She's no Sleeping Beauty. And he's definitely no prince . . . Margot McCleery could have lived her whole life without seeing Bentley Wellington again-her ex-best friend and the poster boy for Hot, Rich Man-Whores everywhere. But Margot's whiskey-augmented grandmother "buys" Bentley at a charity bachelor auction, and now suddenly he's at her door. Impossibly charming. Impossibly sexy. And still a complete and utter jackass. Bentley's just been coerced by his grandfather to spend the next thirty days charming and romancing the reclusive red-haired beauty who hates him. The woman he abandoned when she needed him the most. Bentley knows just as much about romance as he knows about love-nothing. But the more time he spends with Margot, the more he realizes that "just friends" will never be enough. Now all he has to do is convince her to trust him with her heart . . .

The Playboy Bachelor by Rachel Van Dyken is book two in her Bachelors of Arizona series. Starring Bentley Wellington, well-known playboy, who has just been auctioned off for ten-thousand dollars for charity to see his ex-best friend, Margot McCleery, whom he abandoned when she needed him most. To make things more interesting, Bentley's grandfather coerces him to to spend thirty days charming and romancing the reclusive-Margot and soon things get interesting, as well as, complicated.

With secrets, unshared feelings, and personal demons still haunting them from their pasts, Bentley and Margot have their work cut out for them before they find their happily ever after. It takes a while for each of them to draw each other out of shells and the walls that they have erected, and while I always think that the guys in these stories need to provide more grovelling than they actually do, I suppose we do have to actually move a story along, and that does help to reveal that Bentley has issues of his own, that may have just been hidden under his playboy, tough guy, facade. Another character that stood out for me is Brant and I can't wait to read his book.

Except for Margot and Bentley's propensity to self-sabotage their budding relationship by not communicating (which was frustrating for me at times while reading), this was a pretty good novel.

Overall, The Playboy Bachelor by Rachel Van Dyken is a second-chance romance where Ms. Van Dyken has a flair for giving us characters who we alternately want to strangle and love, and Margot and Bentley fit that part to a "T". I recommend.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review.)

What’s it About? The Playboy Bachelor is a second chance romance between Bentley Wellington and Margot McCleery. Basically a life altering accident lead the former best friends to become enemies and when the story begins they haven’t seen each other in ten years. Margot’s grandmother wins Bentley in a charity auction and sends him to Margot hoping that the two can patch things up and help each other heal. What ends up happening is Bentley and Margot spend a lot of time fighting and then trying to untangle the web of miscommunications, misunderstandings, and assumptions.




Overall reaction to the story? What I thought was going to be a straight up second chance/enemies to lovers romance was actually a complex story about two very broken people who started off as insecure friends and grew into insecure adults who needed to work out their past. New-to-me author Rachel van Dyken created an emotionally challenging and complex story that held me captive from start to finish. I loved the less-than-perfect characters, and the fact that Margot wasn’t physically flawless. The Playboy Bachelor wasn’t without its lighter moments though; there was plenty of heat and humor between Bentley and Margot that balanced out the heavier issues they had to deal with.


Describe the hero in five words: Stubborn. Anxious. Caring. Angry. Intelligent.

Did you like him? Surprisingly yes.

Why? Bentley wasn’t a bad guy, he was a little immature but what mainly motivated his behavior was severe guilt. A bad guy wouldn’t feel guilty but Bentley was living with loads of it all while trying to keep his family together. He had two sides to him, the fake Bentley and the real Bentley. The real Bentley naturally was going to win me over because he was vulnerable, afraid, and not at all like the cocky jerk the world thought he was. He was funny too. It took awhile for that side to come out but when he was the real deal, he was totally irresistible. Who wants a statue for a hero in a book anyway? I loved the real fear and anxiety he had when it came to Margot. He was just as much a mystery as she was.



Describe the heroine in five words: Stubborn. Afraid. Traumatized. Intelligent. Selfish.

Did you like her? Sometimes.

Why? Margot had zero faith in people after her accident and I could see why. Like Bentley, she was suffering from some severe guilt but unlike Bentley, she didn’t have a support system to lean on (Not that Bentley ever did lean on anyone). I understood Margot on a basic level with how insecure she felt about what had happened to her, and I understood how little she trusted people, especially Bentley. However, there were times she was mean to Bentley just for the sake of being mean. She didn’t exactly think before she spoke and while Bentley would lash out at her too he did try to change whereas Margot stayed stuck in the same place until closer to the end. She was only focused on her pain instead of trying to see how he suffered in the past ten years. Margot stubbornly hung on to her assumptions instead of really trying to find out the truth. Of the two characters, Bentley had the most growth and his turnaround time was much more believable than Margot’s almost abrupt about-face.



Let’s talk about the romance: The heat department is the one place Bentley and Margot didn’t need help in. Their chemistry was always there but they were both afraid to really go for it. As much as these two fought, they also cared deeply for one another and I loved how their relationship wasn’t easy to repair. It had realistic ups and downs that could have broken them completely but it didn’t. To me the romance felt pretty real and took a realistic amount of time to develop from a foundation of a broken friendship. It was all pretty emotional and worth the time.


How about that supporting cast? Bentley and Margot spent most of their time alone which was really for the best since they were forced to deal with the past but Bentley’s equally tortured twin Brant made an appearance. Now I’d love to know what’s going on with him because he’s fast on his way to ruining his life and there were only hints of what may have happened with him.


Click It or Skip It? Click It. The Playboy Bachelor is one heck of an emotional war but it’s also a terribly romantic story about forgiveness and second chances.

RVD is a very good writer and this story is no exception. I used to love all her characters but lately she creates these damaged characters and she makes them so damaged that I have a tough time liking them as they start to change and thats how I felt about this story.

I felt this book was very beauty and the beast. Bentley is the Beauty and Margot is the Beast. At times that role seemed to switch between M and B. But this book is very Beauty and the Beast, especially as Bentley is promised a job if he spends 30 days at M's mansion. He also gets a list of things to do to make M live and start to feel things again. Very B&B like.

The B&B aspect I enjoyed. What I did not like is a big spoiler so do not read further if you do not want to know. The story starts 16 years when both M and B are 16. Bentley claims he was in love with M back then but he was also a manwhore. He felt he was not good enough for her and he drowned his feelings in sex and sex and more sex. This is the part that destroyed the book for me and I never forgot in relation to B and M's relationship. While M is injured and almost dies in a car accident, B is having sex with this other girl. Then his brother comes and tells him and he thinks he can't live without her and tries to kill himself. He was just inside this other girl and yet he is so in love he can't imagine a world this other girl is in and tries to hurt himself. It was just horrible and I never forgot that. This is not how you show love on either count and yes I felt like he betrayed M by being with this other girl. As a plot point sex with this other girl was not important and so I don't understand why the author did that to him.

Afterwards he never turns down a woman and he has sex with anything that moves. I mean anything. He even has sex with his brother, twin brother. It was so yucky and gross and I think the went too far. To then turn him into this great guy I wanted M with, well no he was destroyed in my eyes by the way she tries toturn him into this great guy who has loved M all along I did not buy not even a little.

Be still my heart. Just when I didn't think it would be possible to fall in love with Bentley, he goes and keeps me swooning. There are some incredible moments in The Playboy Bachelor in which Bentley steals my heart, including a few scenes where I felt like I was actually swooning. Damn RVD. Then, I *may have* re-read those parts so I could fall harder over a fictional character. ;)

There may have been tears shed over Margot's past, but as always RVD knows just how to make us chuckle when the time is right. I swear she is my go-to author when I need a laugh (see: The Dare). While The Playboy Bachelor is not all hearts and flowers, there are flowers and there is an undeniable love story. Bently and Margot are complex characters with incredible depth. Bentley's siblings make an appearance, as does everyone's favorite Grandma.

This book evokes a kaleidoscope of feelings and I may even like this story more than the first in the series, but I cannot wait for Brant's story. Another fantastic weekend read by Rachel Van Dyken.

★★★★★ Stars

Bentley as a BBF: ★★★★
Heat level: ★★★

This was a lovely second chance romance story from Rachel Van Dyken. It's second in a series of what I'm assuming are stand-alone's since I did not read book one and managed just fine with the The Playboy Bachelor. There was humor and heartbreak, passion and angst throughout the beauty and the beast-esque tale of Bentley and Margot.

Both from prominent and wealthy families Bentley and Margot were best friends throughout high school. Even with all their fortune inevitably misfortune found a way to drive a wedge between the two and now years later they're thrust back into each other's lives thanks to some hilariously menacing grandparents. The set up of the plot I found humorous and fun. The two of these characters together are explosive in both good ways and bad. They work in extremes bringing out not only the best in each other but the absolute worst as well. The way in which their story unravels proved to be entertaining, romantic, and satisfying. Finding out what happened all those years ago and working those demons proved to be captivating. Obviously, this one isn't all hearts and flowers these two put each other through the proverbial ringer and sometimes with much pleasure. The push/pull of their attraction and history makes them very intriguing though.

Van Dyken eloquently penned this story in the third person point of view. She made some bold choices for her characters and did so with compassion, grace, and a brutally honest sensitivity that I found charming and intriguing. There were a few times when both characters went too far with their words and even their actions, you would think, but how they made up for that was great to read. My qualm with the story is that I was a bit disappointed at the ultimate conflict resolution and then the ending because it felt rather abrupt and I'd wished it hadn't.

If you like your second chance romances peppered with angst, witty banter, and a slow burning flame to the romance (plus Van Dyken's mischievous grandparents of course!) The Playboy Bachelor will leave you wanting more Arizona Bachelor goodness to come.

Excellent series! Loved Margot and Bentley's story. He has no idea of the scars, emotional and physical, that Margot bears from the accident that killed her parents. He has turned into a manwhore determined to numb his feelings.

What starts out as a business agreement turns into love for him but when she finds out why he did the things for her he did, will she forgive him?

This book is smokin HOT!!!

Want a story that breaks your heart a million times, but finds a way to glue the pieces back together and make it stronger than it was before?!? This is that book. Tragedy, friendship, love and fear.. this book has it all, not to mention the sexy time scenes..and the cherry on top is grandma Nadine!!! ❤️

I'm seriously amazed that this author is able to make us love all the bad boys, wanna smack the good girls and keeps telling amazing stories that leave you wanting more, EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! There is never a dull moment in Rachel's books and she always leaves you patiently awaiting the next book!!!

I just love this series. Not only does it have my favorite trope in books but it's sweet and funny as well. I can't get enough of the "thrown together/forced together for a reason and then they fall in love" story lines. All though this is usually done with them having to get married but Rachel has put a new spin on it and it works well.

Brantley was just as love-able as Brock was. He wasn't as playboy as I was expecting but his fall was still as good. I love it when they fall hard and I think he did. I have a feeling that Brant will be my favorite one though. I do love a tortured soul and I think he is one.

This one did exceed the first in the series for me. That is only because I didn't care for how close she wrote the last one to its partner fairy tale. It was to Cinderella for me. This one showed enough for it to be compared to its counter part but not enough that it was over the top. Perfectly done Rachel! I can't wait for the next one to be released!

Brently is hot Margot thinks she not. They were best friends one accident changed everything. But grandma Nadine and grandpa Wellington have a plan. And of course any plan to match make always goes as planned right?!? Brently and Margot have got to find not only their friendship again but the love they didn't know they had for each other. This book is sexy, funny, and will make you cry! This is a must read for everyone!

it's all about beauty and the beast lately. i just recently read a different contemporary romance take on the story and i've rewatched the animated movie more times that i can count with my daughter, and i also just went to the movies to see the new live action version. generally speaking, the original story of beauty and the beast is not my favorite. but these modern versions take the highlights and make the stories very much their own.

in the playboy bachelor our beast character is played by margot mccreery, a reclusive romance novelist who was in a car accident and lost one of her legs in the aftermath. she has a history with our hero, bentley wellington. they were best friends in high school, but lost touch after her accident.

what happened then very much influences their present. they carry so much hurt and anger and anguish from that moment in their lives. margot believes that bentley walked away because she was no longer whole. but that's not it at all. the truth is that bentley couldn't live with the idea that margot was hurt, that she almost died. caring for her made him feel too fragile.

and because they both feel so fragile, they are afraid to open themselves to love. but the only way either of them will ever heal is if they let themselves be vulnerable. if they are honest about what they are really feeling. something that sounds so easy, but is actually very hard to do.

these books are written with a light touch, but what i liked about this one was the fact that these characters were actually dealing with some heavy emotional problems. they had to work through things in order to be able to move forward. and what they go through, the way they reach a new understanding of who they are and who they can be together is really satisfying.