So I picked this up when I signed up for the ARC of book 2—A Simple Lie. This is part of a series and must be read in order to understand what's going on.

Even though this was a novella, I'm surprised by how well the plot was set and also the air of mystery surrounding the entire book. It all starts with Saoirse walking in on her boyfriend cheating on her, which leads to her hooking up with his stepbrother to get even. Over time, the two slowly strike a deal of sorts to work together to con rich men. Given her situation, she doesn't feel too bad about taking what she can from the rich, especially when they deserve it.

However, things change when their latest target—Xavier Atwood—walks into the strip club Saoirse works at. She tries her best to keep herself detached from the situation and treats Xavier as just a target but finds herself questioning everything when it comes to him.

Xavier Atwood has made a lot of mistakes and has worked overtime to turn his life around. His only regret now is his barely-there relationship with his son, whom he hasn't seen in a decade. This is how he seeks out Saoirse, as he thinks that she might have some connection to his son. But what starts off as a way for him to get to his son through Saoirse quickly turns into him feeling an undeniable pull towards her that he can't seem to ignore against his better judgment.

There were a lot of conflicting thoughts Saoirse had throughout the book as her feelings for Xavier got more complicated the longer she spent time with him. She did do what she needed to, but for the first time, she started questioning her actions because of Xavier and how he made her feel. Xavier also has his own secrets that he's kept from Saoirse, which I think we'll be getting into in future books, and I'm eager to find out more.

The spice was spicing so well, and the chemistry between these two was off the charts right from the moment they laid eyes on each other.

The plot kept building as the story progressed, and there's so much going on in the background that neither Xavier nor Saoirse is aware of, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and boyyyy, what a cliffhanger it was that I jumped right into the next book the next second.

What was one thing that kept bugging me, though, was

why didn't Xavier ever show Saoirse the photograph he had of her with his son? Wouldn't that have helped him figure out if and how she knew him when she told him that she didn't recognize his name as someone from town?