Revenge is a dish best served cold, or so they say.

Ellie is on a rescue mission and gains an accomplice along the way. Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge is characterized by comical moments, heartbreak, and everything in between.

I loved the first couple of chapters of the book and the ending, but I lost concentration somewhere in the middle.

While Ellie is dealing with a broken engagement, a stolen dog, and the loss of her business, she also has to contend with her master manipulator ex-fiance Jason.

With a sullied reputation, Ellie doesn't have many allies, and newcomer Hugh seems like a good choice as a sidekick.

What I didn't like was Ellie's overreaction to learning a secret; that part of the book felt overly drawn out.

Thank you, Netgalley and Montlake, for my free copy of the book.

I absolutely loved 'Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge' by Lilian Monroe. From the get-go, the story promises a rollercoaster of emotions and it truly delivers. Ellie Davis, the tenacious protagonist, sets out to exact revenge on her ex-fiancé for the pain he has caused her. The story takes an unexpected turn when she hires Hugh Hartford, who's not just the local boat mechanic but an intriguing character with his own motives and secrets.

Monroe's writing is witty and fast-paced, keeping the readers on the edge of their seats. The chemistry between Ellie and Hugh is electric and evolves beautifully as the story progresses. Their interactions are filled with humor, angst, and genuine moments that tug at your heartstrings.

The island setting adds a charming backdrop to the narrative, enhancing the story's appeal. The mix of laugh-out-loud moments, suspense, romance, and a dose of spice keeps the reader thoroughly entertained. I appreciated the well-balanced blend of elements, making it a delightful read.

'Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge' is not just a tale of revenge; it's about redemption, unexpected connections, and the triumph of love over past grievances. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for a romantic story that will make you laugh, swoon, and root for love to conquer all

Absolutely fun and the perfect quick read. Laughs throughout the whole book and just an overall easy flowing story.

When Ellie knocks Hugh in the head with a pair of bolt cutters, it sparks something new in both of them.

He's on the island of Fernley to claim the inheritance his deadbeat father had left him in has will, but will he sell the land or keep it? Ellie is seeking justice and revenge on her ex for cheating on her, using her and keeping her dog.

There are lots of laugh out loud moments, angst, suspense, spice, swoon-worthy moments and the cherished happily ever after in this story of revenge and redemption.

I don’t think I need to wax poetry about this book because once you read it, it speaks for itself. The writing was witty and charming. And the characters, plain adorable and entertaining!

Unfortunately I could not finish this book - the writing style was really not for me, overly descriptive whilst being really slow to get to the point.

At the outset, I really enjoyed this book. I immediately felt like I needed to know more about Ellie - she was a badass and I needed to understand what drove her to be who she was and what made her act the way she did. When Hugh came along I thought the romance would blossom quickly but it felt like them getting together dragged on a little too long.

The story was dramatic and I felt like we got to know characters enough to really decide whether we liked or loathed them (anybody who likes Jason is just plain wrong) and this added so much to the story for me - I was team Ellie and Hugh all the way and really wanted everything to work out in their favour. I guess it was until the miscommunication trope was thrown in for good measure!? This let the story down I felt - we no longer saw Ellie who lets nothing and nobody get in her way but instead sad Ellie who doesn't deal with things head on, and that's not who we were taught to love in this book! Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with characters who are sad and can't face their issues but this was such a small miscommunication in the grand scheme of things that the way it changed the book felt super unnecessary and really quite harsh on Hugh, who had done all kinds of dodgy things to help her with her whacky plan up to that point.

There were a couple of surprises in there but overall I felt the ending fell off a bit, everything was wrapped up too quickly and too cleanly for the way the story had been progressing and it felt almost like the author had run out of allowed pages for the book and therefore had to wrap up quicker than intended.

I did enjoy the book for the most part and it's personal preference about the ending but I think if you like easy-ish reads, small town romances and some good old drama in there then you'll probably enjoy this book and should pick it up!

Thank you to NetGalley & the Publisher for my pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review :-)

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishing company and or the author for giving me the chance to read and review Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge.

I love how the main characters on how they had their interaction between them.

The plot and twist were awesome!

Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge by L. Monroe, published by Montlake is a witty and fun read. I expected a read driven by revenge, dark-ish and I couldn't be more wrong.
It's afunny, fast paced read, sometimes slap-stick-ish, always entertaing.
Ellie broke off with her fiance, but she seems she can't get free of him. She decides on revenge and uses an app hiring an mechanic. A mechanic who sends his nephew in his stead. Seee sla-stick.
And Hugh has his own reasons to investigate the ex. Reasons he keeps from Ellie.
A great read, 5 stars.

I was really intrigued by the plot of this story — Ellie is looking to get revenge on her ex-fiancé and enlists the help of the local handyman’s nephew, Hugh — but I did unfortunately DNF. The writing style was very hard for me to follow, it felt immature for my tastes and I think that it is more suited for a younger audience, maybe middle school. Everything was just really exemplified, hyperbole was present multiple times on every single page, and again, it just read like it was written with a very young, adolescent audience in mind. This quote in particular really explains why it wasn’t working for me:

“This time, when she tried to channel her inner action movie hero, she succeeded. She jumped onto the truck’s good and slid across on her butt in an impressively smooth motion. It was glorious. She flew off the other side of the hood, aiming to land in a pivot, ready to attack.”

This crazy, unrealistic, action-forward, over-descriptive-while-at-the-same-time-saying-nothing-at-all, writing style didn’t suit the love story that I was promised in the book’s description. Along with the writing style, the plot felt very messy and didn’t flow very nicely. It was all over the place and didn’t make sense and I didn’t feel invested in the story because there was no character work done, only crazy storylines intended to make the reader laugh and say “wow!” but in actuality made me annoyed and wanting to stop reading. Overall, the story SOUNDS interesting, and I think if it was completely reworked, replotted out so the storyline was clearer, and very heavily edited, there could be hope for this book.

I also was not a fan of the cover.

As a fan of this author, I was thrilled to get my hands on this ARC!

This is a stand-alone read, with a fun group of characters. Ellie has been having a tough time as of late, and the last thing she needs is a huge, handsome man distracting her from getting revenge on her ex-fiance.

Hugh is new to the island, and not sure he's staying, (and questioning why he ever visited in the first place) when his (not) meet-cute with Ellie leaves him bloody. (He's okay, don't worry!!) 😉

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this one. There were a few parts of the story that lost me a little, and Ellie's self confidence issues bugged me, but overall, this was easy to read, and I liked it. I appreciated the grand gesture Hugh managed to complete, and how the storyline resolved.

My thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for my free copy of this book. I voluntarily leave my review, and recommendation of this author and book.

Ellie is in a dark place. She’s lost her business, her reputation and any goodwill, any respect she’d gained had been obliterated. She even lost her dog, and the majority of the town people shun her because she got arrested and everybody saw her mugshot. Since her family apparently has had run-ins with the law in the past and several mugshots themselves, their family is not something many people want to associate with. Ellie doesn’t really care, all she wants is to get her dog back and destroy her ex’s life by breaking into his house to retrieve her dog and find evidence of him poisoning her family’s sheep. She wants revenge.
Enter Hugh, who came to town to sell a piece of land he inherited from his late father, a man he was estranged from. It turns out his father wanted to sell the land to Ellie’s ex-fiancé who wants to develop a resort. First Hugh wants to find out if the deal doesn’t stink, but soon he gets entangled in helping Ellie. What he didn’t do was tell her about the business deal that was on the table… I don’t really understood why he didn’t tell her, since he wasn’t going to sign anyway.
<i>The words were on the tip of his tongue; all he had to do was admit that he owned the land next door and tell them that he had no intention of signing the deal his father had negotiated with Jason. The resort was dead in the water already. But that would be admitting he was nothing more than a money-hungry leech.</i>
So Ellie finding out and being hurt and angry about him ‘lying to her’ felt like overreacting. He helped her the entire time, even with shady stuff, and didn’t go through with the deal, so why be mad at him? The conclusion fell a bit flat, and I would have liked more chemistry between Ellie and Hugh.
I received and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and I am grateful for this opportunity. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge is a great addition to Ms. Monroe's book lineup.

Ellie is seeking revenge against her former fiance' Jason, who has basically kidnapped her dog, Louie, and who, she finds out has been using citizens in their little community to try and destroy her family because he wants their land for a development. He takes advantage of a kind man, who based upon Jason's advice, poisons their sheep and it just goes on from there.

She meets Hugh when she thinks he is breaking into her handyman's home - it turns out that Hugh was just trying to open a stuck window.

Ellie drags a reluctant Hugh into her escapades and in trying to free Louie from Jason's clutches, but Hugh is holding back secrets himself that can destroy the relationship he is building with Ellie.

I enjoyed the book immensely and can't wait to read the next book from Lilian Monroe.

This book was provided as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.

There’s just something about a Lilian Monroe story that always leaves me happy when I get to the end of it. Her stories are about wonderful characters who are living life, dealing with the ups and downs of their lives, and then find happiness.

In this story, Ellie has been having a very rough time of it for months now. she found her fiancé cheating on her, her business failed, and her jerk of an ex wouldn’t give her her dog back.

Hugh came to the island to deal with the land his father left him when he passed away. He was estranged from his father for 20 years and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He did learn that his father had entered negotiations to allow a resort to be built on part of his land.

Hugh encounters Ellie one night when she mistakes him for a burglar and attempts to bash his head in with a set of bolt cutters. From that point on, he is intrigued by her and involved with all the shenanigans that happened.

Unfortunately, as one can expect in a romance book, there is some angst that causes the couple to hit a bit of a rough patch. But as with all Lilian Monroe books, this does have an HEA. It is a slow burn, but it is a very entertaining story. I am hoping that there are more books about Fernley, and one that hopefully involves Daphne.

I absolutely loved this book! Love this author and she's always a one click for me! Thabjs Netgalley for the ARC

Ellie is a headstrong plucky character that makes you laugh and shake your head at the same time. While Hugh is there for the ride. I got such second hand frustration for Ellie when the town sides with the lies against her coming from her ex Jason, and every attempt to get her dog back that failed broke my heart a little more.

As always when a main character has a secret that you know can cause some drama you just struggle with wanting to shake them until they spill. But would there be a story without the drama, maybe. I honestly thing Ellie overreacts to the news, how was Hugh supposed to know Jason was a bad guy if he’d never even met him. The whole third act “betrayal” was just too much for me and because I was rolling my eyes at the character and I was honestly starting to dislike her quite a bit.

I’ve been reading shorter books lately so this one was a bit of a struggle to make it all the way through and I noticed my attention seemed to be split between it and other books I’d been reading.

The way the side characters come and go lead me to thing that we may see more from this town, or at least I hope so.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

I started off this really enjoying it. An island where money speaks and Ellie's mega rich ex fiance has ruined her life, of course she needs revenge. I was rooting for the comeuppance!! Not to mention romance with the hot tall broody man thats helping her with her plotting, whats not to love?

UNTIL the worst trope to ever exist pops up.. miscommunication. This ruined a perfectly good book. I could sense it was coming but when the main plot wrapped itself up too quickly, I think the author needed a way of adding a few more chapters on.

First, the miscommunication was one tiny sentence which didnt even need to be a 'secret' in the first place. It could have been disclosed in the begnning and made perfect sense with no drama. Also, these characters are essentially STRANGERS, they've known each other a few days? You dont go around disclosing your full life story to strangers.
Secondly, it ruined the perception we have of Ellie. She was a badass, with determination, drive, strength. But she turned into a pathetic, immature child the way this 'miscommunication' went down. Her reaction and behaviour was completely cruel, uncalled for and I lost all the respect that the first half of this book created for her.
I was hoping Hugh would walk away because she's a walking red flag. The rationale behind her thought process. Is ridiculous at best.

That aside im left very underwhelmed with the ending for Jason her ex-fiance. That got tied up way too neatly and quickly. I definitely didnt get the compeuppance i was looking for which was disappointing. One minute hes screaming at her thinking hes won and the next we hear that he got caught.. i wanted to read it happen, to get the reaction from him when he realises what shes done and had actually outsmarted him, the man that grew an empire?!!

Im not sure id recommend this book to friends, theres too much missing from this and I left the booking feeling disappointed which is definitely not how you should feel after reading a romance.

This story was a lot of fun.
The premise was different and unique. I liked that each character had their own motivations for wanted to go after her ex. It made the motivations of each clear and interesting.
I liked both characters. Both were great and had good chemistry.
A great, fast paced read!

Ellie is fiercely protective of her family and friends who live on a small lush island a ferry ride away from Seattle. She has been humiliated by her former fiance who she caught having an affair with his assisant. Now he is holding her beloved dog Louie to irritate her. She's been arrested (released) and humiliated. She was revenge and enlists her bestie for help, until the bestie has an accident.

In walks Hugh, he of broad shoulders and gooey eyes. He decides to help her, although unbeknownst he has an alernative reason. What ensure is Ellie's fight to save her family's land, her dog and her reputation. And it all falls apart when Hugh's lies of omission tear them apart.

Liliam Monroe is one of my favorite contemporary romance writers and she does not disappoint.

"Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge" is a charming contemporary romance that combines elements of revenge, mystery, and unexpected love in a picturesque coastal setting. With well-drawn characters, a compelling storyline, and a dash of small-town charm, this book offers an engaging and heartwarming reading experience.

The story follows Ellie Davis, a determined and resourceful woman who is determined to get back at her ex-fiancé, Jason, for his betrayal and attempts to claim her parents' property. Ellie's decision to use the OddJobs app to seek help in her revenge plan sets the stage for the unexpected arrival of Hugh Hartford, a brooding and enigmatic stranger who is in town temporarily.

The dynamic between Ellie and Hugh is filled with chemistry and tension, and their interactions are laced with humor and genuine emotions. As Ellie keeps hiring Hugh for various odd jobs, their connection deepens, even as they both harbor secrets related to their individual missions.

The small-town setting of Fernley Island adds a delightful backdrop to the story, with its close-knit community and quirky characters enhancing the overall charm. The OddJobs app and its various characters bring an element of fun and unpredictability to the narrative, making it an enjoyable and unique aspect of the plot.

As Ellie's revenge plan unravels, the book explores themes of forgiveness, second chances, and the power of letting go of the past. The mystery surrounding Jason's actions and Hugh's involvement in the investigation add layers of intrigue and suspense, keeping readers engaged in the unfolding drama.

Overall, "Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge" is a delightful and heartwarming romance that showcases the transformative nature of unexpected love. It's a story of two individuals brought together by chance, who find healing and happiness in each other's company. With its well-crafted characters, engaging plot, and a touch of mystery, this book is a charming addition to the contemporary romance genre.