Survival of the Richest by Skye Warren

DNF @ 72%

That's it, I'm tossing in the tea towel. I was buddy-reading this with my friends Shruti and MG, but after several days of struggling to maintain my attention with this book, I can't stand it anymore. I think my honeymoon period with Skye Warren is over, and I'm deleting all of her books off my Kindle except for the Masterpiece series, which is the only one I feel like finishing.

You can't say that I didn't give Ms. Warren a fair shot. Including this book, I've read seven of her novels and novellas. I really liked the first Endgame novel and I liked the prequel to Masterpiece. About the others, my reaction can be summed up as "meh."

I had several problems with SURVIVAL OF THE RICHES, however, that just couldn't be ignored.

❌️ The first 99 pages is LITERALLY the free-to-read prequel, TRUST FUND. When I picked up SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST, I felt like I'd read the beginning before. That's because I had. The first 99 pages of this book contains the prequel, TRUST FUND, which I'd already read and reviewed. And sure, you can say that it's nice of the author to bundle the prequel in to the novella - but when this novel first went up, it still cost $. I got it when it was free, and it was still free, but I imagine her fans aren't cheapskates like I am. They probably shell out $ for her work because I imagine they read the books as soon as they come out (as loyal fans do) and I can't imagine them being very happy at being forced to skim through nearly 100 pages of word-for-word regurgitated content. Maybe it was the author being nice and trying to make things convenient for her fans, but it also could be a sneaky attempt to bulk up the page count of this "novel" to make people feel like they're getting more.

❌️ The plot of this story revolves around whether or not to save this abandoned library that the rich love interests want to tear down and turn into the mall. I'm sorry, is this an erotic novel or a back to school special from the 90s about cultural values and community outreach? Also, how can you possibly expect me to root for a love interest who wants to bulldoze a library down. Think very carefully about who your target audience is. Now think about what you're doing. #Nope

❌️ The sex scenes are tired and uninteresting. I thought the sex scenes in THE PAWN, the first Endgame book, were hot. The ones in here were gross and stupid. You should hear what the heroine shouts while the hero gives her oral sex. Also they have sex in that library he wants to tear down while he spanks her with a book. That poor, poor book. It didn't ask to be a part of this.

❌️ Love triangle. Need I say more? Between two heroes I don't care about, because they are apparently library-haters. Also, I don't dig the whole alpha showdown of "who's got the bigger D?" that these dudes apparently have going on. Any dude who acts like I'm a trophy that he must win would be better off playing in a bowling league... or maybe Mario Kart. If you're into that thing, bully for you. Maybe you'll like this. I thought it was a pretty lame love triangle, as far as these things go, and if you read the prequel, TRUST FUND, before this, the love triangle basically shatters your expectations about who the heroine will end up with.

Overall, not for me. *deletes all Skye Warren books from Kindle*

1 to 1.5 out of 5 stars