ARC Review – The First Rule of Hook-Ups by Nina Crespo

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The First Rule of Hook-Ups by Nina Crespo
Published by Entangled Publishing LLC (Brazen) on November 12, 2018
Pages: 220
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Someone once told me that there are worst things than being left at the altar. Well, not many, in my experience. That was six months ago, though, and my life has moved on. Heck, I have a new job lined up and I'm leaving town.

But, I can't deny that my love life kind of sucks.

That’s why I let my friends convince me to join them for Club Escapade’s Breakup Bash. And we might just be disillusioned enough to actually enjoy it. Last time we were here, it was for my bachelorette party. That night, I met one of the dancers – Raphael – and when he flirted with me, I almost forgot I was engaged. And there's a part of me that never forgot him.

Now, it seems my friends have wandered off and I’m thinking about calling it a night. Until the music begins and I see Raphael, my secret fantasy, on stage. And this time, I’m definitely not engaged...

Alexa was left at the altar by her fiance six months ago, and she’s finally ready to move on. Her first step is to attend the Breakup Bash with her girlfriends – a huge public celebration at a dance club, complete with themed drinks, loud music, and strippers. She’s looking forward to a good time, but she wasn’t expecting one of the strippers to be the same stripper she lusted after at her engagement party several months ago.

For his part, Rafe isn’t planning on stripping at the Breakup Bash. He’s actually part owner of the club now, no longer a dancer, and he doesn’t want to go backward. But a horrible traffic jam delays the strippers he does have scheduled, so he doesn’t have a choice. He goes on stage and is shocked to see the same woman he danced for several months ago in the audience again. (We’ll move on from the coincidence of Alexa, who doesn’t frequent strip clubs, happening to see Rafe dance the only two times he dances in almost a year).

This was a quick, fun read. Alexa and Rafe were hot, and I appreciated that for the most part, they treated each other like equals. If there was a misunderstanding, a conversation cleared it up pretty quickly. Until they didn’t, which was really my only gripe with the book. They were pretty good at talking about everything, but when the man who left Alexa at the altar, Brad, reappears (because of course he does), Rafe instantly fell for Brad’s bullshit and just ghosted Alexa. It seemed a little out of character, even taking into account his baggage about his own ex.

But fortunately for Rafe and Alexa, Rafe’s best friend, Shannon, was there to verbally smack him upside the head and bring him around, though I was annoyed that he even needed that. He should have known better than to fall for Brad’s crap, especially when Alexa was right there telling him that he was wrong.

Overall, though, this was a fun, quick read. I haven’t read a lot by Nina Crespo, but what I have read has struck me similarly – fun, quick, but nothing revolutionary or new.

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