I think I’ve only just managed to regulate my temperature enough to focus on writing a review after reading this book as it was hot! And that is a positive endorsement as I loved it.
Rhiannon Ayers’ Flawless is modern romantic fiction at its best. You have all the elements that you would expect – desire, beautiful people, money, ambition, setbacks, uncertainty – but you also have what I would call as a Brit a lot of “sauce” which is a euphemism for graphically depicted scenes of an intimate nature and boy, oh boy, did Ayers deliver!
But putting that to one side, this is more than just racy titillation. Ayers’ story is well thought through and this comes out in the writing. The delivery of her plot was, pun intended, flawless as she navigated the right levels of what is verging on erotic fantasy and therefore unlikely to happen whilst depicting real people with wants and needs and insecurities and past hurts to conquer. I was into the story from the outset and invested in the characters. Bethel is the smart-mouthed bartender who seems to be a womaniser focused on conquests but is this really who he is? Cyndi is a pretty girl with ambitions to own a bakery who catches Bethel’s eye but will she ever be able to trust men again after past hurts? And then you have Luca, Bethel’s best friend, who adds the glamour element – supermodel, tall, dark, Italian (of course!) – with his overbearing father and the limitations of his looks which cause people to judge him on face value (and what a face!); and you have a trio, a love triangle which makes for very entertaining reading.
This is pure escapism at its best but it’s not trashy holiday fiction. It’s easy reading , for sure, but it’s well-written and whilst it might not be a deep delve philosophically, it does raise questions about relationships, about control, about ambition and about other people’s perceptions, especially in relation to sexual preference and “arrangements” made between consenting adults.
For me, it was a rollicking good read which took me out of my middle-aged life for a few hours and into a world which I was happy to visit, I hesitate to say like a voyeur (!) but that’s what it sometimes felt like but it was bloody enjoyable whilst it lasted!
Perfect holiday read!
Rachel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I read it as an ARC. This is my fair and unbiased representation of my view of the book.
Scuffed Granny 