I think I'm in the minority here, but Stripped Bare did not do it for me. Finn is a serious d-bag for most of the book, and Macey put up with him.

Macey is a single mother who has just blown her earnings at a blackjack table in Vegas. First of all, hold up, what kind of single mother with a daughter to support really would take a chance with her paycheck and gamble it away?!? Not a very good mother in my mind. I'm sorry, but that's just insane. If you have mouths to feed, regardless of how much or how little money you have, you do not take a chance and blow said earnings gambling. OK, rant over. Yes, I think she's ridiculous for blowing her money gambling. Aside from that, she's not a horrible heroine. She loves her daughter and up to that point she had tried her best, even if she wasn't that successful at giving her daughter a good life. And that daughter is adorable!! She's the best part of Stripped Bare, actually. Her parents suck, but Morgan is awesome.

Now onto our "hero" and yes, hero is in quotes because he's not very heroic, at least not for most of the story. Finn sees Macey at the blackjack table and does the whole Pretty Woman thing on her. He proposes that for a week of her time, all of her time, he'll pay her then they'll never see each other again after the week is done. But, he doesn't treat her well during that time. Nope, he's a complete ass to her, condescends to her, treats her like the whore he apparently thinks she is even though he claims to not think she is, insults her, and is so hot and cold with her that I'm surprised she didn't get whiplash. And yet, somehow Macey puts up with it, and to go even further, actually falls in love with him. Yuck. Why, why, why?!? She deserves much better than Finn, that's for damn sure.

Anyway, Stripped Bare had the potential to be really sexy and even emotionally satisfying, it just fell short. I normally like Heidi McLaughlin's writing, but Stripped Bare just isn't for me I guess.

If I had to summarize "Stripped Bare" I would say that it is hot and dirty - in the best way possible ;) It is difficult to romanticize a stripper, to turn her into a heroine. But Heidi McLaughlin does a perfect job of creating a heroine that you can not only like but sympathize with. As for the hero? Well, I'm pretty sure that the cover says it all. But just in case any of you had your doubts, let me just say that Finn is as raw and sexy as they come. Is he likeable? NO! Is he the guy that you find yourself fantasizing about in secret? Absolutely YES! So if you're looking for something to spice up your day/night and help you escape the boredom of your everyday life, then this is definitely the book to turn to.

Macey Webster is a single mom who is trying to make ends meet while living with her junkie mother and her 10 year old daughter. There is nothing that she wouldn't do to give her daughter a better life, a safe and secure future. She is working as a waitress and as a stripper and she is barely making ends meet. So when a girl at the strip club suggests that she go and work in Vegas for a week to make real cash, she accepts. Knowing that she might even have to consider going the extra step and having to sell herself to make more money. But when the temptation to gamble and double her money takes ahold of her good sense and she ends up losing everything that she earned, she ends up having to accept the offer of the last man that she ever thought she would run into.

Finn McCormick comes from a rich family, but with his sharp mind and ruthlessness he has made a name for himself in the casino business in Vegas and is now a millionaire in his own right. He works and lives hard and makes no excuses. The last thing he wants is a serious relationship. He just wants someone who knows the rules and just wants to have a good time like him. When he sees the dire straits that Macey is in, he decides to step in and help her - for a price of course. After all, they have a history and she just seems like the perfect woman to spend a passionate week with. A week full of limitless and dirty fun.

A steamy read that will fog up the screen of your kindle! Don't say that I didn't warn you. Hope that Finn's friends will also have their own books!

2.75 stars

Where to start with this.. well first off " Pretty Woman" it is not. I liked the author's previous books. The cover was ok in a generic abs guy in a towel way.

While billionaire books are overdone it can be done in a funny not cliche way, thing is this hero is a big no. Finn is an ass a majority of this it grated on me, talk about insulting. The heroine I don't know where to start. I'm usually picky on heroines but I just can't with her. I mean after all she's gone through that's what she does? Simply put I can't connect with either one of them and couldn't really much care for either.

The writing is okay but I felt that it wasn't as strong as her others. The plot well it had reality aspect to it. But ultimately the disconnect I felt made me question how much I really how I felt. It was a pretty quick read I really just wanted to know the ending at some point. It would have been better if the characters were more likable.

Macey Webster is single mom and just trying to make enough money to get away from her alcoholic mother and make a better life for her daughter. Waiting tables during the day and stripping at night, is barely feeding them, no less helping them get out of the slums. So when one of the stripper at her club tells her about stripping in Vegas and how much money she can make… Macey is all in.

But once she gets to Vegas, it ends up being not as easy as her friend told her. She has one week to try and make as much money as she can and then head home. So on the last day, not having made as much as she wanted, Macey takes a gamble and ends up losing in the the worst way. Now broke once again, she doesn’t know what to do.

Finn McCormick is Mr. Vegas. One of the youngest casino owners, he could rule Vegas. He never expected to run into Macey Webster (although he couldn’t remember her name.) from back home. It had been years since he last saw her. Watching her lose over 10K at one of his tables, he goes down to talk to her. He’s able to recognize that she’s a stripper by the way she’s dressed and surprises him. But she’s just the person he needs for this next week, so he may be able to help her out.

Think “Pretty Woman” but as a second chance romance. Heidi has a way of making characters that grab a hold of you, in both good and bad ways — always making you fall in love and want more from them. Another great story from Heidi!

Stripped Bare initially reminded me a lot of the movie, Pretty Woman.  However, as the characters (or maybe just the author) found their groove within each other's lives became it's own plot and it was awesome.

Macey is a young single parent who is struggling to do better for herself and her daughter. When she hears that there are financial opportunities for strippers in Las Vegas, she decides to leave for a week.

Nothing turns out as she expects. Especially running into Finn, a man very much tied to her past and possibly her future.  And when he purposes a deal that will set her up, there is no way she can refuse him.

The storyline unfolds as you can imagine - Finn and Macey share unbelievable chemistry and their lust for one another leaves them desperate for each other.  But their secrets and trust issues make it difficult for them to truly move forwards even though they both crave a future with the other.

It's an entertaining and uphill battle for them to figure things out but it was highly enjoyable ride.  So my recommendation would be to check Stripped Bare out!

Heidi McLaughlin books tend to be hit or miss for me. I have to tell you, I am so in love with this book! I do not have enough words to tell you how much I enjoyed it.

Macey Webster is down on her luck and needs money in order to support not only herself, but her daughter Morgan as well. In order to do that Macey decided that stripping is the way to make the most money and still be able to be a mom. She is given the chance to go to Las Vegas for one week to make more money than she has ever made.

"I know it's not Morgan's fault, but I'm always wondering what it'd be like if I didn't have her, if I had made a different decision. The stark reality of my situation is that she saved me. I could've easily ended up like my mother or worse. And I love her too much to let her go. She's the reason I take my clothes off for men who want entertainment. Morgan is my everything."
~ Heidi McLaughlin, Stripped Bare (Vegas Billionaire #1)

Finn McCormick is a wealthy hotel/ casino owner. He happens to cross paths with Macey and all I can say is ---> What happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas.... Or better yet, what happens before Vegas will ALWAYS come back to haunt you!

"I'll double what you lost, in exchange for you being mine for one week."
~ Heidi McLaughlin, Stripped Bare (Vegas Billionaire #1)

Stripped Bare was not the story that I thought it would be. You would think that it would be about Macey going to Vegas for a week and falling in love with a billionaire. NOT TRUE! The twist that Stripped Bare had is what made the entire book for me!!! It was brilliant.

"For the past ten years I have wondered what he has been up to and now I know, and I'm about to find out a lot more about Finn McCormick."
~ Heidi McLaughlin, Stripped Bare (Vegas Billionaire #1)

Be ready for your heart to be full after reading this book! I so wish I could reread this book for the first time again.

"I don't deserve him. I never have, not even when he gave me a part of him to hold on to forever."
~ Heidi McLaughlin, Stripped Bare (Vegas Billionaire #1)

Thank you Heidi (and NetGalley) for allowing me to read Stripped Bare prior to its release! This is a total 5 star review for me!!! I cannot wait to see where this series goes. I am looking forward to more.

#LittleMiss #Ficks #Allure #TheAngryUnicorn

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Wow!!! I have a new favorite author. Stripped Bare was so much more than just a romance book- the characters were written with such emotion. Macey & Finn are old high school "friends" but Macey is a struggling working mom & Finn is a successful business man- they haven't seen each other in years.

I have to say I was surprised when I found out Macey's daughter was Finn's (I usually figure that kind of plot twist out a mile away ;) but the author did such a great job keeping the story focused on the present that I didn't think much about their high school hook up. The fallout from the reveal was such a great read.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series!

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Great story done by Heidi McLaughlin! Follow Finn & Macey, they met 10 years ago, but she was from the wrong side of the tracks! 10 years later she shows up at his casino, and he's hooked! But will her secret get out and ruin everything?
5+ stars for this story, Heidi wrote a great book here, pick up your copy today!! You won't be disappointed!!

Eeekk!!! Love love love this book very much!!! From the start up to the last, I was hooked!!! Finn and Macey are amazing!!! I sometimes want to punch Finn on how he treated Macey on some parts but the guy is hard to resist and I can't get mad to him in a long period of time. Anyway, overall, this book is just fantastic. And Brandy, I want to punch the living shot out of her every time I see her. Lol. This book is a must read! Loved it!

Single mother Macey has been struggling for a decade to make life better for her daughter, but with no education and no support system she isn’t getting anywhere. When waitressing doesn’t cut it, she routinely resorts to partial-nudity stripping to pay the bills. When an opportunity to take a week away from home and make some quick cash in Las Vegas presents itself, Macey sees a temporary reprieve. Things take a turn, though, when an impulsive decision leaves her destitute and worse off than she started and an old blast-from-her-past swoops in with an offer she can’t refuse.

Finn, a swank Vegas hotelier, and Macey grew up in the same hometown but hailed from vastly different socio-economic backgrounds and they didn’t interact much outside of a one-time hookup as teens. Finn barely remembers Macey, but he finds he wants to help her out when he runs across her desperate self on the floor of one of his casinos. He hasn’t got an altruistic bone in his body, though, so his “help” is an offer to pay her a considerable amount of money for a week’s work of sex and escort services.

If you’re giving Finn the side-eye here, you definitely should. He’s a misogynistic hypocrite who looks down on sex workers while patronizing their services at the same damn time. He thinks she’s trash for having sex for money, but he’s still better than her even though he’s paying for it. This book is told through alternating first-person POV and Finn’s POV is full of some egregious bullshit. Here, I’ll let him talk for himself:

“Right now, she’s dressed like a whore and when we have sex I want her dressed like a respectable woman, one worthy of my attention.”

(Why does she have to be dressed when you’re boning? Whatever, dude. He also makes a mental note to have her google him so that she can see what a big shot he is in Vegas and be suitably impressed. This dude’s ego is so fragile.)

“As a stripper, Macey was hot and fuckable. As a woman wearing little to no makeup, with her hair down and dressed presentably, she’s someone you take to bed and worship. I think I like stripper Macey better because this Macey is putting stupid romantic thoughts in my head that I don’t want there.”

(Oh no, he might humanize her and get the feels! A fate worse than death!)

“I may have dressed her up, provided her with expensive clothes, but deep down she’s still a stripper.”

(Stripping is an occupation, not a character trait. Being a douche canoe, though, that’s a character trait.)

“I can’t decide if I miss her p*ssy and tits, or if I actually miss Macey. I suppose at some point they go hand in hand, but the bottom line is I can’t be the man she deserves.”

(He really can’t be the man she deserves because she deserves someone who treats her like an actual human being and not a set of disembodied sex organs. Run away, woman! Run away!)

The entire premise of this romance is squicky as hell. A woman resorting to prostitution to house and feed her child is not fun and sexy. Finn may not know her particular motivation at the outset, but he knows about her impoverished background, can see her desperation with his own damn eyes, and knows she’s incredibly vulnerable but purposefully takes advantage of it because he wants to sleep with her. The power dynamic is way skewed.

Finn is also an unrepentant misogynist asshole and he in no way deserves any kind of happy ending. At one point in the story, Macey calls him out for the way he swings from extremes – one moment a nice guy and the next a total piece of shit. He acknowledges it but doesn’t vow to rein in his dickitude or anything crazy like that. There’s no grovel. There’s no apology. There’s no “Gee whiz, I guess sex workers ARE people” epiphany. Macey and her daughter deserved better.

Okay, I really don’t know what magic Heidi McLaughlin has up her sleeves, but every book I read of hers becomes an immediate favorite of mine. But this book took me to a whole other level. This is the first book in a long time where I couldn’t put it down and then wanted to stop because I wanted to drag it out. And then late one night, I had this crazy realization about the story and I was already book hungover and I was only at like, 60% point of the story.

Macey Webster is stripper and waitress in Spokane, Washington. Knowing she needs more money so she can support her daughter, Morgan, she takes the word of another dancer and heads to Vegas. She makes money but loses it on a chance encounter at a blackjack table. Enter Finn McCormick.

Macey’s character was one I really connected with. She is possibly one of the best characters I’ve ever read. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to reach through the pages and hug Macey. She broke my heart so many times. Easily one of the best written characters I’ve come across.

But things aren’t all sad for Macey. She’s intelligent, sharp-witted, and beautiful. Macey might not always be proud of the things she has to do to care for her child, but that doesn’t mean she shrinks away. Macey has worked hard and isn’t looking for handouts from anyone. Even when she should take help, Macey is determined to not.

Finn is really something else. I have a great appreciation for how the author wrote Finn’s character. Finn can be cold, insensitive, and then like a switch, he’s more caring and endearing. One of my favorite facets of Finn was that while, as readers, we can see he’s falling in love with Macey, it’s gradual. Others can see it. Macey and he don’t see it though. I liked this because I think it would have been unrealistic for Finn to not be himself anymore. Even as this story progresses and our characters evolve, Finn might see things with a different perspective, he is still himself.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I was truly sad to be done reading it because as much as this story shredded my soul, it also stitched it back together. Macey and Finn don’t have a conventional love story, but the greatest love stories can’t be put into a cookie-cutter box.

What would you do if you found yourself pregnant in High School and the father never reached out? Discover what happens when the past is confronted and old feelings resurface.

A story of love lost and found. A bit on the spicy side. For mature readers, 18+

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RXD4G4HJJ3AG4/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01HWKSBME

This book, for lack of a better word, was a little harsh. It was romantic in places, but it also felt a little gritty, a little on the less romantic side of things. Which, is ok if it is handled well, but a tough read if the overall feeling is that you are watching the lowest side of life.

I liked Macey, a lot. She was down on her luck, and she was struggling, but she was doing her best. That said, there were a few things that didn't seem true to me, and the way she met Finn, after losing all of the money she went to Vegas to earn, didn't seem very in character.

Finn on the other hand, was a jerk. And, while he gets better, it is never enough to over shine the initial impression of him as cold, and heartless.

I think, for me, this one suffered a little bit in the fact that there were some clear Pretty Woman parallels, Macey a stripper, Finn a rich casino owner who hires her for the week to accompany him places, with no other strings guaranteed. This is definitely a story we have heard before, and in this instance it did not work as well as it has in others.

The difference is, you liked the leads in Pretty Woman...but in this, Finn just came across like a jerk. He wasn't all that sympathetic and really doesn't seem like someone you want to get to know all that well.

As the story goes on, I didn't really warm up to Finn. I never really thought he was great, and I always found him to be rather harsh and cold.

I don't really recommend this book.

After meeting Andie and Roman in the first book in the 2 Lovers series, Text 2 Lovers, I knew I would be in a for a wild ride reading Hate 2 Lovers. And this book was so very witty! The banter was amazing, the humor was on point, and it was just such a fun ride! I do think you need to have read the first book to fully follow the story.

Stripped Bare by Heidi McLaughlin is the story of Macey a single mother who wants to give her daughter a better life. This book is sexy, will make you smile and tug at your heartstrings. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

What an amazing second chance at love story. Only the first chance never amounted to anything but a one night stand and a little something to remember Finn by for the rest of Macey’s life.

Struggling to make a life for herself and her daughter, Macey finds herself in Finn’s casino on the losing end of all her earnings. When Finn offers her the chance to earn it back, will she take it to make it up to her daughter.

Finn immediately recognizes Macey from his hometown, but cannot quite place how. The attraction he has towards her is so strong that he doesn’t want to let her go. Sometimes, what happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas, and Macey is one thing that Finn wants to keep there permanently.

This book had me wanting more through its entirety. I could not stop until I got to the end. Wonderful rollercoaster of emotions.

Macey has been struggling to get by these past 10 years after she became pregnant in her last year of high school. She is doing the best she can and has been quite reliant on her friends and mother to support her. Lately, however, her mother has become even less reliable and she is reluctant to leave her daughter alone with her.

Tired of living in poverty and worrying about her future, Macey decides to spend a week in Vegas freelance stripping. She is no stranger to this profession, it's one of her part time jobs that she has been doing to support herself and daughter Morgan. It's time she got out of her mother's home and made moves to enrol herself in college but to do this she needs money. One week in Vegas collecting much better tips will give her the opportunity to finance these changes she desperately needs.

Macey is glad she took a chance on Vegas, within days she has just about all the money she needs, until she makes a silly decision and finds herself back where she started. Even worse than that though is that it was in front of a guy she used to know from her home town. Finn. How humiliating to be hitting rock bottom in front of a guy she used to crush on, who is now a successful millionaire.

Finn recognises Macey from his old home town, can't remember her name but he can see she needs help so he makes her a proposition that will help him out and give her the money she needs. This is why Macey spends another week in Vegas, she feels so much guilt over leaving her daughter for so long but she has to do this if they are ever to have a chance at a different life.

The week that Macey spends with Finn is like nothing she could of imagined, it was like living in a bubble - complete escapism and bucket loads incredible sex. On Macey's side though there was also a hell of a lot of feelings involved, confusing feelings of falling for someone she knew she could never keep - a life she could never have. If would be fair to say that her experience with Finn was life changing.

In a split second your life can be tipped upside down, Finn discovers that when Macey leaves and Macey faces it too when Finn comes knocking on her door in her home town. It's time for some truths to come out...

3.5 stars

Stripped Bare drew me in from the first page and held my interest until the last.
The storyline was entertaining, the characters were likable, at times a little frustrating and they had me a fanning myself with their chemistry!

Overall, Stripped Bare is a hot and steamy read with characters that will entertain you while they go after their HEA.

Stripped Bare is the first book in the Vegas Billionaire series by Heidi McLaughlin, looking forward to reading more of this series in the near future.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy.

I loved this book. I liked how strong Macy was and how she would do whatever she needed to in order to take care of her daughter. Finn was also a strong man, and I admired how he stuck to his word where Macy was concerned. When Macy's secret was revealed, I was glad that Finn stepped up and admitted what happened had nothing to do with him, but that he wouldn't let her daughter go without. I loved how they resolved everything. Great book.
I received an ARC, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.