The RSVP by Lauren Blakely

Narrated by Vanessa Edwin and Joe Arden

Lauren Blakely is always a top 5 author for me. Her books never fail to be smart, sexy and entertaining, but although I enjoyed it, The RSVP just didn’t quite live up to all of the others for me. I don’t mind an age gap romance, I was in one for over 30 years, so that wasn’t really my problem, it just lacked the maturity of her other books.

I don’t even bother reading Lauren Blakely blurbs anymore, so maybe the Virgin Society Series name should have tipped me off, but it’s been a while since I read a new m/f romance from Lauren so I just grabbed it.

Harlow has had a crush on Bridger, her father’s 30-year-old business partner for years, and decided to go after him in any way she can as soon as she turned 21. Lauren’s characters are usually more mature with more life experience, and I just felt that Harlow was very immature and sheltered (but she is only 21). She went after Bridger with no thought to what it would do to his career and she felt very calculating to me.

That being said, after I got over that, I did enjoy the story. It was a slow-burn, and the whole virgin thing wasn’t really such a big part of the storyline. I enjoyed reading about Bridger’s job producing TV shows, and I rooted for the couple in the end.

Likes:

The story kept me listening late into the night.
I love an age gap story.
I enjoyed reading all about the TV streaming industry.
I loved Bridger.
I love the paperback covers of this whole series.

Dislikes:

I hated her dad so much, and I’m mad that he never really paid for his indiscretions.
She felt very calculating and manipulative in her quest to get Bridger, to the point that she could have ruined his career.
One of the things I love about LB’s books are the women are usually as powerful (career wise) as the men, in this case Harlow is just interning at the company to get near Bridger.

The Narration:

Lauren Blakely sure knows how to pick the best narrators for her characters! Vanessa Edwin and Joe Arden dis a fantastic job as Harlow and Bridger.

The Down & Dirty:

The calculating way Harlow went after Bridger just never sat right with me, it made her seem even more immature than her age and virginal status. Once the couple got together I enjoyed the story much more, but I’ve read over 50 books from Lauren, and this one just wasn’t really for me. As a mature woman, I was thinking maybe I will sit out the rest of the Virgin Society series, but then I read the blurb for The Tryst and realized it wasn’t the virgin or age thing that bothered me, I just like when the man pursues the woman and not the other way around.