Ruthless Pride by Naima Simone

I'm honestly not sure how to rate this because the writing was great and the sex scenes were steamy and really well done but I really did not care for the storyline much at all. Joshua Lowell is the CEO of a big company and the heroine, Sophie Armstrong, is a journalist doing a piece on him and his family, which is full of scandal (his dad was a womanizer and an embezzler). That could have been interesting if it was developed, but I really don't think it was, and when the big misunderstanding comes along in the last act, it comes way out of left field because none of the tension really felt there.

What really bumps up the rating is the surprisingly evocative imagery. The hero is described as a "study in contrasts" and an "avenging angel," and at one point, when he's angry at the heroine for her tell-all article, he compares her to a vulture who pecks at carrion down to the "bleached bones." It kind of made me wonder how much of the blandness of the storyline was maybe the publisher's fault, because a lot of modern Harlequin novels have a very tame, very watered-down vibe to them that just feels way too subdued.

I like the author's writing style so I'd be curious to see what she comes up with if she decides to self-publish or work with a different publisher than Harlequin.

Points for having an alpha hero who doesn't act like he belongs on a rack at Lowes.

2.5 out of 5 stars