Dirty Charmer

Another amazing read by Emma Chase. Tommy and Abby are perfect together. From their first meeting in the hospital when he reaches up and grabs her and kisses her I knew their story was going to be explosive. They meet again when he is hired to protect her for a short time. He doesn’t make his feelings for her known until the last day since he never gets involved with a client. Once they finally do get together she makes him understand that it is just a “friends with benefits” type of thing. She doesn’t have time for a relationship. She has too many things to accomplish and too many people’s expectations to live up to. Her grandmother being one. High expectations are put on her since all the rest of her siblings are so successful. Heck even her nieces are adding to the pressure. Her career is most important and she does not need any distractions to keep her from accomplishing them. But sometimes what we want and what our hearts want are two very different things. Can she find a balance between her career, a relationship with Tommy and her family expectations? Tommy is amazing. He shows Abby how to let loose and let go. She is able to relax with him. She can talk to him, their sex life is off the charts and she just really likes being around him. Somehow the pressures she felt before him now aren’t so strong. She still loves being a surgeon but she also enjoys spending time with him and stopping to smell the roses of life. Dirty Charmer is one story that will make you see how you can have it all if only you let go a little and enjoy what life has to offer. Also to make others understand you are in charge of your own life. They might have expectations for you but only you can accomplish what you want and feel is what you need to be happy. You are in charge of your own happiness.

Dirty Charmer is an opposites not only attract romance but a topical insight into the classist system which unfortunately still exists in the modern-day. Tommy and Abby initially meet when Tommy is recovering from a serious injury in hospital, Abby being an attending physician. From the beginning, it was as if their souls cried out to each other. So when Tommy is hired to guard Abby for a few weeks, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to get under her skin, although his personal code of conduct prevents him from truly pursuing her until his contract ends. Abby has a lot of suppressed emotions and desires due to her upbringing; her family are exceptional and she struggles with feelings of inadequacy and belonging. Abby’s greatest wish is to make her family proud, sadly, she doesn’t see herself clearly and the aloofness of her family only exasperates the problem. An unusual opportunity presents itself when Abby is told she needs to find an outlet for her stress – can you guess what that outlet is – why – yes -TOMMY!!!! As with all arrangements of convenience, the emotional entanglements soon add to Tommy and Abby’s interactions. Unfortunately, with the class divide between Tommy and Abby, there is an uneasy tension from both families which Tommy and Abby have to navigate. Especially when the tension comes in the form of coercion and threats. However, the biggest barrier to finding a happily ever after together comes from Abby herself, having to deal with a major shift in the way she had her life planned and her preconceived notions about having a career and a family of her own. I loved how Abby and Tommy complimented each other on so many levels, providing the other with the things they didn’t know they needed until they had them ❤

4 stars — I totally didn’t realize this was a spin off from the Royally series! That made my heart happy, and honestly I don’t know why Wessco in the blurb didn’t clue me in, but I guess I just wasn’t thinking. It was great to get glimpses of the other happy couples in this one, but it was mostly focused squarely on Tommy and Abby. I had a hard time concentrating on this one, and I honestly can’t figure out why, because I enjoyed it…it just didn’t suck me in for reasons unknown. I’m going to call it COVID brain and leave it at that… Tommy was definitely a blue collar, filthy mouthed, unapologetic rake. But the kind you can’t help but love for some reason. He has great intentions, and deep inside he’s a very caring guy. He’s just the kind of guy who has been happy in the state of his life up until a certain redhead turns his head. He’s very guy-guy, without the toxic parts of masculinity if that makes sense. He’s incorrigible. He’s sex-focused. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a lot more going on, and a lot more to provide. Abby was one of the first characters that is described as high strung and buttoned up who genuinely seemed that way even to me. She had all these expectations, some from her family, but most placed on her shoulders by herself. It broke my heart to see her killing herself for something that I’m not sure she actually wanted. Which is not the being a surgeon part — you could feel her passion for that. It was the needing to be the best of the best that wasn’t really her. It was nice to see Tommy bring out the hidden fiery side of her. They complemented one another so well, in a way only opposites can sometimes. They brought balance to each of their personalities. I loved that they enjoyed the opposite sides of one another, and generally didn’t want to change that about the other. I kind of like that they really did have a bang buddy arrangement, and that while they liked each other, the arrangement wasn’t an excuse…they were genuinely enjoying one another, and it just developed into more. That was unique and I appreciated that. The pacing of this romance was so unlike what I’m used to reading. We got to see a HUGE passage of time, at multiple instances, and I wasn’t expecting that. Strangely it helped me feel more confident in the feelings they had developed for one another, and for the growing they each needed to do on their own. But I was also thrown off by it — so it was both a pro and a con in the story for me. I loved that they both had challenging families, in opposite ways…and that they both had great friends supporting them in the background. And I can totally see some other stories being set up from this one — that makes me so excited! All in all it was exactly what I always know I’ll get from Ms. Chase, and it was delightful. I can’t wait until my brain gets back on track, because I am totally checking out the audiobook for my reread.