Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Love Coupon. Unfortunately, I was never able to get into it and I have no plans to rate or review it at this time.

Cute idea with the coupons in this opposite's attract romance and I liked how they did spend time doing things together so you could believe the relationship was about more than sex. However it was a wee bit boring - mainly because it was drawn out too long and it got to the point where i was just like isn't this over yet with a good third still to go. Would really benefit from a good story edit - to chop a good portion and tighten things up

This was enjoyable and well written and though the first time I tried to read this I stalled and just couldn't get into it I decided to give this another go and I am happy to report this second time was much better.
This is an opposite's attract, roommates with benefits type romance.
Tom O'Connell needs a temporary roommate: Flick Dalgetty is in need of a temporary room while she works off her notice before leaving for a new job in a fresh city.
The two are polar opposites in upbringing and also temperament.
Flick's family leave a lot to be desired and I hate how she has allowed them to take advantage of her generous nature I really wanted her to tell them where to get off and kick them to the kerb especially her waste of space mother and manipulative lazy sister.
Where Flick has been raised in chaos Tom's regimented childhood couldn't be more different his father a former military man has instilled in Tom the need for order and restraint.
Tom is all methodical and rigid Flick lives life at full speed ahead only pausing to briefly catch her breath.
I loved watching Flick's energy infect Tom as he gradually started to let loose slightly.
The two then started to bring out the best in each other: Tom was a rock that Flick could lean on in times of upset while Flick's spontaneity is something that Tom comes to appreciate.
This was well written and empathetic and I liked that Both Tom and Flick seemed real with flaws and all else.
I also really liked the coupon idea though it did come much later in the book than I was initially expecting.
Lastly, the couple from book 1 do make a brief appearance at the start of this but this a standalone read and you don't have to have read that to read this.
All in this was an enjoyable book.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Love Coupon (Stubborn Hearts, #2).

Anslie Paton is just such a fun author. I usually really enjoy her characters and the unqiue circumstance they find themselves in. This one for some reason isn’t my favourite of hers, however. I think that it is more to do with my connection to the characters than anything else.

This was cute but didn't quite do it for me. I didn't particularly like it a ton and I also didn't dislike it, hence the three stars. I'm open to reading this author again because I think the premise of the story was cute but didn't suck me in. Review not left on the blog since below four stars.

In “The Love Coupon” by Ainslie Paton we meet Flick Dalgetty, a very determined and ambitious young woman who needs a temporary place to stay and Tom O’Connell, who has a room for rent but hates chaos and likes everything in its place.
They seem like the answers to each others problem, except that they do not like each other very much. But could living under the same roof and a book of coupons change all that.
The book is a fun read as the two main characters realize that a little bit of glitter just might be what they need in their lives.

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley and this is my honest opinion.

Tom's best-friend and roommate has accepted a promotion and left town and he has left behind an empty room and a big hole in Tom's life. The thought of finding a roommate as easy to live with as Josh while he waits for his own promotion and salary bump fills Tom with dread but it is a necessary evil if he doesn't want to burn through his savings. He is sure however he doesn't want Flick as a roommate. She is just too much, too bright, too energetic, too loud, too everything and he knows it will never work.

Flick needs a place to stay, just for 3 months before she heads to Washington and the dream job she has been working towards all of her life. Tom has the room, and she gets things done, even if its maneuvering a big mountain of a man into renting her the room, after all she sells ideas for a living.

This odd couple start out their weeks as roommates doing their best not to run into each other but it doesn't last and soon they are aggravating each other just like they expected too, only Tom does seem to protest too much, especially as the more Flick teases the more he finds himself wanting to kiss her.

I really enjoyed this banter-filled story. Flick and Tom spark in all the right ways but it isn't just a romp. Both Flick and Tom have some serious baggage from their childhoods (Tom had a distant demanding father and Flick's family is hugely dysfunctional and she is walloped by grief when a dear friend gets to some terrible news). Master communicators, Flick and Tom excel as misdirection and distraction, doing their best to sound like they have it all together when they absolutely don't. The coupons which may sound gimmicky make total sense in story as these struggle to make sort out their feelings and choices as the deadline of Flick's departure draws ever closer.

Chicago-area residents like @jenreadsromance are right to point the one thing that didn't work in this story, Tom's love of hiking. He frequently goes away to hike, off to the mountains, but there just aren't any real good options for doing that in Chicago. Mentally I relocated them to Denver and moved because geographical realities aside, I was totally sucked in by this sexy and emotional romance. .The choices made by Flick and Tom made sense to me and I felt they really saw each other and the ending was absolutely satisfying.

I loved the first book in the series and after a somewhat shaky start and ended up enjoying this one too.

It's a forced proximity, opposites attract kind of romance. She is impulsive, messy and a whirlwind of emotions while he is restrained, reserved, a stickler for order and planning.

It was she who took all the initiative - pushed to become his roommate, then offered a roommates with benefits type of arrangement. Flick leaving for a job of her dreams in two months and Tom having professional plan firmly set where he is, put an expiration date on their affair. And while they were fine with it initially, slowly both get to want more from each other

My main issue is that I felt she was too pushy at the beginning, and while I do see how it was a game they both willingly played, still it made me uncomfortable at times, her insistence for him to let go emotionally and physically when they were together might have been what he needed but I also read it as she knew better than him what would make him happy, it appeared like she was ignoring his limits, the restraints he had imposed on himself. I think his consent in a couple of sexual situation early in their relationship was not as explicit and clear as it should have been and this put me on edge.

I quite liked Tom, he was caring, and considerate. He followed the rules and expected the others to do so too but in his personal and in his professional life. Becoming a bit more spontaneous, adaptive to changing circumstances was god for him in the end though I'm not fully convinced Flick's approach to this was the right one.

In a way they both helped each other become better - he taught her a much needed control and distance in her relationship with her family, while she showed him it's ok to trust your heart and not have everything planned.

The coupon game was fun but it did come a bit late in the story, after 50%. It gave them the safe distance to work through their feelings and allowed them to really get to know each other and fall in love.

The ending was sweet and very romantic but a bit rushed and I felt it was slightly out of character for them both. I have no doubt is was the right decision and a well deserved HEA but I wanted it to be more fitting to their personalities as I saw them in the rest of the story. I would have loved an epilogue showing them after a couple of months living together.

Hello, major cuteness alert! THE LOVE COUPON is the second book in Paton’s Stubborn Hearts series, a trope-y, fun-filled, and surprisingly poignant contemporary romance series. This book can be read as a standalone!

Tom O’Connell doesn’t know much about Flick Dalgetty, beyond the fact that she’s too wild, too intense – too much for a reasonable guy like him. Flick thinks Tom’s a buttoned-up workaholic whose need for control precludes them from ever being friendly. When Flick needs a place to live and Tom needs a roommate, two people who couldn’t be more different find they have an irresistible attraction. But Flick’s leaving town in 3 months, so their fling has an expiration date…doesn’t it?

Y’all, Flick and Tom are absolute fire together! The initial antagonism between the pair was clearly misplaced sexual tension, because once they go there, they really go there. As they fool around, Flick begins to peel back the layers of the seemingly staid Tom and he sees behind her wild-child persona. It’s all very romantic and adorable!

The whole concept of the “love coupons” is really clever for a romance novel, and it adds some fun to Tom and Flick’s relationship. Some of them were pretty sexy, too! The coupons also help the two learn about more about each other and deepen their connection in a flirty way – much like the love experiment in the first book.

Ainslie Paton is quickly becoming a go-to romance author for me, and I highly recommend her books!

Did I ever tell you guys about my love for Ainslie Paton’s book The Love Experiment? I think I did. I will search my blog and show you I did because that was a great surprise romance from an author I hadn’t heard of. I now follow her on Twitter and think she’s a genius and that was after one book. The second book in the series was one I was seriously excited for. I mean, a couple who are opposites who fall in love doing all these tasks in these coupons? It sounds weird and I want to read it.

I will start off with a grumble. I am not spoiling anything by saying there are love coupons involved in this book, it’s in the damned title. You would think the love coupon element of the story would get introduced within the first third of the book, wouldn’t you? Yeah, not so much. My biggest grumble about this book was the fact that the titular Love Coupons aren’t actually part of the story until pretty much the second half of the book so it detracted a little from the story as I kept waiting for those damned coupons to crop up. That is my biggest grumble about this entire book, though. I just wanted to put that out there to start off with because the rest is gonna be all good stuff.

First off, Tom and Flick were so damn adorable and I want to just hold the pair close and protect them from the world. Flick is this little ball of energy. She’s always doing something/saying something/going somewhere. She’s not the person who sits still and quiet for a night, she’s a whirlwind and force of nature. Whilst Tom is her complete opposite. He has a plan and he sticks to it. He knows where he wants to be today, tomorrow, next week, next year. His life is mapped out and he has no time to divert course. He is set. Flick has a plan, but she isn’t as fussed about how she gets there (just as long as she gets there, and she is almost there goddammit).

So, two opposites who, through a weird sequence of events, end up being roommates. Roommates under duress mind you. Tom doesn’t want anything to do with Flick because she’s too damn messy… even if he doesn’t end up eyeing her up from time to time, he’s totally not interested. And Flick has convinced herself her only interest in Tom is that she finds it fun to rile him up. They are both totally wrong and they took forever about realising but they were adorable getting to that realisation. That's really what made the book. These two adorable idiots being in denial and falling in love until they get smacked upside the head and realise how stupid they’ve been.

Spoilers may be ahead in this paragraph so skip this one if you’re concerned and go to my summarising thoughts below. So the best part of this book though was Flick’s determination to head to her new job doing exactly what she always wanted in Washington. She was only ever going to live with Tom temporarily while she finishes up her notice period with her old job. Her time with Tom was gonna be a fling, even if she did get certain feelings while sleeping with him. And when they began the coupons it had an expiration date. It could never be serious. She was never going to be willing to give up her perfect job and she doesn’t ever apologise for that fact. She is determined to follow her own career plan and what I loved she could care about her career and there’s no shame in it. And when it comes down to it it’s Tom who sacrifices his set plan. He gives up things for her when so often it’s women who seem to have to make sacrifices. Can we all celebrate a woman who gets the job she wants and the man? Yeah boy, I’m down for women doing they’re thing and getting love out of it too. So yeah, my spoiler celebration is over.

In the end, this was an excellent romance. I loved how Tom and Flick were opposites and through a stroke of luck they came together to be temporary roommates and ended up falling for each other too. They’d been working and socialising together for ages but through chance, they fell for each other and I loved reading it. I wasn’t sure about either at first, but I think because they are so opposite they balanced each other out and so when you read about them laughing together, having fun, dancing on tables and having fun you couldn’t help but love them. I may have wanted the coupons to arrive sooner but every part of this book worked for me. They slowly fell in love and the coupons were what made them both realise that fact so they couldn’t come along too soon. I definitely recommend I loved it.

Well, the premise of the book sounded so promising when I picked it up but when I started reading it I just had a really hard time following it. The first half of the book was all over the place....I kept having to go back and make sure I know whose side of the story I was reading, the two main voices blended too well together.
As for the story itself, it was cute in places..your classic opposites attract story but I just couldn't find anything that made me fall in love with either Flick or Tom. I didn't really care what happened to either of them until about that last quarter of the book...after getting some of their backstory.

Flick is full of energy and her life appears to be a little chaotic, but really, she’s a determined woman when it comes to her goals. Flick rose above her circumstances and exceled despite having no help from her family (a family that fully pissed me off!). Now she’s finally landed her dream job, helping less fortunate ones to succeed with education and opportunities, but she needs a place to stay for three months before she moves. This is where Tom comes in.

Tom has a room to rent, but he’s used to living a regimented life and everything about Flick is out of his comfort zone. They end up together, and she annoys him, but there’s something refreshing, and intriguing about her, too. They push each other’s buttons, but Tom and Flick are definitely attracted to each other.

The Love Coupon was very much an opposites attract/antagonistic romance with a lot of witty banter back and forth. Ainslie Paton’s writing is clever and sharp. Tom and Flick were at odds and I loved seeing them gradually get on the same page. Surreptitious glances, and lusty thoughts finally gave way to some hot encounters! Those tightly wound guys are all kinds of hot when they finally let lose! The love coupons didn’t come into play until well after the 50% mark, but oh my!

This was a little more angsty than I usually read because Flick’s stay had an expiration date, and neither one wanted to admit they were getting more and more serious. Still, this is a romance, so I knew things would probably work out, lol.

A copy was kindly provided by Carina Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A few of my fellow bloggers put Paton on my radar, and am I glad they did, because The Love Coupon was such a fun and sexy read, which I am filing this under "books that made my face hurt", because that ending left with smiling from ear to ear.

Who?
• Tom, a super disciplined PR man, who likes his life nice and tidy.
• Flick, a lobbyist, who was ambitious, and ascribed to a "no-holds-barred, anything-goes approach".

What?
His roommate recently relocated for a job, and Tom was unable to afford his mortgage on his own as he awaited his promotion. Flick was looking for short-term housing as she finished out her current employment contract and prepared for her move to Washington DC to begin her dream job. It seemed like they were each other's perfect solution, but would Tom be able to handle Flick turning his world upside down?

Why?
I was such a fan of this couple. Tom was this outwardly grumpy guy with a secret heart of gold, and Flick was a total spitfire. I loved watching hurricane Flick knock Tom off his rails. The chemistry between Flick and Tom was off the charts! Flick described it like this, and I sort of agree:

"Oh, the chemistry was every letter in the alphabet, and the alphabet was freezing, melting, burning, giving off vapor, reducing, expanding and fusing."

Yes to awesome chemistry, and also to the fun, sassy, sexy banter. Tom and Flick had an interesting rapport. This was a hate-to-love sort of thing, where Tom was not Flick's biggest fan in the beginning, but she was relentless, and eventually won him over.

"You're a rodeo, Flick Delgetty. Always trying to throw me off."

I, for one, was grateful that Flick was so persistent, because these two were something special together. They made each other see the world in a new way and rethink the things they believed. They made each other world bigger and better.

And let's give it up for epically beautiful endings! My heart exploded at the end of this book. My sappy sap self was beyond happy with the way Paton wrapped up Flick and Tom's story, and I couldn't think of a better way to end it.

Overall
A steamy hate-to-love-roommate romance, which left me brimming with joy.

Felicity/Flick knows Tom and gets him to agree to rent her his spare room until Flick’s new job in Washington starts flick had already gave up her apartment and needed a place to stay for three months. Tom’s roommate just got a job promotion and left for China. . Flick’s new job is her dream job. Flick and Tom are total opposites. Flick is chaotic, spontaneous, lod, wild and can be messy. Tom is calm, organized neat,and serious. The common thing Flick and tom share is their ambition. But Flick does seem to be able to loosen Tom up. Eventually Flick gives Tom thirty coupons covering different things like morning sex, bubble baths and bowling but also a lot more. Tom and Flick were attracted to each other right away but let things build between them. Then Flick gave Tom the love coupons.
I enjoyed this book. I’m however not sure I liked the writing style of the author I will have to read at least another book written by this author and then decide for sure. Anyway I did like the plot but this did drag for me at times . But I did laugh out loud while reading this and that doesn't happen that often.i liked how Tom and Flick interacted with each other. I also liked how things slowly built for Tom and Lily. I was a little disappointed it took so long for the coupons to show up in the book. I really did like Tom and Flick together. I like the back story on Flick also. So for the most part I did enjoy this book and i do recommend.

Ainslie Paton was one of my favorite romance discoveries last year. I completely adored The Love Experiment - it turned me into an instant fan of the author. I was beyond thrilled to find out that she was continuing the series on with The Love Coupon. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I fell for this book even more than The Love Experiment. It had all the ingredients for a perfect romance read.

I'm all for pairings of grumpy heroes and peppy heroines, and I got exactly that with The Love Coupon. Flick was an adorable ball of energy! And an ambitious ball of energy at that. I loved how hardworking she was. Flick was also a girl with a huge heart. Despite the way her family members mistreated her for being successful, she still went out of her way to ensure that they were happy. She had just gotten her dream job in Washington and had to find temporary housing, which is how she and the hero Tom come to be roommates. Of course, grumpy Tom wanted nothing to do with Flick. He found her annoying and far too chipper for his likes. I was very easily charmed by Tom. He had me swooning - I don't know what it is about the silent grumpy hero that I can't resist. Underneath all those buttoned-up layers was a sweetheart. Even though he didn't like to show it, he grew to care deeply about Flick. Honestly, there was so much to love about the guy, but I'm going to let you discover him all yourself. :)

Flick and Tom's romance had a great progression to it. They annoyed each other, but there was a lot of chemistry between them even when they were pushing each other's buttons. Flick found a way to worm herself and settle in Tom's heart, and it was adorable to watch. I'm a little bit ashamed to admit this, but I may have squeed a few times in joy. When the love coupons were introduced in the second half of the book, they amplified the tension between them. The banter, the sexy games and all the romantic declarations made my heart so happy! As always, I was engrossed in Ainslie's writing in The Love Coupon. There's something very unique and addicting about it.

The Love Coupon was a blast to read! If you enjoy hot roommate romances with some hate to love dynamics, then give this book a try. You won't be disappointed!

I've been hearing good things about both this book and the first book in this series, <a href="https://amzn.to/2H6CvR0">The Love Experiment</a> but I was hesitant to try out a new to me author and I really shouldn't have been scared because I really enjoyed this book. So <em>The Love Coupon by Ainslie Paton</em> is the second book in her <a href="http://bookbinge.com/reviews/series/stubborn-hearts/">Stubborn Hearts</a> series and it was a sweet contemporary romance that made me feel all of the feels.

So we've got straightlaced Tom O'Connell who just lost his roommate to an overseas job and he's searching but not really searching for a new roommate to share bills with and the very last person that he wants in his house is Flick Dalgetty...but she needs a temporary place to lay her head until she finishes out her current job and moves to Washington DC for her new job. Bunking with Tom would be perfect, if he didn't have so many rules and if he wasn't so uptight about everything under the sun. They couldn't be more different from each other if they tried but Flick will take what she can get and she'll pipe down her colorful personality for a room to call her own until she can leave Chicago in a couple of months.

Tom grew up with an asshole father who treated him like he was an idiot and that relationship kind of turns him into an unyielding jerk who doesn't tolerate messy people. His old roommate Josh was a perfect roommate match for him because he was neat, he was tidy and he kept to himself. They were great friends and when Josh leaves for a job overseas, Tom is stuck because he wants to share bills but he does not want to share bills with flighty Flick Dalgetty. Haha, oh Tom.

Flick Dalgetty is the black sheep of her family. Her family is stuck in their ways and they resent Flick because she got out. She got out of their family pit and made something of herself so they treat her like crap. Flick, on her side of things, keeps things civil with them by buying them whatever they need. Food, clothes, bikes, you name it, Flick has bought for them and they don't act like they appreciate Flick's efforts. So Flick hides her frustrations behind a bright smile and a sparkling personality and all of that does her no favors with her new roommate.

They're opposites in every way but together, they mesh so incredibly well that I ate up their story from beginning to end. The romance between Tom and Flick was fun and it was cute and I was here for it all. I adored seeing them grow closer and closer with each passing day. I loved seeing them try to be good and then threw caution to the wind and come together. Their different personalities really shined together and they were just too cute for words. If I had a gripe, it would probably be that it took quite a while for the love coupons to come into play but other than that? Great stuff.

Overall, this book worked for me. I enjoyed Ainslie Paton's writing style. I really enjoyed the little glimpses that we got of the other characters. I'm curious about Jack and Derelie. I'm totally planning on going back and reading their book because she's a lifestyle writer and I'm mighty curious about that. I also would like to see more Josh and everyone else that we meet in this one. Ainslie Paton has earned herself a spot on my will check out again list and I can't wait to read more from her. I definitely recommend.

I was a pretty big fan of the first novel in this series, The Love Experiment so I was pretty keen to read this, especially because the blurb contains two of my favourite words in a hero: repressed, antisocial. I don’t know what it is but sign me up for an uptight type, especially when the female love interest is a more forward personality. I just really enjoy reading that dynamic. It’s much more interesting to me than the manwhore/virginal female pairing.

Tom’s room mate moved out when he took a job overseas and although Tom knows he needs a new one in order to have the level of financial comfort he prefers, he definitely does not want Felicity ‘Flick’ Dalgetty as his room mate. She’s chaos and Tom is organised, clean and tidy. He doesn’t like mess and Flick is sure to be a whirlwind tearing through his apartment. But she does only need a room for three months before she takes a job interstate and eventually she wears him down.

At first their interactions are minimal – Flick leaves early and is generally in her room when Tom returns from work. But eventually their paths start crossing a little more often. Tom offers to share his cooked meals with her and they share conversations which lead to a kiss. I really liked the chemistry between the two of them. Flick has a great, refreshing attitude towards a fling and she’s very confident in herself, which was fantastic. Tom often has doubts (although I think his reasons are fine) and he at times attempts to retreat a bit, perhaps a bit afraid of truly being able to let go. This book takes time to explore both Tom and Flick’s backgrounds in a really in depth manner and you can see how where they’ve come from has shaped their interactions with others. Flick’s relationship with her family I found really interesting – and also a bit puzzling. In some ways I understand why she continues to do what she does but to be honest the majority of my thoughts were wondering why she even bothered. There’s only so much someone should be expected to endure before making decisions for their own good.

Tom and Flick bounce off each other really well and although they both sometimes touch a nerve with their frank questions, they’re very equal. I really liked the idea of the coupons and how fun Flick made some of them, as well as sexy. I got the feeling Tom lived a very ordered life, did the same things every day and Flick was definitely more about having fun, being spontaneous and even though the coupons mean things are decided in advance, Tom can redeem any one he chooses and a lot of them are fun and sort of casual so it pushes him to do things he wouldn’t normally do and open himself up to new experiences, both in bed and out. The coupons were such a cool idea and added so much to the story, I only wish they’d been introduced a little earlier as it’s quite far into the book when they appear. Most of them do get described but I do wish it could’ve been in greater detail and time spent on all of them as they are quite an important part of Flick and Tom’s growing relationship.

From the very beginning it’s clear that this is just supposed to be a fling, because Flick is leaving in three months to go to a new job interstate and Tom has a plan, which results in him being promoted sooner rather than later. This is a romance novel so you know it’s going to end differently to that but I loved the fact that I couldn’t pick how it was going to go. Both Tom and Flick had careers that were very important to them and Tom was on the property ladder and was very focused on his future and how he wanted things to go. The chemistry between them was so strong both sexually and emotionally that I was incredibly invested in the outcome. Both of them compliment the other in lots of ways – Tom takes care of Flick in a way that she hasn’t really experienced. Not a “boyfriend protecting the little woman way” but in a more nurturing, feeding her and providing stability sort of way. And Flick encourages Tom to live a little, explore his feelings, indulge. Relax the rules, enjoy things. There’s a balance there and it works, although small things can tip that balance out and result in struggle.

I loved this….perfect blend of characters that for me were both likeable and interesting. Their journey was a fun one to go on and I’m looking forward to the next in this series.

8/10

Trigger warnings: [manipulative family, death of a parent (as a child), cancer]

A grumpy hero and an insanely energetic heroine? Yay! While this looks like a fluffy rom-com, it actually isn’t – that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While it’s still pretty darn funny, it’s also very feels-laden. This is the second book in a series, but works perfectly well as a standalone.

“He could no sooner live with Flick Dalgetty than he could become a man who believed whims, distractions and impulsiveness were good notions to live by. Tom’s ambitions were better contained in goal setting, scheduling, discipline. He’d get what he wanted in life methodically, by staying the course, not zigzagging all over the shop. That’s the way it had worked so far, and he had no reason to believe that strategy wouldn’t deliver him everything he wanted.”


Tom is a big grumpy bear, solid as a mountain and about as fixed in his ways. He’s laser-focused on his career, and the big promotion is within his sights. Like Tom, Flick is also very career-focused, but that’s where the similarities end. Tom thinks Flick falls somewhere between an entire circus and an amusement park ride – effective at her job but in a loud, showy, Energizer bunny way. Flick is heading off for her dream job in another state in a few month’s time but is desperate for some place to stay. Luckily enough, Tom has a room to rent at his place. Surely this odd couple can put up with each other for three months?

Well, I think we know how that turns out! To be honest, while I love grumpy heroes or heroines, I’m not a big fan of people with Flick’s “electronic-shockagram, disco-light-strobe, tip-you-upside-down-and-shake-you-while-laughing-like-a-horror-show” personality, and there’s a scene with glitter that I certainly would not have reacted well to! But Flick really grew on me, and she had very good reasons for being who she is – the youngest child, who needed to be loud and over the top to get attention and get out of the poverty her family accepts as normal. Like Flick herself, her and Tom’s relationship is a bit of a roller coaster, from industry acquaintances to friends to lovers back to friends and THEN back to lovers. The coupons the book is named for don’t come in to play until they already have a roommates with benefits relationship, as a way to count down the last thirty days before Flick leaves. Their relationship was delightfully fun to follow. Each character has baggage that makes them the way they are, and makes their chances of a relationship with anyone pretty low, let alone two such different people. I almost put the book down around the halfway mark, because I just could not deal with all the feels. Luckily, while the second half of the book is still feels-laden, it’s much happier feels. Even the sex scenes – of which there are plenty – were intense, emotional and character-driven, including some ridiculously hot phone sex.

“’I want a happy ending and I’m not going to get one, am I?’
‘Does anyone?’ he said.
Was he serious? She sat up and thumped the seat. ‘Yes.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘They exist. They have to.’ Otherwise life was guilt and fear and loneliness and too damn hard.
‘Where’s the evidence? Not from my parents, or yours, or your sisters. Wren is still pining after Josh, which is a kind of complicated I can’t begin to understand. What’s a happy ending anyway, except a manipulation sponsored by Hollywood and Mills & Boon?’”


As for cons, I had some issues with the way Flick’s family was portrayed as only interested in her for what she could buy them. Some of this really hit home for me, as I’ve had some experience being the family ATM. All it showed, though, was the one-note experience of her family using and using and using her, none of the regular family interactions with her nieces or sister or mom that draw the person back in. The family members were rather blatant about using her, where in my experience, it was more passive-aggressive guilting than outright demands for stuff. Also, I found the resolution to this part of Flick’s story unsatisfactory, since after several “on-page” scenes with the family, the actual boundary setting happened off-page.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book. Steamy sex, all-the-feels conversations, and all the best bits of two very opposite people becoming better people because of the other. Highly recommended!

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

At first, I wasn't really feeling this book. I was like, "Great, my first review book and I'm going to have to give it a negative review." That's OK because I want to be honest but I would still feel bad. But once the coupons showed up (mostly the second half), the book became more enjoyable for me.

One of my favorite things is that Tom is an introvert. This just isn't a very common character type especially for heroes in romance. As a fellow introvert, I appreciate the representation. Flick was harder for me to connect with, but I can appreciate how confident, outgoing, and competent she is.

Like I said before, I liked the second half more. The coupons and how they were executed helped show of Flick and Tom's personalities. During this part was also when there was more character development. Flick and Tom were able to help each other and learn from the other to make their lives better.

Now, for some things I didn't like. My main problem is with the writing style. It is written in 3rd person which I my preferred POV for romance. But it was muddled in this book. I would often get confused about who was talking or which character's head I was in. Especially since Tom and Flick are supposed to be drastically different that should have been easier to differentiate. This did continue throughout the whole book and never go easier.

Love Coupon is a unique, sexy and smart opposites-attract romance that shines with Ainslie Paton’s sharp, witty and distinctive voice. Flick and Tom are temporary roommates with very different personalities. He’s serious, tightly-wound, a little grumpy and has a plan for everything, and she’s a vibrant whirlwind of energy, who relishes living life to its fullest. Tom is confused and distressed when he realizes that he’s attracted to Flick, because she doesn’t fit neatly into any category and she tempts him to pursue pleasure without restraint, which he equates with losing control. He tries to resist her and swings between hot and cold until Flick gives him thirty coupons for self-indulgent activities they can do together, such as a massage, afternoon delight or binge-watch a show. It’s a brilliant move on her part and demonstrates how well she understands Tom, because the coupons allow him to stop overthinking. Their romance is beautifully developed at a leisurely, captivating pace, and Love Coupon is a clever, emotional love story that truly stands out. Mary Dubé, USA Today's HEA