The Bad Boy Bargain by Kendra C. Highley

Blurb:
Baseball player Kyle Sawyer has many labels: bad boy, delinquent, ladies’ man, fearless outfielder… Only one of them is actually true. But then sweet ballet dancer Faith Gladwell asks him to help wreck her reputation, and everything goes sideways.

Faith knows a thing or two about love, and what she had with her cheating jerk of an ex wasn’t it. When he starts spreading rumors about her being an Ice Queen, Faith decides it’s time to let a little bad into her life.

Lucky for her, Kyle Sawyer—dark, dangerous, totally swoonworthy Kyle Sawyer—is landscaping her backyard over Spring Break. Shirtless. And if she can convince him to play along, “dating” Kyle will silence the rumors.

But Faith’s plan threatens to expose Sawyer’s biggest secret of all…and that’s a risk he’s not willing to take.

Disclaimer: This book contains drop-the-book-and-fan-yourself kisses…and touches. Fall in love with a bad boy at your own risk.

     

My Review:
4.5 stars — I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

OMG, this one sucked me in so much at the beginning!  I was reading and just grinning from ear to ear!  Kyle is SOOOO my kind of book boy — a beautiful beta boy!!  AAHHHH!!!  I honestly didn’t know how his story was going to play out, but I really felt for him and all the background we got to see how his reputation was shaped, and why he let it happen.  It was so sad though b/c he really ended up being a loner, with only his Dad and Grandpa to rely on for love and guidance.  It was really a heartbreaking tale, and yet one I could so easily imagine happening to a sensitive guy like him.  Seriously though, SWOON!  Give me a shy nervous guy any day of the week, and I will be swooning.  And a gentleman to boot!!

Faith was a seriously solid heroine too!  I loved that she was kind of hard to pinpoint — she had so many strong points, and she was such a hard worker and so focused on her dreams, but she was also really vulnerable.  And I didn’t blame her one bit for being so confused with Kyle’s hot and cold moments.  I’m not sure what I would have done with the conflicting signals he was giving off.

It actually went in a bit of a different direction than I was expecting after Spring break ended.  I still really enjoyed it though, and it had a very satisfying “big moment”.

One of the things that really added to the story was both friends, Violet and Cade.  I wouldn’t mind a story for each of them!!  And the parents were actually pretty great too — I love it when the families aren’t completely buggered up, you know?  Like Faith’s parents were pretty solid, and I loved their reactions to Kyle.  And while Kyle’s Dad was pretty absent, Kyle’s Grandpa was a great influence for Kyle, even if he didn’t always get it exactly right.

All in all LOVED this one!  It was just what my heart needed!!