Review: April by Audrey Carlan

Posted April 13, 2016 by Lola in Contemporary, Coyer, Erotica, Review, Romance / 18 Comments

LolaReview

AprilApril (Calendar Girl #4)
by Audrey Carlan

Blurb:
Baseball, beer, and a hot boy. Nothing can beat that. Until I meet Mason “Mace” Murphy the next “it” pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and my client. He’s immature, arrogant, sexy as sin, and the last man that’s going to get into my panties. He’s not used to hearing the word no from women, so I’m going to spell it out for him.

N = Not going to happen.

O = Out of your league buddy.

I was hired to cuddle up to the annoying, beautiful athlete, and give prospective advertisers and fans a different view of this hot-shot professional baller.

Only he’s everything I detest in a man all wrapped into a dream package. Baseball player, talented, athletic body, sculpted face, and ass you can bounce quarters off of. Unfortunately, he also believes he’s God’s gift to women, a man-whore, throws money around like it grows on trees, and conceited. The challenge for him, to break down my defenses and get in there. My challenge, avoid hopping in the sack with him at all costs.

***
Mia Saunders continues her mission to save her comatose father from her dangerous, loan-shark ex-boyfriend. This month, she serves as a high-priced escort to a professional baseball player named Mace Murphy in Boston, MA.

Each installment in the Calendar Girl Serial will release every month throughout 2015. The stories will feature Mia’s journey as an escort to twelve clients in twelve different locations.

Warning: This book is designed for audiences 18+ due to language and graphic sexual content.

My Review:
This month Mia is the pretend girlfriend of baseball player Mason. It’s another great book in this series, although I did enjoy it a bit less than the previous ones, not quite sure why. It was pretty hard to like Mason at first, he was rude, a player, treated women badly, drank too much, arrogant and immature. Mia is there to help his image by being his pretend girlfriend and it was great to see the change in Mason. I think the change went a bit fast, but it was believable. He slowly started changing his attitude and it made more sense why he acted that way in the first place. I did like him more at the end after he’s changed, but I didn’t like him as much as Mia her previous clients.

There’s also a plot development and two scenes towards the end of the book which were so predictable and cliché it annoyed me a bit. When the scene started I knew what would happen next and ofcourse it did and even how it got solved was predictable once the set-up scene happened. I understood why the characters acted that way, but I’ve just seen that particular type of scene too often.

Just like in the other books it’s awesome to see what impact Mia has on the life of those she visits and how they in turn help or and become her new friends. In this book Mia not only helps mason, she also get’s a glimpse of the life of a professional baseball play and helps organize a charity auction. We got a small view of the other ball players and a few scenes with those, but it’s mostly about Mason, Mia and Rachel. I really enjoyed the charity event and thought it was great what they accomplished.

We also keep hearing from the previous clients, which I thought was a nice addition as it gives the series a feel of continuity. Both Alec and Wes play a role. There’s also a phone call that Mia has with her best friend Gin, although I agreed with Rachel that it’s weird how they interact, I also think it’s great Mia has such a great friend.

To summarize: I liked this one a bit less than the previous books, but it was still a good book, There’s a nice romance, some sex scenes and new developments in the bigger plot line. I really didn’t like Mason at first, but he changes a lot. I liked seeing Mason change and even Mia learn a few new things again and be able to make a difference in Mason his life and leave the city with two new friends. I also liked how the previous characters and clients continue to play a role.

3-star

Links:
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As this book features a baseball player, tell me about your favourite sports romance book?

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18 responses to “Review: April by Audrey Carlan

    • It has some cliché parts, but it’s a fun series so far. And the writing style/ tone of the book is very well done similar to how the synopsis is written.

  1. A less likable hero and some predictable plot twists…I can see why you enjoyed this installment a bit less than the others, Lola. I am glad that Mason did some growing though, even if it did seem a bit too fast. And I’m glad you’re able to keep tabs on previous heroes. That is a nice touch. 🙂
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Review ~ Facade ~ Nyrae DawnMy Profile

    • It was a good book overall, but I thought the first 3 books were better and it was a tad too predictable. Mason wasn’t as likeable at first, although he definitely grew and when we meet him in one of the later books I did like him more. It’s nice how previous characters keep making an appearance in later books, it’s definitely one of the strong points of this series.

    • I think it’s because I enjoyed the first 3 books so much, the next few books also were 3 stars, but I was less disappointed by those as by then i expected it. I think they want to show the change in Mason in this book and he does change for the best, but he was really annoying at first. It’s really hard to care or like those characters who treat others like crap and I am glad he changed that behavior eventually. In a later book he makes an appearance and I liked him more by then.

    • Let’s say the blurb likes to give the feeling that she jumps into bed with each one, which isn’t the case and I feel like there is an overarching romance so far, not 100% sure yet as I haven’t finished the series.

      It’s just told in a very unique way. And it’s more about Mia her journey and how she helps and changes the lives of those she meets. I do have to say it’s a bit weird at times when you know she won’t stay with the guy and still has sex and that’s just it, but she does really connect with each of them, just in different ways.

      It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s less of a jump into bed each month and have sex and move on type of story than you would expect. There’s a overarching plot and change and so far it’s well done. Not the best series I’ve ever read, but it is enjoyable and I like seeing what kind of people Mia meets and how she will interact with them. I do think the premise would not be for everyone.

  2. I’m never keen on those male leads who are “immature, arrogant, sexy as sin”, because well, that is a cliché too. I like that cover though, so I may check the other volumes in the series.

    • I agree it was very cliché how he acted, but I was glad he did change his ways eventually. We meet this character in a later book and I do like him more then. It is a fun series and I agree the covers are done really well too!

  3. I love seeing characters grow like the hero of this one does, but I could see why you wanted it to be a more believable pace. I like that the previous characters from the other stories are still a little present to remind the reader that it’s a series.

    I love baseball themed romances because it’s my favorite sport to watch. As to favorites, I liked the Katie Rose’s The Heat Is On, Karen Rock’s A League of Her Own, Julie Cross’ Whatever Life Throws At You, and I have my eye on a few others.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Pulling Leather by LC Chase #AudioReviewMy Profile

    • It just seemed like the change went a bit too fast, but as these books all take place during one month and are novella’s, it is understandable it has to move a bit fast. I did like seeing Mason grow and he makes an appearance in a later book and that made me appreciate even more how he changed form the moment we first met him. How the characters return sometimes in later books really enhances the feel that this is a series.

      I don’t really watch sports, but they can be fun to read about. I am reading another sports romance at the moment coincidentally. Karen Rock’s her A League of Her Own is definitely one of my favorite sports romances as well. I haven’t read the others you mentioned, but might check them out.

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