New York’s Finest
Blogging as *The Socialmedialite*
April 22
LADIES AND GENTS! I have an announcement!
You know that guy I featured on my blog a few months ago? The really, really hot Irish rugby player who plays the position of ‘hooker’ in the RLI (Rugby League International)? The one with the anger management issues, the body of a gladiator and the face of a movie star? The one with the questionable fashion choices leading me to ask whether he was the lovechild of a leprechaun and a hobbit? Ronan Fitzpatrick? Yeah, that guy.
Well, I have a confession to make…
THE HERMIT
Annie Catrel, social media expert extraordinaire at Davidson & Croft Media and clandestine celebrity blogger, can make anyone shine in the court of public opinion. She is the Socialmedialite, anonymous creator of New York’s Finest and the internet’s darling. Virtual reality is Annie’s forte, but actual reality? Not so much.
THE HOOKER
Ronan Fitzpatrick, aka the best hooker the world of rugby has seen in decades, despises the media—social or otherwise. The press has spun a web of lies depicting him as rugby’s wild and reckless bad boy. Suspended from his team, Ronan has come to Manhattan to escape the drama, lay low, fly under the radar. Only, Ronan isn’t easy to overlook, and he can’t escape the notice of the Socialmedialite…
THE PLAN
When Ronan is sent to Davidson & Croft Media to reshape his public image, he never expects to cross paths with shy but beautiful Annie, nor does he expect his fierce attraction to her. He couldn’t be happier when her boss suggests pairing them together.
What lengths will Annie take to keep her virtual identity concealed? And what happens when the hooker discovers who the hermit really is?
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REVIEW
I was both super excited AND a wee bit nervous when I sat down to read this book… I LOVE me some Penny Reid…LOVE her, but I haven’t read any L. H. Cosway, so a mixture of the two was a bit of an un-known for me. Well there was no need to worry of course, everything was firmly under control. This pairing worked really well, the story flowed and was completely cohesive, while at the same time giving me plenty of glimpses of pure Penny Reid.
The story follows social media whizz Annie, a quiet, unassuming wallflower in her public life, while in her private life she is avid online personality Socialmedialite. Her blog is a big deal and she values her anonymity more than anything when it comes to it. She at the start comes across as extremely stand-offish and absolutely terrible at anything that requires her to interact with people in person. As the story progresses you do find out a lot more about why she is like this, her backstory is actually pretty heavy, but it does go a long way to explain why she’s like how she is. Her complete lack of friends did make me feel all kinds of sad though, every girl needs a bestie or two! However, on the flipside Annie online in her Socialmedialite persona is COMPLETELY different, which in this day and age is a very appropriate storyline. She blogs about celebrities and employs a cutting humor to get her point across, no matter who she could potentially offend. In her mind she can be what she describes as ‘her true self’ knowing that behind the computer screen no one can get under her skin…
Until, that is, an Irish rugby player by the name of Ronan comes along. Pretty soon the bad boy of rugby is rocking Annie’s safe little world. And OH he does it well! I loved Ronan. He really was the epitome of everything male. I LOVED his confident swagger, in fact his swagger dominated the book for me. (Which was a VERY good thing) The two characters balanced each other out really well, because without Ronan and his brash manliness I think the book would’ve been slower and not nearly as electric. He needed to be the in your face Irish guy to be able to drag Annie out from behind her keyboard and into the real world, and in fact it does take him more than a few tries to do so. I loved the banter and spark between these two, from the very first time he saw her eating pastry you just knew there was going to be chemistry leaping off the pages, and the way he approached her right there and then. Honestly, this is what I mean about him and his swagger.
The storyline was really entertaining. You expect there to be drama in this genre and there definitely is here in this story. I always love to see how the boy meets girl storyline can be turned into something different, which was definitely achieved here with barely a complaint from me. I have to say though, at one point near the end, while they were in Ireland I do remember feeling completely frustrated, more at Annie than Ronan, but generally at the both of them. It was just a flickering irritability, but it goes to show how fine the line is between acceptable levels of drama induced frustration and maybe a little too much drama induced frustration. Overall I found this book to be super entertaining and full of great humor. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes their menfolk a little rougher around the edges and their story to be full of wit and clever writing. If Penny Reid & L.H. Cosway ever write together again I’ll definitely be checking it out.
Thank you to the amazing Penny Reid for providing an ARC in return for an honest review
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