Review: The Test

The Test by Tawna Fenske
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

True story, I was going to read the new Sarah Ballance book, but I had just finished another contemporary English romance so decided to read this instead. But then forgot my decision. So I'm reading this thinking "wow, Sarah has really gone in a different direction with this series!". Anyhoo.

Lisa Michaels is an interior designer in Portland. Her long-term relationship with a wealthy stockbroker ended six months ago when he left her at the altar and she is rethinking her entire lifeplan, lifestyle choices and instincts. Sitting in a hipster bar with her two sisters her eye is caught by a guy the exact opposite of her ex. This guy, Granite Ass as she calls him in her head, is big, muscular, heavily tattooed and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. When he comes over and starts flirting with Lisa she makes a split-second decision to do the opposite of her instincts and, just for once, experience life with a bad boy.

Dax Kensington might look like a biker thug, he might even tell people that he is a steelworker, he most definitely was brought up in a trailer but he has also made a ton of money inventing a steel-walled reusable water bottle. He initially mistakes Lisa for his bitchy ex-girlfriend but hey if this snooty blonde wants to have some kind of revenge sex with a bit of rough he has no objections.

What starts out as a one-night stand walk on the wild side soon morphs into the most intense experience Lisa has ever had, and Dax is nothing like she imagined. So she proposes an experiment, The Test, in which she will do the opposite of her usual choices. Swap a night at the Opera schmoozing potential clients for a night in a biker bar - you get the idea, and she asks Dax if he will help her.

This is a Scorched imprint so there are plenty of smexy times as Lisa and Dax explore her wild side, and yet it is also a sweet romance where Dax and Lisa discover how much they like talking and laughing together, but will either of them have the courage to suggest their relationship could last longer than the 30 day Test? Or are they really too different to have a long term chance?

I was totally engrossed by this sexy yet sweet romance. I see that it is the second in a series but you can totally read this as a stand-alone (having said that, how did I miss the first book?). Dax and Lisa are such likeable characters, I just wanted to grab Dax all to myself.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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