More Please

"I would like the record to show that Trina experienced one suspicious family dinner, one cancelled future, one absolutely useless fiancé, one father who deserves to be returned without a receipt, one half-million-dollar marriage contract, one borrowed wheelchair, one weaponized makeup kit, and a first kiss powerful enough to make Damien attempt to cancel dinner entirely. That is an unreasonable amount of chaos for approximately one day, so naturally I need chapter fifteen. Trina won me over completely. After being betrayed by nearly everyone she trusted, she refuses to become helpless. She reaches for her makeup kit, transforms herself into Damien’s supposed worst nightmare, and walks into that house prepared to make him regret every financial decision he has ever made. I support women’s rights, but on this occasion I am also prepared to support Trina’s carefully contoured wrongs. What makes her truly lovable, however, is the compassion beneath all that determination. The moment she sees Damien’s wheelchair, she changes her plan because she cannot bring herself to torment someone she believes may already be struggling. She offers him friendship, tries to help him upstairs, stays beside him, cooks for him, and worries about his comfort while her own life is falling apart. She is funny, stubborn, vulnerable, and much kinder than any of these men currently deserve. Damien, meanwhile, borrowed a wheelchair without considering the existence of stairs and then looked genuinely surprised when his new wife expected him to use it. Sir, this was your plan. He is arrogant, possessive, jealous, mischievous, and far too entertained by making Trina flustered. His jealousy over David was wonderfully ridiculous, especially while he continued insisting that he was simply being the “bigger man.” Apparently being calm, generous, and completely unbothered involves threatening to send your bodyguard out of town because he touched your wife’s injured hand. I particularly liked the moments when Damien’s performance slipped. His panic when Trina was bleeding, his honest apology afterward, and his decision to slow things down when their attraction became overwhelming showed something softer beneath all his games. He is still going to owe Trina one spectacular explanation when those legs miraculously recover, but I am enjoying watching him fall for the woman beneath her disguise before he has any idea what she really looks like. The changing POVs make the deception even more entertaining because we get to watch both of these supposedly clever people misunderstand each other while becoming increasingly attached. Trina thinks she is hiding her beauty. Damien thinks he is hiding his ability to walk. Neither of them is successfully hiding the fact that they are already completely fascinated by each other. And now James and Hazel are coming to dinner? If this is the same James, I would like a seat at the table, a large dessert, and permission to ask several extremely impolite questions. Hazel complaining that her makeup artist disappeared while preparing to meet the disguised Trina is precisely the kind of approaching disaster I enjoy. Five stars. The romance is funny, chaotic, surprisingly tender, and filled with enough deception to keep me suspicious of everyone. Now please serve dinner before Damien finds another excuse to cancel it. "