Ames‘ review of Miss July by Madison Hayes

Years ago, Andrea walked out of Ben’s life. Mixed with the bitter sting of rejection was the fear that he’d done something wrong. For years, he’s worried that he might have hurt Andie. For years, he’s been the world’s most careful lover. There’s always been something missing in his relationships. Now Ben’s traveling to England. But he won’t admit, even to himself, that he’s hoping to find Andie.

Andie can’t believe Ben is in London. She’d thought an ocean would be enough to keep her heart safe from that particular hot male animal. But she was wrong. And Ben has picked up some pretty shocking, kinky habits since she last saw him. When he lets loose and finally gives in to his naturally aggressive instincts, Andie finds herself falling for the rugged hunk all over again. But she’s not the innocent tomboy she was twelve years ago. Now she’s Miss July at the Centerfold Club.

Miss July had a somewhat interesting premise but some of the hero’s internal dialog really turned me off.

Ben McLaren is dissatisfied – with life and love. His recent encounters with women have left him feeling lonelier than ever and that’s because he never got over his best friend, Andie. After years of friendship, Ben and Andie finally acted on their mutual attraction the night before she left on her yearly trip to visit her father in London. This was 12 years ago. But Ben is in London (he lives in New Mexico) and he’s hoping to run into Andie, a fortune teller told him it would happen. And it does! Ben runs into Andie at the Centerfold Club – where she’s a lap-dance girl.

Ok, this is where things started to get really wonky for me with this story. (There was a dream sequence early on that was beyond weird, if you were curious.) Andie is a nurse in London and the rent on her apartment has gone up, but her salary remains the same. When a patient tells her about giving up her lucrative job as a dancer, Andie decides to check it out and is hired on the spot. So her very first night at her new job, Ben shows up and they dry hump on a table – before she’s even had time to make her way to the stage. And this is after a 12 year separation. They really missed each other!

So Andie is fired from her job and Ben takes her back to his hotel room – where he makes her put on a performance for him because he doesn’t realize that this was Andie’s first night on the job. And because she humped him in front of everyone, he assumes that she’s done that with other men. And then they have sex and he doesn’t hold back, he’s kind of rough. So some of his internal dialog at this point really bothered me – him acting that he doesn’t need to treat Andie with respect (in his mind, this means not having rough sex with a woman) because he thinks she’s a sex worker?

And, afterward, he’d convinced himself that his behavior wasn’t out of line with a woman who worked as a lap dancer.

Nope, sorry buddy, you don’t get a free pass on that one.

Although I finished reading Miss July, I couldn’t get over the hero’s attitude.

I’m giving this one a 1.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.