Flawless by Elsie Silver | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Flawless (Chestnut Springs #1) by Elsie Silver

Narrated by Sebastian York and Emma Wilder

Standalone start to a series. Cowboy romance.

I picked up Flawless by Elsie Silver because it was recommended to me many times at Readers Take Denver. I saw how popular the author was and figured there must be good reason! I am not a big lover of cowboy-type books, but I was looking for something different. Unfortunately I spent the book listening to it and wondering why it felt so familiar! I am sure I read a book with this set-up before (female sent to “babysit” a sports star for her father), but I can’t figure out what book it was and it is driving me crazy. I am not saying she copied or anything, it was just in the back of my mind the whole time and took away a little of my enjoyment. (If you know the book, please let me know!)

Rhett is a professional bull rider whose antics, especially with women, are starting to lose him sponsorships. Summer was raised by a single dad who is Rhett’s agent and she works for him, doing her best to make him proud. Her first big assignment is to keep Rhett under control by moving in with him and his family and pretending to be his girlfriend. Summer had a crush on Rhett growing up, so much that she had a poster of him in her room. But this is her chance to prove herself, so she will absolutely NOT sleep with a client.

Though Summer may be beautiful, Rhett doesn’t want a babysitter, so Flawless starts with a bit of an enemies-to-lovers theme, complete with banter. Then there is lots of smut (that did absolutely nothing for me) and cheesy dirty talk, then the hero gets stupidly macho possessive. Once they were together, I really felt the connection, but I didn’t really feel the build-up.

There was a lot of potential in Flawless, and I can see why people who are new to romance loved it. But as a very seasoned romance reader, the book felt coached. Like a writing coach told her what works in romance novels and she used all the tricks in one book. I enjoyed it, but there was absolutely nothing new in this book that made it stand out to me. Well except maybe the dads (loved them both!).

“Choosing each other. Finding each other. Showing up for each other.
And everything about the moment is flawless”

Likes:

I loved the relationship both main characters had with their fathers.
In fact, I loved both dads.
I loved the text exchanges.
Some really wonderful quotable lines.
I felt the chemistry.

Dislikes:

Some REALLY cheesy/cringeworthy lines and thoughts.
Very formulaic.
Nothing to make it memorable.

The Narration:

You can never go wrong with Sebastian York. I had to speed up Emma Wilder, she seemed slower and softer than in other books she has read.

The Down & Dirty:

I can see why Flawless by Elsie Silver is such a popular book. If I was new to romance I think I would have absolutely loved it as well, but to me it was just the same old thing. Nothing stood out about it. It’s like the author read all the tips on getting a bestselling romance book, and used them all. The elements were there, but the uniqueness was not. If any of the following books are about one of the dads though, I may be easily convinced to read more in the series.