Book Review- Dirty Rich One Night Stand- Lisa Renee Jones

Dirty Rich One Night Stand by Lisa Renee Jones

Adult Contemporary, Courtroom, Suspense. Can stand alone.

Dirty Rich One Night Stand by Lisa Renee Jones is so much more than the cover, title and even the blurb make it seem. I expected hot, light, maybe even romcom, but I got a twisted, highly detailed story of a defense attorney, a murder trial and a reporter. Sure, it was hot, but it was also more, almost too much more by the end.

The story took me TEN days to read. That’s unheard of for me. I think it was partially my mood and partially the length of this book (it was long) but something held me back from just inhaling it in a day. As much as I want to be able to explain why, I just can’t! I loved the storyline, the characters, everything, it just didn’t suck me in until I craved it, you know?

Cat is a former attorney turned journalist. She writes about high profile cases and she has done her homework on Reese, the defense attorney known as “Mr. Hotness”. She wasn’t prepared for his effect on her. And his effect on everyone.

“He takes everyone on an emotional journey. When he’s done, I sit back to assess his skill, and I judge him as a man that can seduce a courtroom as easily as he seduced me.”

Cat is the one who doesn’t want to get involved. I like that he wasn’t a relationship-resistant playboy. He pursued her. But there are some major conflicts. She’s press, there is a publishing deal, and she needs to report impartially. Plus, she has had her heart broken and is guarding it, big time.

I cannot forget how this plays out. The sex is wild, the connection explosive, and then the crash and burn is hard, fast, and painful. I will not fall for Reese “Mr. Hotness” Summer.

But there is no denying the pull between them, and she is an excellent input for his case, sitting and watching the trial every day. Speaking of trial, this story is very much a courtroom story and I really enjoyed that aspect. But there was no shortage of sexy times.

“If I had time,” I say, finishing the sentence in my head with multiple choices: I would fuck you, lick you, punish you with an orgasm you want but can’t have until you see me again. “I have to get to court.”

As I think back over the story I think of all the things I loved about it, but so much of the time I was reading it I would look at my progress and be shocked I had only read 20% or 30%. It just seemed to go so slow! And then there was a whole new thing at the end that almost seemed like a follow up novella, then it jut ended.

There was so much good in this, but it really felt like if an amazing content editor got her hands on this, the story could have gone from really good to GREAT.

“Ask me again.”
“Who am I?”
“Mine,” he says. “You just don’t know it yet.”

Likes:

I really enjoy courtroom cases and scenes.
A smart, feisty heroine.
Very little angst.
As hot as he was, he wasn’t a manwhore.
Intelligent banter.
How they worked together.

Dislikes:

The whole book was about one case, but the main conflict in the story turned out to be something totally unrelated and felt just thrown in.
Way too long. The pacing seemed very off to me, to slow at the beginning and then abruptly ending.
I was told it was a complete standalone and it was clear there were characters from other series (Walker Brothers).
The title does not fit the story.
The cover REALLY doesn’t fit the story (plus she is BLONDE!)
The blurb makes it seem like it takes place after the case, but most of the book is the trial.

The Down & Dirty:

There were so many things I loved about Dirty Rich One Night Stand by Lisa Renee Jones but for some reason, it had trouble grabbing me. Besides the fact that the cover, title and blurb don’t fit the story AT ALL, I feel like this really could have used a good editor that would have cut 100 pages. I almost felt like this could have been split into two books, something I usually dislike, but in this case, it would have worked. I really loved the characters, I enjoyed the story and how they worked together, the sex was hot, but the pacing was off. A good round of editing might have made this a 5 star book for me.