Undersold Book Review

Title:  Undersold
Series:  City's Secrets #1
Author:  B.B. Hamel
Genre:  New Adult

My Rating:  3 ♥♥♥'s

*Thanks to B.B. Hamel for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*




Synopsis:

It wasn’t the kind of aching need that could be forgotten or ignored, or even missed. It was a burning, powerful thing, and like all powerful things, it was mindless and blameless. It came from somewhere else and took me directly to Shane and his body. There was nothing left but to submit to its whims. I wanted to be a part of him, not of his life, but of his existence.

Amy Woodall has it bad. Her father is dying of cancer, her job barely pays the bills, and she can’t get through the day without thinking about her crushing student loans. As an escape, each night she throws herself into developing a smartphone app in the hopes of kick starting her stalled-out life.

Things change when she begins an innocent text flirtation with a man she meets online. Shane Green is beautiful, passionate, and rich in a way Amy can barely comprehend. He’s also obsessed with his privacy, and he’ll do anything to protect the people he loves from the spotlight. When Shane’s company buys Amy’s fledgling business, she finds herself torn between family, career, and love, with no easy way out.

The rules have changed, and Amy must find a way to navigate them before she loses everything. 

My Review:

B.B. Hamel's debut novel opens in the middle of a sexting session between Amy Woodall and Rex Blue in an online dating site called Matchstick.  They boldly confess to some very sexy, suggestive acts that they would indulge in IF they were together, but that will never happen, so no problem, right?  Now imagine Amy's shock when she learns the man she has been confessing all her secret desires to is actually Shane Green - a reclusive billionaire entrepreneur in the Tech Industry and her new boss.  And he's just as surprised to see that Amy is the sexy siren he has fantasized about ever since they sent suggestive pictures to each other via texts.  A relationship begins - both personal and professional.  Both characters are carrying some emotional baggage that causes misunderstandings and an on again, off again relationship. Shane insists on a private relationship that no one knows about and that plays on Amy's insecurities. Much of the story occurs in the office setting and thus, office politics and gossip also play into the story.

As this story unfolds, we only get Amy's point of view as it's written in first person.  I believe it would have benefited from alternating pov's, allowing us to see what Shane was thinking.  Shane is an extremely private person to the point of being paranoid about any public press.  He insists they can only have a relationship if Amy keeps it a secret...from everyone. He has three rules that she must agree to: 

1)You can tell nobody, not another living soul, that we are together.

2)You cannot see another man while you are with me.

3)You will come...(yeah, okay...I'll leave it up to you to read this rule.)

Amy, a computer nerd working in a coffeeshop during the day and programming computer apps at night, is very insecure and constantly apologizing to Shane over every little thing - even when she isn't at fault. She feels like he is hiding something from her but never really takes a stand.  I kept expecting her to really stand up to him and demand more.  She is too shy & demure.  I  think both characters would have benefited from a little more development, as I never fully connected to them.  I wanted to feel more in-depth emotion from both of them.  I also wanted that one big conflict...an event that would push them over the edge and make me doubt the outcome.  Any issues that develop, are too easily resolved.  

Having said that, I enjoyed Undersold and think it's a good start to a series by an author with a lot of potential.  It's a good, fast read with some sexy erotic love scenes. Fans of erotic New Adult should give this book a read!

My Rating:  3 Pretty ♥♥♥'s...And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart...xxx

Sandra