Book Review – Dirty by Kylie Scott

Dirty by Kylie Scott

1st in the new Dive Bar series of related standalones.

I love Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive series, so when I saw she was writing a loosely connected spin-off series, I almost peed in my pants. Honestly, Mal may be one of my favorite book boyfriends ever, so I was totally hoping for more! Note: You do not have to read the Stage Dive Series AT ALL for this, but you may recognize a visitor!

It’s Lydia’s wedding day. She is all ready to walk down the aisle when she gets a text from an unknown sender. A text that left her no option but to get the heck out of there as soon as possible. So she runs. Through the back garden and over a huge fence!

“The pressure that position put on my crotch was not pretty. I swear I could hear my labia screaming, let alone the rest of my girl bits.”

And BAM, I loved Lydia. Her inner voice was awesome and I totally want to hang out with her. To make me like her even more, she is plus-sized, and really shouldn’t be climbing big fences in a wedding dress.

“So much for being plus-size. My extra padding hadn’t cushioned a damn thing.”

On the other side of the fence was a house that seemed unoccupied for a while, so she climbed through the window and cried in the bathtub. When somebody came in and turned on the shower and started tinkling, she realized she had a problem.

Then the shower curtain flew back.
“Shit!” The man was very tall, very naked, and very surprised. He stumbled back a step a hand clutching at the bench behind him, eyes furious and wide. “What the hell?”

Being naked and um…large she had a hard time focusing enough to explain.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was, keeping my eyes on his face. The struggle was real. It might have been due to my not seeing one in so long, but his dick seemed almost hypnotic. The thing had magical powers, I swear. It was so big and mobile, subtly swaying every time he moved. My gaze kept darting down despite my best efforts.”

Teehee, I love Lydia!

Vaughn is a musician that had a run of bad luck. He is back in town only for a short time, and is helping bartend at his sister’s bar, The Dive Bar (but it isn’t a dive at all). He is totally attracted to Lydia and can’t take his eyes off of her chest, but he is still sweet as hell, helping her through her heartbreak, despite the tatted bad-boy appearance. Lydia had JUST had her heart broken, and Vaughn was only in town for a short time, so obviously, friendship was as far as it would go. And I really loved their flirty friend banter!

Since Lydia had just given up her place before the wedding, her job was with her ex, and she was fairly new in town, she was left with nowhere to turn, so when Vaughn brought her to the bar and introduced her to everyone, she fit right in. I really liked the side characters there, and I am interested in reading their books!

One of my favorite parts of Dirty was when a little visitor offered some advice

“Trust me, never mock a romance book…You have no idea the amount of good they can do for you between the sheets and not the streets. If you love your girl? Buy her books.”

I loved Vaughan’s reaction to her body and her shyness about it.

“He stared at my stomach. Fair enough. My belly didn’t so much for me either. Not that I’d put a ban on cheesecake and start jogging. Let’s not go crazy”…
“Don’t so that” he said quietly. You’re beautiful. Every bit of you.”

“I didn’t like you trying to hide parts of yourself from me.” Vaughan stared at the wall. “I’m not like that asshole, picking and choosing which bits of you suit him and expecting you to change the rest. I’m into you, Lydia. All of you.”

I highlighted SO MANY QUOTES! Obviously I don’t want to spoil the book, but I had to share the ones here, because they give you the flavor of the book, of the fun banter and the sweet romance. I have to say though, I felt like the book started out way stronger than it ended. I loved the first half, yet the second felt a bit too rushed, and not enough happened. It dragged a bit for me at one point. But the characters totally saved it.

Likes:

Absolutely LOVED Lydia.
Loved that she was plus sized and had some insecurities about it, but it didn’t rule her life.
Her inner voice cracked me up.
Banter. Banter in spades.
A little cameo.
Vaughn was sexy, hot, tattooed, bad-boy rock star with a sweet and funny side.
I loved Vaughan’s sister and other side characters.

Dislikes:

It lost a little steam for me about halfway through, and the ending just didn’t wow me.

The Down & Dirty:

Dirty by Kylie Scott was a light, fun, sweet, barely-any-angst read. There was Kylie’s signature sweet, funny guy with lots of banter, and a heroine you love and want to be friends with. Though I felt it dragged a little towards the end, there is no question I will be clicking the next because I just love Kylie Scott’s sweet, funny banter, and I can’t wait for more.