Book Review - Shacking Up by Helena Hunting • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Shacking Up by Helena Hunting

Romantic Comedy. Standalone.

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Shacking Up is a new romcom standalone from Helena Hunting. Most of her Pucked books are favorites for me, so I couldn’t wait to meet some new characters she created. One thing I love about her writing is how funny, outspoken and dirty her female characters are, and luckily, Ruby brought the dirty 🙂

“I’m crossing everything that it goes well tomorrow. I’d even cross my vagina lips if they hung low enough.”

Ruby is from a wealthy family, but she is determined to make it on Broadway instead of working for her dad’s erection-extending pharmecutecal company in Rhode Island. As much as she wants to make it on her own, she is struggling, and only 5 days away from losing her apartment, so her audition the following day is the most important of her life. But first she has to attend her best friend’s engagement party.

“Some random guy mistook me for someone else and jammed his tongue down my throat when I was leaving the party. Then he coughed in my face and his date accused me of being a slut.”

Ruby didn’t mean to, but the guy was gorgeous and kissed really well, so she may have accidentally kissed him back. He was so sick and so high on cold medicine, he mistook her for his date when she left the bathroom.

The next morning, when Ruby wakes up for her big audition, she is sick as a dog, and her day only gets worse. Luckily, her best friend’s fiancee has a friend leaving town on business for 5 weeks and needs someone to take care of his pets, so Ruby has 5 extra weeks to come up with a job and an apartment. But in the meantime, the guy she is pet sitting for is the same guy who kissed her and got her sick, so he really owes her.

“His now lopsided grin is making my panties reevaluate their importance in my life.”

Bancroft is also from a wealthy family, but played Rugby for 6 years before joining the family business, so he understands that need to follow your dream, and I love that they related on the same level, as people who grew up in a wealthy family business but don’t want to follow in the footsteps.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind spending time with him, naked, in his bed, playing hide and seek with his penis in my vagina.”

Bancroft loves his pets, but he is totally crushing on his pet sitter, so over lots of facetimes, calls and texts while he was away, the two really got to know each other. And boy, did they flirt! Ladies, this was one slow burn. The couple was apart most of the story, but it was worth the wait. Plus, I loved one of the pets so much! But when they meet again in real life, things may get a little awkward after 5 weeks of flirting.

“Bancroft shirtless is a vision. Bancroft naked is damn well fucking phenomenal. “Oh God, that is huge!” I say when I finally reach the visual destination of Erectiontopia.”

Likes:

Helena’s signature humor where the female has no filter.
I loved the pets and how cool Ruby was about them (I admit, I want one of the pets so badly! The other one? NO.)
Loved how they had similar backgrounds and could relate well.
I love texting in books.
The formatting was great.
I kind of liked the slow burn.
I smiled the whole time.
It seems like Helena set up a great book for Ruby’s friend Amie (or at least I hope so, because her fiancee is a total douchcanoe.)

Dislikes:

I would have liked more together time.
The end felt a little rushed.

The Down & Dirty:

Shacking Up was a fun, sexy romcom with Helena Hunting’s signature humor where the heroine has no filter, which I loved. This was a slow burn, with the couple apart for the first 80% or so of the book, only talking, texting and facetiming. I really loved the slow build, but I would have liked to see more of the in-person connection. While it isn’t the most memorable book, Shacking Up was a solid, fun, quick romcom standalone that I enjoyed in one day.