well, her friends thought they were good, but that’s because they were always cast in them and any opportunity to be on stage was met with an obnoxious amount of enthusiasm.

Since then, she’s honed her craft, and several of her plays have been produced and toured throughout Australia.

These days, playwriting has given way to fiction writing, and Leisa’s debut novel, BAD ROMEO, was published through Macmillan New York in December 2014. The sequel, BROKEN JULIET was released in April 2015, and the final book in Leisa’s Starcrossed series, WICKED HEART, will hit bookstores and kindles on May 3rd, 2016.

The Starcrossed series has gained hordes of passionate fans all over the world, and the books have now been translated into eight foreign languages. Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet have also featured on international best seller lists in Brazil and Germany.

Leisa Rayven lives in Australia with her husband, two little boys, three cats, and a kangaroo named Howard.

(Howard may or may not be her imaginary marsupial friend. Everyone should have one.)