The Black Chapel (Chapel #1) by Marilyn Cruise

Blurb: What would you do if a sexy billionaire asked you to marry him just for his money?

Scarlett hates her new job as a stripper, but she can’t afford to quit or she’ll lose her house and won’t be able to afford to pay for her dad’s chemo. One night, the handsome billionaire Michael Manning visits the club and shows interest in Samantha—Scarlett’s stage name. Scarlett is immediately attracted to Michael, but she refuses to date anyone she meets at the club.

The next day, Scarlett’s friend drags her to church, and to her surprise, Scarlett meets Michael again. He doesn’t realize she’s Samantha from last night (she wears a mask while performing) and asks her out. But Scarlett would never have guessed what kind of a scandalous, yet utterly irresistible deal he’s about to propose…

3 stars

So the romance was wanting but I did enjoy the way Scarlett was able to juggle being two people at once without getting the lies mixed up.  That was entertaining as all get out.  And her dedication to helping her dad even though it was a degrading experience gave her a bit of dimension. But I must confess, it was crystal clear it was a ploy to make you care more about her character because if she didn’t have that going for her, she would have fizzled out for me. That was really the only thing I liked about her.

I kinda think Michael should have know it was Scarlett once he kissed ‘them’. I mean, he doesn’t even mention it, which I just found weird.  And frankly it made me think he was missing a few sandwiches short of a picnic.  Now, the sex scenes were on point and I’m glad I read this book, but the characters were just too flat for me to really care about them or what happens to them.  The plot is shallow to begin with so I guess I should have expected it.

So, I will not be reading anymore of this series because the ending had too many loose ends that I felt should have been tied up in this book in stead of leaving them hanging to entice you to read the next one. This may sound weird but it didn’t feel like an authentic ending. It felt unoriginal.  Maybe I read to many of these types of books because it felt trope-y and while I love a good trope, this one just was okay.