I have to say first off that this is my first Rachel Van Dyken book and I am happy to say it won’t be my last.

Margot McCleery lost everything in a blink of an eye, her parents, her best friend, and part of her leg. Everything changed which caused the bookworm to become reclusive, but also a successful romance author, which lucky for her didn’t require her to leave her house. Then when her former best friend Bentley Wellington shows up on her doorstep – having been bought at a bachelor auction to be hers for a weekend the anger and hurt feelings that she never really dealt with resurface. Now the boy is a man, a man with a womanizing reputation – a man she is still in love with.

Bentley Wellington lost everything (or so he thought) the day he was told about Margot’s accident. It’s something he never has truly recovered from which has lead him down a path of heavy drinking and lots of women. His grandfather trying to get Bentley into the family business sets him up to stay with Margot not for just a weekend as originally intended but for 30 days. Now Bentley is forced to come to terms with who he really is and want he wants and the impact those choices have made on Margot the girl he still loves.

First, have to say I loved the characters – Bentley and Margot are not cookie cutter rich millionaires who lead perfect lives. Both have had a lot of pain and heartache and need to come to terms with that before they can move forward. The dialog between the two characters was fantastic – along with being told in dual 3rd person POV’s both were so well written. I did feel that somethings were never really fully explained – especially around Bentley and what he knows about Margot’s accident. I thought it was strange that his grandfather and twin brother who both knew the truth never explained why they didn’t say anything. Speaking of twin brother – Brant is another character that we meet who is living in the dark. Loved getting to know him and with the next book in the series about him can’t wait to read it.

All in all, I do recommend The Playboy Bachelor – the characters and love story is so worth the time.

I love Rachel's books and this is another great one! This was a wonderfully emotional read with great depth and endearing characters. It wasn't what I expected but still a great read.

This has nothing to do with reviewing the book but does anyone else wonder what Rachel Van Dyken's family is like?! She must seriously have a hilarious and meddling relative hiding in the shadows of her world.  I think I'd pay to join them for a family outing!!​

Anyway, I'm back with the latest from The Bachelors of Arizona series or a little book world I like to call my happy place. These are some of my most favorite characters. I find them to be hilarious and clever as well as hella swoon worthy. I really love these books!

The grandparents are back at it again with The Playboy Bachelor.  This time around Bentley was purchased by a grandmother at a bachelor charity auction as a long weekend date with his former best friend, Margot.

Nothing goes as planned.  These two share a painful past and a lot to overcome which they initially pretend to work on to meet the stipulations put in front of them.  But the reality of the situation is that they both miss one another and desperately wish they could correct their mistakes.  Soon the feelings and lust which emerges between these two is too difficult to ignore.

And my heart swooned every time they got it right and surrendered to one another.  I loved how well these two fit together.  I was rooting them on for the most of the book.  I wanted their happily ever after.

The Playboy Bachelor is an emotional and hilarious journey, which I absolutely adored.  I thought the way the story unfolded was entertaining as hell.  It had a nice balance of angst with romance.

This series is just getting better and better, I love this book. Rachel always gets me the hottest guys in the most interesting circumstances and I keep wanting more. Margot had an accident that changed her life, Bentley is her best friend who never showed up to support her. Then comes her grandmother who gets her Bentley at a charity auction, for her to spend a whole weekend with him. Friendship, turned to hate morphed into ... well, go find out. I can also say that I can't wait for Brant's book.

Wonderfully sweet, beautifully touching at times and buckets full of fun.

Rachel Van Dyken is un-paralleled in her ability to redeem the seemingly unredeemable Hero's.

I loved this book...I swear this series keeps getting better and better! Now I can't wait for the next book...which is a long long way away!

Emotional, enchanting and sweetly romantic!

This is a second chance romance that combines the pompous, rich Bentley and the lonely, scarred Margot in a well-crafted plot full of entertaining hijinks, deep introspection, exquisite tension, palpable chemistry, sexy innuendoes and unconditional love.

The characters, including a whole slew of meddling supporting characters are intriguing, likeable, funny and well developed. And the writing use a past/present style to create an engaging, lighthearted tale about letting go, being brave and learning to trust that will definitely leaving you smiling by the end.

Once again Van Dyken has written a modern-day fairy tale that has a lot of heart and has the handsome prince not only bringing the beautiful princess back to life but finally getting the girl he let slip away.

This is the second book in the “Bachelors of Arizona” series and what a great series it is shaping up to be.

Thank you to Forever Romance - Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another 5-star read for a Rachel Van Dyken book. I find her storytelling to be engaging and easy. The world created is believeable; I found myself thinking about Bentley and Margot at times when I had to adult and could not continue reading. This is the second book in the series, but I was given enough details in the book to be with the characters on every step of their journey. The story was seamless with characters that are intelligent and will worm their way into your heart quickly. Without giving any spoilers, the back story was clearly identified in the book and was just enough to give the details needed without taking over the story.

I have found myself thinking about Bentley and Margot days after I finish the book. I have wondered how their story will continue and will definitely read book 3 in this series!

Ahh! The highly anticipated follow-up to The Bachelor Auction. This book certainly focused on the emotional connection between ex-best friends. Van Dyken took a character who comes across as completely unredeemable, careless, and hedonistic and shows that the good guy is just buried under layers of pain, scars, and fear. What's more is that she does it in a manner that you don't fully realize how much you love Bently until you're head over heels for him.

Margot ticked me off a bit on how she hid behind all of her hurt. I was thankful for Bently and Margot's grandmother for their meddling. An appropriate catalyst to elicit the best possible response.

Of course, I can't help but squee with delight because we get a glimpse of the mastermind Nadine (gosh, what a wonderful character who has crossed over into so many different Van Dyken novels). She is a powerhouse who adds the perfect dose of levity and snark to any situation.

This was cute. Good but I wasn't blown away by it.

The Playboy Bachelor is the second book in the Bachelors of Arizona series and its main lead happens to be one of the twin brothers from the first book. This is a friends to enemies to lovers storyline with both the leads knowing each other as teenagers and kind of losing their friendship after a tragic accident. Now because of their interfering grandparents they are forced to spend time together despite not being in touch for over ten years. This time around they can't deny the attraction that seems to have survived the years.

Although this book can be read as a standalone, I think the main lead Bentley would be better appreciated if readers will have a better appreciation of his past. This was tackled well in the first book, The Bachelor Auction. Otherwise the motivation for his behavior appears kind of all over the place. Otherwise this was a fun, sexy often times witty romance that take the theme of Beauty and the Beast into a different direction.

4 Stars!
“He might be a runner. But she was a hider.”
This is the second book in the series and it features Bentley’s story. I’ve been curious about his story since the Bachelor Auction so I’m so glad he’s getting his own story!
The first book really had a fairy tale spin to it; it had a Cinderella theme. I was expecting another fairy tale theme, but I honestly couldn’t see one. Nonetheless, it was a sweet read.
So the premise of the story is Bentley and Margo used to best friends until an accident. Margo lost everything in that accident: her parents, her leg, and her best friend. Since then she’s turned into a recluse, shunning herself from the world. She harbors hate and hurt for years because she never knows why Bentley abandoned her in her time of need. Years later, Bentley is bought by her grandma at an auction with the hope of reuniting them. Can Margo forgive him? Why did he leave her all those years ago?
There are a lot of good things about this story. First, I love the reminiscing of their young friendship and blooming love. It’s one of my favorite things to read and I enjoyed getting peeks of how Margo and Bentley as kids. I actually wish there was a little more. I also really like Margo. She is definitely a flawed character, but in a realistic way. Losing her leg destroys her self-esteem and I find her feelings relatable. Her character shows complexity in how her mind works.
Bentley is also a good character. He is frustrating and complex in his own way…I suppose the guy kind of way. While I understand his reasoning for abandoning Margo, I was frustrated at times because it also doesn’t really make sense. His lack of action and his man-whoring ways are just stupid, but at the same time I can understand his insecurities and the turmoil he has within. I suppose he demonstrates human nature and our confusing actions. I will admit that as frustrating as he is, I also find myself enamored by him. Inside he really does have a very good heart with the best intentions. When he wants to be charming, he can melt your panties!
There was definitely push and pull from both sides prolonging their ultimate get together, but the process of them falling in love again was still quite beautiful.
If you’re looking for a cute and easy read, then this is your book. Happy reading!

**Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

*Video Review - https://youtu.be/5X8KRKMZ_8s *

Margot is a recluse who has hid from the world ever since her accident 10 years ago. Bentley has drowned out the world with women and alcohol ever since his demons came to life 10 years ago. In this book we have two characters that had their life changed in so many ways after Margot got into an accident that took the life of her parents and her leg.

I loved that we had some representation for a disability in this book. It can't be easy to have a limb amputated and Margot goes though some very serious issues because of her embarrassment, insecurities and shame over her missing leg. She has turned into a shut in who wants nothing to do with anybody. She went through a big loss and she blames herself for the death of her parents. She also deals with depression and pulls herself away from a life she doesn't think she deserves.

Bentley deals with anxiety, almost losing Margot 10 years earlier was traumatic for him and he dealt with the fear by distracting himself with different women and getting drunk.

These two people fell out of touch after the accident and neither knows what the other has been through over the past 10 years. They are now thrust back into each others life by outside forces. They are forced to spend time together and Bentley is tasked with the job of getting Margot out and into the world to start living the life that she still has.

I really loved these characters so much and they both had such a solid foundation. Both of them had their issues which I really appreciated. They weren't perfect and they are both incredibly stubborn, which is always entertaining.
I really felt like Margot was portrayed in such an amazing way. She has dealt with so much over the years from loosing her parents to having to learn how to live with one less leg. She does hide away from society because of everything that happened and it was done in a very believable way. Margot seems very lost and she has no one in her life that she will let help her which I can see happening after someone losing so much.
Bentley is different, he doesn't hide away from the world but he does put on this mask that he is okay when he clearly is not. He has a lot of internal struggles and guilt over things that have happened in the past. His character is one that you don't really find out exactly what happened to him in response to Margots accident until a little later in the book. I did enjoy finding out more and more about him as the book progressed and seeing him struggle with being around Margot again and the resistance to falling for her he dealt with.
I just loved watching these two people who were such a big part of each others past comes together, forgive each other and help to move on from the past and help each other heal.

I can't wait to read the other books in this series!

Bentley and Margot's story was great!They have sexy and fun moments and the drama was in the perfect ammount to make the story even better!

I'm such a big fan of Rachel's and love her writing, I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed this book. I was hooked in book one and love to get more of the brothers stories. Book 2 didn't disappoint. Cant wait till the next one!

***4 ‘Hello Whiplash’ Stars***

I’ve been wanting to dive into this one for awhile, but the schedule ~ both the TBR & Life ~ wouldn’t allow it until now and holy hell can we say batsh&tcrazy emotional rollercoaster ride goodness?!? I swear Bentley and Margot gave me whiplash, they did, but I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I had to see how these two found their way back to each other while overcoming their own demons and I wasn’t disappointed. It was definitely a crazy emotional ride, but one that was worthwhile.

I know that this has happened before, but I spent an equal amount of time wanting to hug Bentley and Margot while wanting to smack them upside the head. In fact there were many times I wanted to do both at the same time because I could empathize with them but wanted to yell at them to grow a pair. They both have a slew of demons riding them hard, aren’t willing to face them head on and instead have put themselves into their own prisons and thrown away the key, but they have huge hearts that just need that chance to shine.

What I found interesting was that while their story was a take on the Beauty and the Beast tale, my fave fairytale of all time, there was no clear delineation of who was Beauty and who was Beast, they actually flip flopped the roles between them constantly. It sounds strange, but that’s how I saw them. They both were Beauty and Beast and needed the other to push them into becoming who they were always meant to be. The journey was a rocky one and oh so frustrating, I swear there were times when I thought they were still teenagers, but it was also extremely satisfying to see them both become stronger. The connection between them, on all levels, was undeniable and I was very happy when they both finally pulled their heads out of their a$$es and got their sh&t together.

This one left me emotionally exhausted, but it was totally worth it. I was hooked from the start, actually I was hooked when their story was introduced towards the end of The Bachelor Auction, and enjoyed how everything played out. I love and adore Charles, Nadine and Prudence ~ how can you not love how sneaky, ruthless and well meaning they all are (and I’m still chuckling over the whole "Are you drunk?" "I had the whiskeys, yes." and will definitely be finding ways to use it) and while I’m looking forward to Brant’s book I know it’s going to be even more of a roller coaster ride than this one was, so I will need to mentally prepare for it.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breathe away” – author unknown

The Playboy Bachelor took my breath away! I “officially” took the plunge into my first Rachel Van Dyken book and it was breathtaking.
Margot, a redhead book worm is a renowned best seller romance novelist, lives a reclusive shut-in life since her accident as a teenager. Bentley Wellington is a single and wealthy playboy living the high life and always the top post in the gossip mags. Bentley in her past was her best friend whom she had a secret crush as a teenager.

The Playboy Bachelor Book Review | The Kink Report
Years later their grandparents are playing matchmaker in the most unusual way. Margot’s grandmother, Nadine Titus, purchase Bentley in a charity bachelor auction for $10,000 to spend time with her lonely and reclusive granddaughter Margot. Bentley’s grandfather blackmails him with the VP of Marketing job to spend 30 days with Margot. A weekend turns into a 30-day internship. He must complete 5 tasks and the job is his. Poor Bent. It was not as easy as he thought.
• Do not kiss, seduce to make advances on Margot
• Do not tell Margot about the list
• Don’t force a friendship
• Make her laugh
• Give her something priceless with meaning.

As stolen moments turned into days, he wants his best friend back, e.g. best friend with benefits. Spending time with Margot is a peek behind the curtain how life would have been if Bentley had made different choices as a younger man. Bentley is broken, irresistible and charming. Don’t be surprise if you find yourself on Team Bent’s side. I was glad to spend a few hours with him and championing his cause to win the heart of THE ONE that got away.
It’s a delicious tale about the power of friendship and second chances. A perfect blend of hilarious and hottness! The emotions you will feel when reading The Playboy Bachelor are real, beautiful and memorable. It’s why I stayed up late past my bedtime reading. Spend a few hours with them, it will leave you feeling good.

Reader Tip: This is a stand alone contemporary romance. It can be fully enjoyed without reading Book #1, The Bachelor Auction . I will continue to read this swoon-worthy series.

Loved it! This is one of the examples of why romance is so addicting. Smart dialogue, chemistry that bubbles off the page, and a plot and dialogue that makes the reader really work for their HEA. I loved the characters, loved it when they were together.

I would definitely recommend and so far this month, the best book I've read.

3.75 stars--THE PLAYBOY BACHELOR is the second installment in Rachel Van Dyken’s contemporary, adult THE BACHELORS OF ARIZONA romance series focusing on the Wellington brothers-Brock, Bentley and Brant. This is romance author Margot McCleery, and Bentley Wellington’s story line- a second chance/friends to lovers romance that saw two people destroyed by fear and fate.

Told from several third person perspectives including Bentley and Margot THE PLAYBOY BACHELOR is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast but the Beast is our heroine- a woman who has secluded herself since the accident that claimed the lives of her parents, and sent our heroine into a world governed by the romance novels she writes. When Margot’s grandmother wins the services of Bentley Wellington at the recent bachelor auction for charity, Margot’s well-ordered and secluded life begins to spiral out of control when the man that she has loved for most of her life, but hasn’t seen in close to ten years, is forced to spend thirty days in the same house with the woman he pushed out of his life. What ensues is the rekindling friendship, relationship and romance between two people broken by mistaken beliefs, and a ten years of heartbreak and pain.

The relationship between Bentley and Margot is one of second chances. Margot’s life changed the day her parent’s died; not only did Margot blame herself for the accident but when her best friend disappeared from her life, Margot found herself alone, wallowing in depression, trying to recover from the loss. But Bentley Wellington had a difficult time with the accident that almost killed the young woman that he loved, and in the ensuing weeks found himself struggling to comprehend where everything went wrong. For ten years Bentley buried himself in alcohol and women finding neither solace nor comfort for the pain of losing the only woman he would ever love. Margot and Bentley never again made contact, and in the ensuing time, anger and heartbreak festered into self-loathing, and darkened dreams. The $ex scenes are mostly implied or fade to black.

There is plenty of back and forth banter (both negative and positive) that ricochets between the leading characters adding some humorous moments between hostile aggression and heartbreak.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Bentley’s struggling twin Brant Wellington, and their elder brother Brock whom we met in book one-The Bachelor Auction. Bentley’s grandfather returns, alone with Margot’s grandmother as the two continue to play matchmakers for their heartbroken grandchildren. Brant’s story is next in the Bachelor Contract.

THE PLAYBOY BACHELOR is a story of second chances; of miscommunication, mistaken beliefs, and broken promises; of consuming loss, and impulsive decisions. The premise is passionate; the romance is challenging; the characters are broken and struggling.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

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