Lucas Thorn has, literally, a woman for every day of the
week, except Sunday; there is a method to his madness. He
wasn't always a player: he was once engaged to his high
school sweetheart, Kayla Black, and just as he was to get
married, it all went downhill when it became public
knowledge that he had cheated on his fiancée. Avery Black,
fresh out of college, got a great job which she promptly
lost, and her overbearing parents insist that, if she
doesn't get another job within two weeks, she will have to
move back home, which is the last thing Avery wants. She
lands a paid internship as assistant to a Grant Learning
VP, who happens to be the CHEATER himself: Lucas Thorn.
She can't, she won't, but she must: it's either work for
the devil himself or go back to hell.
Lucas Thorn is a CHEATER, well, not exactly; it's a very
complicated story, and nobody does outrageously
complicated like Rachel Van Dyken! The thing is, when you
look at all the events leading to Avery working for Lucas,
it feels eerily real. Pettiness along with circumstances
that couldn't be helped had a domino effect, as the golden
boy fell from grace, and while there are pages and pages
of uproariously funny moments, there is a certain sadness
that defines some aspects of Lucas' personality. Avery is
appalled at Lucas' womanizing, and she tells him plainly
that she will never be one of "his girls." The problem is,
he is charming, the chemistry is definitely there, but
Avery desperately needs this job, and she is also in a
perfect position to avenge her sister.
The least that can be said is that the slightly manic
Avery thinks up very creative ways of making Lucas pay for
his transgression, and then what Lucas thinks is a great
idea backfires in unimaginable -- and hilarious -- manner.
Avery and Lucas bicker incessantly, insult each other, but
it feels more like brother and sister banter; it's never
unpleasant, and it does bring them back to when their
respective families got along as one. Lucas has some
issues, not exactly the ones we might expect, and Ms. Van
Dyken does a tremendous job with character development, in
what could have been a mindless farce, which is something
that the author does supremely well. I thought it
refreshing that the wedding debacle was not caused by a
misunderstanding, some things at the time just couldn't be
helped.
CHEATER, at first glance, seems to contain nearly every
trope known to romance readers, and yet none at all.
Rachel Van Dyken utilizes every detail at her disposal and
blends them all to make a very convincing romance;
everything felt right, and evolved logically. CHEATER is
rather wild and explosive, very much like Avery. CHEATER
is a very quick read, matching the breakneck speed at
which everything goes, especially Avery! CHEATER is the
first book in Ms. Van Dyken's brand new Curious
Liaisons series, which promises to be wildly
entertaining with laughs aplenty!
Lucas Thorn wasn’t born a cheater. All it took was a single
moment—say, a certain disastrous incident on the night
before his wedding—and boom. Reputation destroyed forever
and always. So now he owns it. He has a lady friend
for every night of the week (except Sundays—God’s day and
all), and his rules are simple: No commitments. No exceptions.
But a certain smart-mouthed, strawberry blonde vixen is
about to blow that all to hell.
Avery Black has never forgiven Lucas for cheating on her
sister. And suddenly being forced to work with him is pretty
much a nightmare on steroids. Of course, it does
afford her the opportunity to make his life as difficult as
possible. But no good revenge scheme comes without payback.
Because he didn’t become the Lucas Thorn without
learning a few things about women.
Now Avery’s lust for vengeance has turned into, well, lust.
And if Lucas stops cheating, it’s definitely not
because he’s falling in love…