Member Reviews
Let me start out by saying I loved this book! I might even go as far as to say that it was better than the first! Clay was an amazing character, yes he was a jerk at first but he had his reasons. Slowly though, he began to show his true colors and once he did I fell in love with him- there really is no way you could not. He is sweet, loving, protective, and totally amazing!!! Yes, his plan to get “revenge” on Natalie is bit outrages, which seems to be a trait in the Price brothers, but it takes the story to an entirely different level.
I loved Natalie’s character just as much as I loved Clay’s. She was sweet, selfless, and a complete sweetheart. I loved that she was so open and caring. I do wish Natalie would have had words with her dad but that might be just me wanting to stand up for the injustice brought to Natalie and Clay by her dad. Her and Clay together were just a goo-goo fest of love and sweetness. I really enjoyed that Clay and Natalie were IT for each other. They were the only people the other one thought about. It was romantic and they just fit together.
It was great to catch up on Boone and Ivy and the rest of the Price brothers. You also get to meet Lexi, Natalie’s best friend that is just a riot! Be prepared though, there is quite a shock towards the end of the novel that just knocks you on your butt. So, get ready for that.
All in all, I loved this book- how could I not? Jessica Clare never lets me down! She always writes wonderfully and her characters are always complex and emotionally charged. This is such a great read for any one that loves Clare or sweet (but also steamy) romances. I can’t wait for the rest of the brothers to get their stories.
Dirty Scoundrel by Jessica Clare is the second story in her Roughneck Billionaires series. It's also the first story of hers that I've read, part of my quest to read more new to me authors this year (though she'd been on my to-read list for a while). The series name gives a good hint as to the background plot, that of poor 'wrong side of the tracks' brothers who strike it rich with a surprise find of oil on their land. Dirty Scoundrel is a second chance romance with a side of revenge, but if revenge is a dish best served cold it's doomed to fail in this hot and sexy story.
Seven years ago, Clay Price had been in love with Natalie Weston with plans to propose. He knew he was probably not the sort of man her famous movie star father would approve of as a son-in-law, with empty pockets but a sincere heart. But somehow, things had gotten twisted all around and he and Natalie had broken up instead, with Clay believing that Natalie had been playing him for a fool all along. He headed off to follow in his father's footsteps on an oil rig and put Natalie out of his mind, though she still claimed a piece of his heart. Clay's come home now, a wealthy billionaire with his four brothers, all of whom control Price Brothers Oil. He's got money, he's got success, but it's not enough.
Where things have gone well for Clay, they haven't gone so well for Natalie. Her father suffered a stroke on the night that she and Clay broke up, unbeknownst to Clay. While he thought she'd headed off to college and forgotten him, she'd in fact stayed behind to care for her father, discovering that he'd spent most of his money and leaving her to find a way to make ends meet. Natalie had turned their ranch house into a museum with memorabilia from her father's films, but it's starting to get run down, and the medical bills are racking up.
Clay decides that if being nice doesn't get him what he wants, then he'll have to be ruthless. To that end, when he discovers the circumstances Natalie is in, he offers her a deal. If she'll agree to be at his beck and call as his 'personal assistant', he'll pay all her outstanding bills and arrange for home care for her father so that she can be free to spend her days and nights with Clay. Natalie knows she can't afford to turn Clay down, and reluctantly agrees to his blackmail. The sweet and caring man she knew has been replaced by a cold, hard, arrogant one. But the passion between them burns just as bright as it once did. Can it lead them back to love?
This romance straddles the line between a contemporary romance and a new adult romances for me based on the characters and their actions. When they are first together they are seventeen and they've both just finished high school. While there are a couple of flashback scenes, the majority of the story takes place seven years later – which means they are twenty five, which seems pretty young for Clay to be a billionaire. The story is told in first person point of view, alternating between Clay and Natalie, and their general behavior and thought patterns are those of people in their twenties still finding their way. As well, Natalie has a best friend Lexi who runs a yoga studio and whom she texts with often. The text messages are yet another sign of the new adult nature of the story, as they write to each other more like teenagers than like older adults.
Interestingly, they are both still virgins. They'd not consummated their relationship in high school, fooling around but never having sex. Then when they'd broken up, Clay had put all his energy into his work and Natalie had found herself as caregiver for her elderly father (he was eighty when she was seventeen, and his last wife had abandoned him after his stroke). I was worried that in their first sexual encounter (which is hot by the way!) Clay would come across as too experienced for a self professed virgin. In fact, the author does a very good job of making them both hesitant but eager. For a 'ruthless' man, Clay doesn't do anything without Natalie's consent, and isn't afraid to ask her if he's doing things right (nor is Natalie shy to tell him what to do to make things better). For a little while they can forget the actual circumstances they have brought them together and indulge in their old feelings and the chance to make up for lost time. Once they start having sex, they're both pretty addicted to it and there are several steamy scenes throughout the story. Natalie doesn't have the figure she had in high school, and this makes her quite self conscious but to his credit, Clay couldn't care less that she's not as thin as she used to be. In his eyes, she just Natalie, and he's as attracted to her now as he was then.
As with most series that involve family members, there are several scenes with Clay and his brothers that show their close ties. He talks the most with his brother Knox who is his sounding board and gives Clay advice. Clay of course turns out to be not such a heartless fellow after all. In a variety of ways he surprises Natalie with little things that aren't part of their contract, signs of the boy with whom she once fell in love. I really like how the story unfolds as Clay realizes that his plan for revenge is failing miserably. There are some surprises that take the story in a more serious direction than I'd expected but drive Clay and Natalie to decide where their real future lies. Clay is definitely a roughneck, in language and actions, but is willing to own up to his mistakes and apologize which makes him solid hero material despite a questionable start. Though I think an older couple would have kept the story on firm contemporary romance versus new adult ground, Dirty Scoundrel is an enjoyable and sexy story and I definitely plan to continue the series.
This review has been posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link.
I actually enjoyed the first book in the series. Boone and Ivy's story wasn't perfect but I had a lot of fun reading it. Unfortunately, this book didn't really work for me. As much as I still adore Jessica Clare's writing style, I had a lot of issues with the characters and just the overall story.
The setup was typical for a second-chance romance. Clay and Natalie are in love in high school and are planning a life together. But Clay is from the wrong side of the tracks and Nat's father thinks he's not good enough for Natalie. So he "intervened" and the relationship between Nat and Clay died that same day. Fast forward to seven years after, Clay is now a billionaire and Nat is struggling. All their fortune is gone and her father is sick and needs caring. So Clay stepped in but not out of the kindness of his heart but because he wants to get back at Nat for rejecting him years ago. So that's basically the premise of the story.
My number one problem with it was how little agency the heroine has. I may have been able to excuse that if at the end of the book or during it, she gained a bit of autonomy and was able to make decisions for herself and not just reacting to what the hero is doing. But that didn't really happen. Natalie was basically just a pawn for Clay and her father.
Even during that time when Clay and Nat were in high school and their subsequent breakup, everything that Nat did was reactionary. Things happened to her instead of her affecting things within the story. She never did anything but react to her circumstances. I don't blame her for accepting Clay's offer because she has nowhere to go. It made me hate Clay too because he was basically playing with her. She was nothing but a pawn to him.
Another issue I had with it was how the thing with her father was easily resolved. There was a pivotal moment in the book that should've had a great impact where [Nat's father was hysterical and wanted Nat to come to him and Clay got upset. She changed her mind (which was the only time she ever did on her own, IMO) and went back to Clay and found out about the tragedy in Clay's family. Nat stood by Clay during his crisis and was there not just for him but the whole family. So what happened to her father who was waiting for her to come? I personally hated her father but that was still jarring to me because we didn't see any consequences to her choice. We found out it's okay so that heartstopping moment where she chose something was diminished somehow because the stake was taken away or swept under a rug. (hide spoiler)]
Also, I didn't really like Clay. He was wishy-washy throughout the book. He had all the agency in the world and yet it didn't make him interesting at least.
Overall, I can't say I would continue with this series. It's nothing personal but I just don't like reading about billionaire heroes who have all the power while the heroines have none. It was a fun trope before but it's starting to fall out of favor for me.
Such a fun and sexy story.If you have read the first book like me then you are going to enjoy this one too.
There are many things I liked about this story.One of them is that the characters are young.Also the fact that both characters doesn't have experience.Clay is fantastic,he is the perfect alpha male!There were some really hot moments between the main characters and some swooning moments.
If you are looking for a quick read with a great romance and scorching hot moments then this is definitely for you!
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Mary Jo – ☆☆☆
To me, the characters in this book just didn't "click." The premise of the story is a tried and true one, but I find it hard to believe that in the days of social media and the internet that they hadn't at least looked each other up at some point during the past seven years.
Another sticking point for me is that as independent as Natalie is, that she agrees to Clay's outlandish offer. And Clay, a newly made billionaire, waits a long time after getting his money to go back and flaunt it to Natalie?
I wanted to like this book more than I did and I'm not sure if I will read they next one in the series.
3.75 stars--DIRTY SCOUNDREL is the second instalment in Jessica Clare’s contemporary adult ROUGHNECK BILLIONAIRES erotic, romance series focusing on the rags to riches Price Brothers of Texas-Boone, Clay, Gage, Knox and Seth. This is billionaire oil-man Clay Price, and Natalie Weston’s story line, DIRTY SCOUNDREL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Clay and Natalie) DIRTY SCOUNDREL follows the second chance romance between oil billionaire Clay Price and the woman who scorned our story line hero. Seven years earlier, high school sweetheart Natalie broke Clay’s heart after graduation when she sent her wealthy, movie star father to break up with the man she would always love. Fast forward to present day wherein Clay hopes to destroy the woman who pushed him out of her life but circumstances have changed and Clay sets about to seduce our heroine-in all the wrong ways. What ensues is the rekindling romance between Clay and Natalie, and the potential fall out as Clay’s lack of social finesse, and ‘open mouth insert foot’ actions hurt the woman he has never stopped loving.
Clay Price is desperate to break Natalie Weston. Told by Natalie’s father he would never be good enough for his princess daughter, Clay battled between head and heart. For seven years Clay has plotted his retribution and revenge against the woman that called to his heart but everything is about to backfire as Clay sets his plans into motion forcing a desperate and despondent Natalie to sign over her life. Natalie Weston has struggled since the day she pushed Clay Price out of her life. With her ailing father demanding all of her time, no money in the bank, and the creditors howling at the door, Natalie will accept Clay’s dangerous proposal even though it means setting herself up for further heartbreak and humiliation at the hands of the man she once loved.
The relationship between Natalie and Clay is one of second chances; a rekindling romance between high school sweethearts that was destroyed by the petty vindictiveness of an old man h*ll bent on controlling his young daughter’s life. It’s all about money and fame, and Clay Price had neither to offer the Hollywood star’s daughter. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate but I continue to struggle with the use of a certain four-letter word in romance story lines. Although we give words their power, I find the term is derogatory under all circumstances.
Clay’s treatment and demands of our story line heroine are reprehensible under the circumstances. Heartbroken and in pain, Clay continues to push at the woman who destroyed his heart making her feel more like a whore than the woman he loves. The contract demands everything in return for saving what’s left of Natalie’s home and her father’s life.
All of Clay’s brothers play secondary and supporting roles including Boone and Ivy (Dirty Money #1), Gage, Knox and Seth. We are also introduced to Natalie’s father- a man whose own fame and fortune was lost to greed, avarice, six ex-wives and illness. The oil business is dangerous and dirty-lives will be lost-some more heartbreaking than others.
DIRTY SCOUNDREL is an enemies to lovers/second chance story line between two people destroyed by one man’s ego and pride. The premise is engaging; the romance is controversial; the characters are dynamic and charismatic.
Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley
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Jessica Clare’s Dirty Scoundrel is the second book in her Roughneck Billionaires series. It's also the first novel of hers that I've read, part of my quest to read more new to me authors this year (though she'd been on my to-read list for a while). The series name gives a good hint as to the background plot, that of poor 'wrong side of the tracks' brothers who strike it rich with a surprise find of oil on their land. Dirty Scoundrel is a second chance romance with a side of revenge, but if revenge is a dish best served cold, it's doomed to fail in this hot and sexy story.
Seven years earlier, Clay Price had been in love with Natalie Weston and planned to propose. He knew he was probably not the sort of man her famous movie star father would approve of as a son-in-law, but while his pockets were empty, his heart was sincere. But somehow, things had gotten twisted all around and he and Natalie had broken up instead, with Clay believing that Natalie had been playing him for a fool all along. He headed off to follow in his father's footsteps on an oil rig and put Natalie out of his mind, though she still claimed a piece of his heart. Now a wealthy billionaire and, along with his four brothers, owner of Price Brothers Oil, Clay has come home. He's got money, he's got success, but it's not enough.
Where things have gone well for Clay, they haven't gone so well for Natalie. Her father suffered a stroke on the night that she and Clay broke up, and while he thought she'd headed off to college and forgotten him, she'd in fact stayed behind to care for her father, discovering that he'd spent most of his money and leaving her to find a way to make ends meet. Natalie turned their ranch home into a museum with memorabilia from her father's films, but it's starting to get run down, and the medical bills are racking up.
Clay decides that if being nice doesn't get him what he wants, then he'll have to be ruthless. To that end, when he discovers Natalie’s circumstances, he offers her a deal. If she'll agree to be at his beck and call as his 'personal assistant', he'll pay all her outstanding bills and arrange for home care for her father so that she can be free to spend her days and nights with Clay. Natalie knows she can't afford to turn Clay down, and reluctantly agrees to his blackmail. The sweet and caring man she knew has been replaced by a cold, hard, arrogant one. But the passion between them burns just as bright as it once did. Can it lead them back to love?
Based on the characterisations and actions of the principals, this romance straddles the line between the contemporary and new adult genres. When Natalie and Clay are first together, they are seventeen and they've both just finished high school. While there are a couple of flashback scenes, the majority of the story takes place seven years later – meaning they are twenty five, which seems pretty young for Clay to be a billionaire. The story is told in first person point of view, alternating between Clay and Natalie, and their general behavior and thought patterns are those of people in their twenties still finding their way. As well, Natalie has a best friend, Lexi, who runs a yoga studio and whom she texts with often. The text messages are yet another sign of the new adult nature of the story, as their messages to each other are more like those of teenagers than older adults.
Interestingly, while Natalie and Clay fooled around when they were first together, they never consummated their relationship in high school and are both still virgins. After they broke up, Clay put all his energy into his work and Natalie had found herself as caregiver for her elderly father (he was eighty when she was seventeen, and his last wife had abandoned him after his stroke). I was worried that in their first sexual encounter (which is hot by the way!) Clay would come across as too experienced for a self-professed virgin, but in fact, the author does a very good job of making them both hesitant but eager. For a 'ruthless' man, Clay doesn't do anything without Natalie's consent, and isn't afraid to ask her if he's doing things right (nor is Natalie shy to tell him what to do to make things better). For a little while they can forget the actual circumstances that have brought them together and indulge in their old feelings and the chance to make up for lost time. Once they start having sex, they're both pretty addicted to it and there are several steamy scenes throughout the story. Natalie doesn't have the figure she had in high school, and this makes her quite self-conscious but to his credit, Clay couldn't care less that she's not as thin as she used to be. In his eyes, she’s simply Natalie, and he's as attracted to her now as he was then.
As with most series that involve family members, there are several scenes with Clay and his brothers that show their close ties. He talks the most with his brother Knox, who is his sounding board and gives him advice. Clay - of course - turns out to be not such a heartless fellow after all. In a variety of ways he surprises Natalie with little things that aren't part of their contract, signs of the boy with whom she once fell in love. I really liked how the story unfolds as Clay realizes that his plan for revenge is failing miserably. There are some surprises that take things in a more serious direction than I'd expected but which drive Clay and Natalie to decide where their real future lies. Clay is definitely a roughneck - in language and actions - but is willing to own up to his mistakes and apologize, which makes him solid hero material despite a questionable start. Though I think an older couple would have kept the story on firm contemporary romance versus new adult ground, Dirty Scoundrel is an enjoyable and sexy story and I definitely plan to continue the series.
Buy Now: A/BN/iB/K
Dirty Scoundrel is the second book in the Roughneck Billionaires series that is a standalone and a second chance romance.
Clay and Natalie are high school sweethearts. Clay has plans to propose to Natalie after meeting her father, Chap Weston, a former and very famous actor. What he doesn't know is that Chap has plans to break these two up.
Clay is left feeling that he isn't good enough for Natalie and that's why she broke up with him. Natalie is left feeling angry because she thinks Clay is breaking up with her because she wants to go to college and he just wants her to be stay at home wife focusing solely on his needs. Before the matter can be cleared up, Chap has a stroke the night everything blows up.
7 years later and Clay and his brothers are now billionaire's from striking oil. When an employee dies at one of their dig sites, Clay realizes he needs to seize the moment and what he wants to seize is Natalie. He's still angry about the way she ended things so he thinks he can use his billions to buy her to get her out of his system.
This was a strange but cute story. I liked the role reversal of the poor man turned rich and the rich girl turned poor part of the story. Both characters were likable and I wanted to see them together. Clay is not my usual type of Hero but I found that I still really liked him. He was just so nice you can't hate him. Even when he lets his brother talk him into being a scoundrel, it just doesn't work because it isn't who he is.
There is a lot of miscommunication between these two but that's the reason they are separated for 7 years and almost lose out on their second chance. Because of the poor background for Clay and his brothers, I did cringe a lot when the work ain't was used throughout the book. Overall, it was entertaining and I would be interested to read the other brothers stories.
***ARC Provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley***
3.5 Stars
Billionaires are, well, billionaires. They are suave, they are sophisticated, they live in mansions and they eat caviar.
At least that is the stereotype. And, then you meet the Price brothers. They are a different kind of billionaire...the kind that still live in the trailers where they grew up, or where they lived before they struck it rich.
And, they are so fun. They are different and there is an appeal to each story as they are different and they feel more accessible for this "normalcy"...even though they are a little rough around the edges.
Clay and Natalie were together when they were younger, and they split up after being manipulated by her father, which you learn very early in the story. And, well, Clay is not over Natalie and this makes him angry (although they don't know there was manipulation until later in the story) and, well, now he has money and he knows he can make people do what he wants in order to get access to that money.
I enjoyed this book overall, it was fun. There were parts of it that were a little over the top and while they did not totally work for me, I think they were intentional on the part of the author.
I recommend this title and I am looking forward to the next one in the series.
Wasn’t the book for me…
I was really excited about Jessica Clare’s Dirty Scoundrel. I liked the twist on the Billionaire theme. Usually, I stay away from billionaire romances simply because they aren’t my cup of tea. However, the twist on this group of brothers falling into wealth intrigued me. I’m also a huge sucker for the whole proposal plotline. Unfortunately, Clay was too irredeemable for me.
Dirty Scoundrel is a second-chance romance. Clay and Natalie broke up in high school after some harsh words are spoken. Years later, Clay Price wants to teach Natalie a lesson, and now that he has the money to do it, he makes his move.
I will say the foundation to the story was a bit shoddy. It relies on a miscommunication, and I felt it made some parts too implausible.
On the whole, I really liked Natalie. She’s had a tough time of it, and the hits just kept coming. Sure, she doesn’t always make the right decisions, but I could tell she felt bad for them, and I really wanted her to have some happiness!
Clay, on the other hand, rubbed me the wrong way. Dude sent up so many mixed signals! He's rumored to be the “nice guy,” but he switched quickly to this fascination on being “hard” and “ruthless.” It didn’t jibe.
Then came my deal breakers.
So, Natalie grew up the daughter of an entertainment icon with wealth at her fingertips, while Clay and his brothers grew up in poverty. Now, Clay is this business mogul with money to spend, while Natalie’s in a rough patch. The reversal is used by Clay in such a way that it sent up red flags for me. Especially when he mentions that his new money allows him to get what he wants as far as Natalie is concerned.
I kept reading, thinking he'd redeem himself. Cue a few pages later when Clay relates his plan to his entire family, and they all have a good laugh at Natalie’s expense. His brother even condones Clay's behavior saying, "hey, we never claimed to be nice guys."
Hard pass.
With current events being as they are, this is simply a personal line for me. I don't want to read about this hero. He might have gotten better as the pages went on, but this was simply a case of the book not being for me in my current headspace.
2 stars.
Wonderfully entertaining! Sexy yet heartfelt, mischievous and sweet. Original and engaging.
Holy hot roughneck! I fell hard for Clay Price and his inability to be ruthless and cold because nothing could ever change the fact that his heart belonged to Natalie Weston. Not the fact that she turned down his marriage proposal via her father when he was fresh out of high school, not the seven years it’s been since he saw her and certainly not the millions upon millions he’s now worth after he and his brothers struck black gold. I fell for this bearded sexy, swoony and a bit dirty man who’s determined to get his girl no matter the cost or the completely wrong approach he decided to take.
After she pushed Clay away, life would never be the same for Natalie. Love took a backseat to other more important priorities until seven years later when he came back. But the moment he presents his proposal her hopes wither once more because he’s not the same love struck boy she dated. He’s now a ruthless billionaire who’ll save her from bankruptcy in exchange for her.
Even though Clay’s approach to getting what he’s always wanted, which was Natalie, was absolutely the wrong way to go about it, I couldn’t help but fall for this very caring, thoughtful and guileless man. He’s a very original kind of hero in the romance genre. He’s a bit rough around the edges but his love for Natalie is absolute. It was clear he never stopped loving her and mostly they needed to grow up a bit and learn to communicate.
Just like his brother Boone, this incredibly sexy billionaire is almost too naïve, acting before thinking, throwing money around to get what he wants without apology.
If you look up demure, Natalie’s portrait would most likely show up. She’s modest and shy, understanding and forgiving and she loved Clay just as much as he did her. I really enjoyed watching these two characters come full circle and find their happy ever after.
There was sweetness and sexiness, a bit of drama and genuine heartache. I laughed and smiled and fanned myself and now I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
Dirty Scoundrel is book #2 of the Roughneck Billionaires series by Jessica Clare. It is a standalone contemporary romance told from both points of view with a happy ending.
“I ain’t cut out to be a scoundrel. All I know how to do is be in love with you.”
You know, I’m trying to think of the best way to describe Dirty Scoundrel by Jessica Clare, and the first word that comes to mind is eccentric. Which is pretty accurate, when I think about it.
This is fun ride. It’s one of those books which makes me think I should maybe . . . probably . . . kind of abhor the hero, Clay, and his actions at first, but actually ended up finding them to be somewhat sweetly misguided. I mean, yeah, he starts off as a bit of a jerk, but the way Ms. Clare gives his inner conflict voice is quite charming, highlights his (many) flaws, and makes him a little more forgivable.
And definitely redeemable. Which is why I couldn’t seem to put this one down. I love how left of center these Roughneck Billionaires are. The Price brothers are unabashed rednecks, but they’re also good people. Okayyyyy, maybe not always, but their hearts come across as being in the right place, and that makes me feel a little warm and smooshy inside.
Which is a feeling I carried through much of this book. Natalie’s kind heart, forgiving nature and quirky friendship with Lexi certainly brought it on, as did Clay’s bickering, fighting, teasing relationship with his brothers. The way Clay and Nat skirted around each other even managed to bring it on—even as, sometimes, I wanted to roll my eyes at them.
Look, I feel like this one is not going to be for everyone. It’s crazy hot and a little bit silly—though there are one or two touching, emotional moments—but it’s also chockful of rough speak, crude remarks and questionable morals. And for me, it worked. It captured and held my attention. It made me laugh and feel good. It certainly brought my sanity into question at times.
And, ultimately, it all boiled down to one word, said with affection for this book and series: eccentric.
Thought I could be ruthless. A scoundrel.
I’m clearly an idiot, ‘cause right about now, all I want is to comfort Natalie and prove how much I love her. That I ain’t never stopped lovin’ her.
~ 4.5 Indecent Proposal STARS ~
The Roughneck Billionaires series by Jessica Clare has taken me by surprise. Dirty Scoundrel added to that surprise for sure!
Now, let me start with my 2 issues with the story. First, the trope is one of my LEAST favorite: miscommunication. Clay and Natalie were high school sweethearts until a miscommunication tears them apart. Now seven years later, Clay wants revenge. Which brings me to my next issue: Clay was an immature douche canoe for the first 30% of the book. He is so determined to get snooty Natalie to beg him for help and then crush her like a bug. Its not attractive.
With those things out of the way, the story got better for me. I loved that Ivy and Clay's brothers had a hand in attempting to help Clay. Natalie is dealing with a lot: her father is ailing, they have no money, and she has given up everything (Clay, college, a life) to take care of her dad. Her dad? Serious douche canoe. Hell, he is kind of a douche yacht! But, he is her dad and no matter what that isn't something she can turn her back on. Despite what Clay thinks of her, she is very kind hearted. I understood Clay's hurt as well (I wasn't thrilled about his reaction). These two made me sad! You realize how much they missed out on because of that one miscommunication!
Throw in Natalie's super strange BFF with the wackiness of Clay's family and you have some levity to Dirty Scoundrel that makes it a mix of heartbreak and joy! The twist near the end completely surprised me and changed the trajectory of the series for sure!
Finally, a note about the narrators of Dirty Scoundrel, Rudy Sanda and Chandra Skyye. I have long loved Chandra Skyye so I know that any book she narrates will be good. Rudy Sanda was a new to me narrator. He has the southern Texas twang down pretty well. I worry sometimes because narrators try to hard. However, this was well done!
Link live on release day!
Back then Clay was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and deemed no good for her, but now the tables have been turned, so to speak, he's filthy rich and she is the one living paycheck to paycheck. Seven years ago Natalie had big plans to attend Stanford and make something of herself, but then life happened and now she finds herself dressing up like a character from a old movie and baking cookies at her father's museum. Not at all the life she had planned... but that is all about to change when a certain sexy billionaire wanders back into her life and makes her a deal she can't refuse...
Letting Natalie go was the hardest thing that Clay has ever had to do, if he had gotten his way back then they would be married now, and have a few babies to fawn over, instead he is alone and constantly thinks about where he went wrong with her. He knows that the man he was then is a far cry from who he is now, this time he can give her all the things her father wanted for her, and he wants nothing more than to make that a reality... he just has to convince her to give him a shot!
Dirty Scoundrel is sizzling little tale that kept me captivated until the wee hours of the morning... I just could not walk away from these two and their enticing little adventure! Their story had many moments that made me swoon, many moments that squeezed my heart, and many moments that made me smile... it was such an enjoyable read! Highly recommend this one, it is a well crafted romance read that is certain to leave your heart happy!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.
This was really good! I loved the characters and the storyline. The hero was awesome! I loved him from the beginning. This is the first book I've read from this author and it won't be the last!
Clay Price and Natalie Weston dated in high school. They loved each other and right after graduation Clay planned on asking Natalie to marry him. Clay, being a good guy, wanted to talk to Natalie’s father first, however. Natalie’s father, once a movie star – and a rich snob, was not a good guy and when he met Clay told him that Natalie was breaking up with him. The father then told Natalie some lies about Clay and that Clay had broken up with her. Dad’s plot to tear his daughter and her poor white trash boyfriend apart: Successful.
Seven years later Natalie, whose father planned on her going to Stanford, is barely scraping by while running a museum of her father’s memorabilia. She never went to college and now tries to run the museum out of their house while taking care of her father and his increasing dementia.
Clay is now a billionaire and still in love with Natalie - only he thinks of it as just lust. They had never slept together in high school and Clay is still a virgin. He puts together a plan to pay Natalie to be his “assistant” and be at his beck and call 24/7. Natalie is drowning in bills and is lonely and tired. She still loves Clay but doesn’t like the fact that she’s basically prostituting herself out to him. She has no choice but to agree.
Dirty Scoundrel was a cute book and I liked a lot of things about it. I loved the Price brothers and their camaraderie and obvious love for each other. I liked the flashes into Boone and Ivy’s life (from book 1, Dirty Money) that we got. I liked that the book had some highly emotional moments in it that were written very well. Unfortunately I’m not sure I loved Clay and Natalie. They weren’t bad people, but Clay acted like an asshole so many times that I wanted to hit him and I wanted Natalie to stand up for herself and have a bit more backbone! I realize that Clay was trying to act hard and play the scoundrel (hence the name of the book) so that he could "get back" at Natalie for dumping him, but there were times he shouldn't have been an asshole and he was anyway.
Clay wasn’t an asshole the whole time and there were times when I really liked the couple together but that wasn’t a constant. I know that Clay just didn’t know what to say to Natalie at times but he wasn’t an unintelligent at all and I think some of the things that the author had him saying were a bit much. IMHO he just wouldn’t have said half of it.
I was happy in the end that Clay and Natalie got their HEA and their life worked out together. I’m looking forward to reading more about the Price brothers and seeing what happens next.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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This was a great story. It is book 2 in the series and easily stands alone. The series is about a bunch of brothers who become super rich when they strike oil. This story is about brother Clay and his ex from high school Natalie.
After seeing a guy die who works for the brothers, Clay realises he needs to get over his love for his ex Natalie and so he hunts her down. Now 7 years later, Natalie was supposed to have a life but instead her dad got sick and broke and she has been trying to take care of him for years.
Until Clay offers her the deal of a lifetime, but she will have to work/have sex with him. I loved Natalie. She was a fantastic character who life has knocked around. Clay has loved only her for all these years and he just wants her and to be happy.
I really loved this story. It was sweet,romantic and fun with lots of family and friends thrown into the mix. Lots of sex scenes make for a very HOT book.There was one aspect of the story I found hard to believe but I am not spoiling what that was.
DNF at 30%
It's a struggle trying to even try to make it this far because the writing style also didn't quite mesh with me :/ I love the premise of the story; I'm a fan of angsty second chance romance and that was what I expected from the blurb. But I was disappointed to find that Clay and Natasha sounded exactly as immature as they did when they were teens, and Clay's supposedly ruthless plan to humiliate Natasha + getting her into his bed feels a bit rapey and didn't sit well with me.
Clay and Natalie are so perfect together, and despite the fact they thought they broke each other hearts seven years earlier, neither has moved on. That's right, we have dual virgins!!!!
While second chance books usually aren't my thing, I think of all the time wasted, and it makes me blech, for these two, they needed it. They needed to see what the world was like, they needed to mature, and they needed to realize they really were perfect for each other. This way, when they make mistakes, they react as grownups, and not new adults
Luckily they did re-connect because they are perfect together!
The tables have turned for Clay and Natalie; this once happy couple who broke up because of a misunderstanding years earlier when she broke up with him before college for reasons he did not really know about. Now that he sees her again, he wants to get her back, make her feel the hurt he felt back then. Clay knows she is down on her luck and broke, so he uses that to his advantage and decides he can punish her and have his way with her at the same time. I didn't care for this at first but kind of understood where he was coming from and why and luckily Clay does redeem himself. I ended up really liking him. He offers to help her financially if she agrees to be his in every way. One thing is for sure, they have incredible chemistry and are super hot and sexy together. This book is a well written fun and sexy story filled with great dialogue and even infused with some humor.
Can Clay & Natalie find the love they once had together and find their HEA even though they agree to go down this seriously unorthodox road?