I'm not going to lie, this is hard to write. The story has a pretty good start, but the romance just isn't there and I struggled reading this book. I couldn't understand how Claire and Rake connect because I just didn't feel it. As a mater of fact, I couldn't get into any of the characters. The story never spoke to me and by the half way mark, I just wanted it to end.

I was so excited for this book, but it sadly fell flat for me. The writing at times is difficult to follow. The author interjects the characters’ thoughts into the story in italics and parenthesis, but does so in the middle of a sentence. It can be really confusing at times.

While this book does have a romance, the majority of the plot is a “mystery” of a con. As the reader, we spend most of the book very confused. It comes together at the very end, but I was mostly just glad that it was over.

2.5 stars
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

The Love Scam is the second book in Mary Janice Davidson’s Danger series. Rake Tarbell is a free wheeling, fun loving, heavy drinking, life of the party, under 30 millionaire. When he awakens extremely hungover in a hotel, he finds his clothes and goes to figure out where he is and seek out some crackers and ginger ale. What he finds is a fall into a Venice, Italy, canal, and a beautiful woman with a child in tow she claims is his. He also finds his wallet gone, his phone at the bottom of the canal, no hotel key or idea where he had been, and is soaking wet and covered in the waste of the canal.

The lovely lady, Claire Delaney, takes pity on him and allows him to come to her hotel, take a shower, have a meal, and sleep on a pull out sofa. She also has him help her with some charitable projects while he tries to figure out how it is that all his credit cards had been cancelled and his bank accounts drained.

Getting very ill from his dunk in the canal, his daughter Lilith takes care of him and they bond. When some strange man tries to kidnap her in the hotel hallway, he stops it in a most dramatic way, saving Lilith, who just me be his salvation.

This is a very quirky and unusual tale with an understory and unexpected turns in events! In fact, in the beginning I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. But once I was invested I found it to be worth every moment I spent reading it! I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!

This was super scattered in the writing. I get that I read an uncorrected copy, but I have a feeling that even a fully edited, finished copy would be the same sort of haphazard, random writing style. Aside from how unbelievably long it took me to get used to that, this story was strange and funny and actually very sweet.

Rake wakes up in a hotel room he doesn't recognize COMPLETELY hungover. He has no idea where he is or what has happened. Soon, he discovers he is in Venice... only when he accidentally falls into the sludge filled waters of the Grand Canal. Standing before him when he pulls himself from the water is a woman and a small child, whom she claims he is the father of.

From there, it is just a mishmash of crazy events and lots of vomiting. A lot of very funny things are said, mostly by Rake who is like an adorable puppy. He lives the life of luxury but his bank accounts have all been bled dry. He doesn't know how this sweet child could be his. He has to backtrack to find out what happened to him... Along the way, he falls for the woman, Delaney... This was a really bizarre book that I am really unsure if I enjoyed or not. And, because of that, this is the most non-concise review I think I have ever written.

I really wanted to like this-it sounded kind of zany-bad boy millionaire wakes up in Venice at the mercy of endearingly helpful Claire and a surprise child but I just didn't. I'm not sure if it was the stream of consciousness writing style that others have noted or if it was just that many of the characters appeared to have big back stories. These back stories were either never addressed or else there were other books by the same author that were referenced. I honestly wasn't sure whether reading the other books would have helped or hindered my enjoyment. I did finish it however so I was somewhat invested in finding out what was going on.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in return for my honest review.

2.5 stars
Sometimes an idea sounds so great; a set of twins:
one a playboy, rich and carefree, and the other supposedly the Good one. What if the playboy rich one is taken to Venice, Italy, wakes up not knowing how he got there, all his money stolen from his accounts, and there is a your girl who is supposed to be his daughter. Oh, and there is a friendly lady who tells him about the girl.

Somehow this story had some moments but for me, I missed what I thought I was getting.

DNF at 12%

I think this is probably a good book, however the writing style was not for me. It felt all scattered

I didn't realize this was the second book in a series when I requested it, and maybe if I had read the first book I would have connected with the characters better. But instead after getting 10 chapters into the book I had no idea what was going on or who anyone was. I'm giving it 2 stars because maybe with the context of the first book this would have been a really fun read, but it's not the right book for me.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rake is the naughty twin and his brother Blake is the nice twin - sort of. After a drunken night, Rake finds himself inexplicably in Venice, Italy and penniless which is an adjustment for a millionaire. He is taken in by Delaney, a private investigator who hunted Rake down as the potential baby-daddy of the now orphaned Lilith..

I really wanted to love this book because I have previously enjoyed this author very much. Her characters and humor are delightful but the plot is not great. There are multiple plots and subplots and the dots just didn’t connect between it all. This is the second in a pair of stories (Blake got his story in the first book) so maybe that was the problem- it felt like half the story was missing in this one. I still love this author but this book was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy that allowed me to provide a review.

This is such a unique book! A little romance with a side of intrigue, written as a zany rom-com - that just about sums it up, but then there's Venice and a very precocious 8-year-old, who might have been my favorite character in the whole thing. The writing style took a little getting used to, but I ended up really enjoying it. I'd definitely read the next in the series. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advance digital copy!

The Love Scam by MaryJanice Davidson is the 2nd book in her Danger series. I did not know there was a first book in this series, and after having completed this book, it could have made a difference, though I doubt it. I have read a couple of other series by Davidson and enjoyed her humor, even in serious situations. However, in The Love Scam, I did have mixed feelings, which I will explain a bit later in this review.

Rake Tarbell, our playboy hero, wakes up with a hangover, in a strange room; not knowing where he was, he walks out and ends up falling into the water. He is in Venice, Italy, and has no idea how he got there from California; to make matters worse, Rake has no money, and in his hangover state, throws his wallet into the water (never to be seen again), and when he tries to check his account, all the money is gone.

Claire Delaney, our heroine, comes across a dripping wet Rake and offers to help him. She introduces him to a young girl, who she claims is his daughter. She tries to explain that her deceased friend told her to bring the girl to her father (Rake?). She knows more than she is letting on, and manages to take Rake to get his clothes and go to a hotel, where they can try to resolve everything. What follows is an adventure that took them on a wild goose chase through Venice, with Delaney slowly beginning to fall for someone she never imagined she could, as Rake has a terrible reputation with the ladies. I did like the young girl, Lilith, who was not only cute, but very smart. This was a wild crazy story that was funny at times, but also very confusing. I thought the first half of the book a bit too crazy, not really liking either Rake or Delaney; as I had to put the book down a number of times after losing interest. However, the last ½ of the book, the story line did get better.

We learn that Delaney has unique skills, and Lilith is hiding some secrets, which does change the game. Rake, Delaney, Lilith find themselves in danger, as people are looking for them. We ask ourselves why??

The Love Scam was a plot filled with shenanigans, as well as a bit zany and at times funny. I did struggle with the scattered story line, but as I said the story does calm down and get better towards the end. The romance between Rake and Delaney got hotter towards the end, but again I was not vested into this couple. There were a number of surprises, twists and a little excitement; and the fun begins when the truths are revealed. I have enjoyed Davidson’s snarky and fun dialogue in the previous books, but I did find this book to be a bit confusing. If you enjoy a zany comedic story line, you should try The Love Scam.

This book had me laughing in many places as I watched Rake stumble through the book not knowing what was going on...or did he?  Maybe he was smarter than we give him credit.  The rest of the characters are multifaceted and show you want they want you to see.  Delaney is a tough cookie but has a softer side that she lets very few people see.  Lillith is very precocious and smarter than anyone can even imagine.  There is a slew of other characters that help round out the story and bring in some interesting aspects.

Besides the romance and comedy, there is a little bit of mystery.  Who are these men that keep following Rake and Delaney?  Why are they following them?  What do they think that Rake and Delaney know and are keeping a secret?  The answer is intriguing and the ensuing events are somewhat comical.

There are references to another book, Danger Sweethart.  I have not read this book so was a bit lost on those references, but since I have read the synopsis of that book, I realize it is Blake's story that we discover a smidgeon of in this book.  Let's just say, Nonna Tarbell is sticking her nose into their business.

It is very important that if you read this book to read the author's notes at the beginning.  Otherwise, you might be confused while reading this book.  There is a lot of sub-dialogue (inner thoughts) and it can be a little confusing until you realize to read the part in parentheses after the sentence is finished.  It is this inner dialogue that cracked me up the most.

I enjoyed this book and now want to go back and read Danger Sweethart to discover Blake's story.

We give this book 4 paws up!

The story had potential but I was definitely confused within the first few chapters. I had a hard time connecting with the characters but there were some fun banter between Rake and Claire. I found the story a bit "busy" and really tried to love it!

I am sad to say that I didn't finish this book. I rarely DNF a book, but this was one where I gave it the good ole college try and just couldn't get into it. Rake from the beginning was a douchebag who I couldn't care less about and because of that I couldn't follow him on his journey to figure out how he ended up in Venice. He was more than an unreliable narrator, he was annoying. Claire was confusing and I just couldn't figure out her MO and I wasn't intrigued enough to read on to find out. I am all for a romance book where mystery is sprinkled in, but this one was a mystery in and of itself.

Rake Tarbell is a very rich man from California. Why then, is he climbing out of a canal in Venice with no memory of how he got there, much less in a canal with no money, no cellphone and, no wallet??!!
Clare Delaney is conveniently there when Rake pulls himself out of the canal and happily agrees to help him get himself together and, get a new cellphone. Problem is that Clare has a reason for doing what she's doing. She has to help Lilith find her father and, she has to keep Rake from realizing that his grandmother has a very good reason for pulling the nuclear option against Rake and his twin, Blake.
This was a delightful romp that i thoroughly enjoyed reading!
You'll love it!

This was a fun romance. The author deliberately tried to get in as many romance tropes as she possibly could and even has an index of when each one appears.

The story begins when a man named Rake Tarbell wakes up with a massive hangover in a hotel room. He feels awful and has no idea where he is. He also has no wallet. He stumbles out of his hotel room and finds himself falling into a canal which lets him know that he is in Venice.

He is fished out of the canal only to find himself confronted by Claire Delaney who tells him that the child with her is his daughter Lillith. An unknown child is all he needs to make his horrible day even worse.

But that isn't the end of it. Once Rake manages to find a place with free wi-fi, he learns that he is also broke. The millions he had are missing from all his accounts. He can do nothing but throw himself on Claire's mercy. Claire is keeping a number of secrets from him. She has a mysterious past and her present actions are filled with mystery too.

This was a fun story. Romance fans will enjoy identifying all the tropes as they appear and be satisfied with a great romance along the way.

I definitely see what this book was trying to do, but I think overall the story fell a little bit flat with behind the hangover esque, playboy hangover, you have a kid! Surprise! of it all. It was definitely a cute story and I got a few great chuckles out of it, but I felt i was so busy trying to follow what was going on I couldn't fully immerse in the story.
Overall though it is a light romantic fun story, just be prepared to have to pay attention!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this romantic ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

The Love Scam by MaryJanice Davidson is a kooky book where the male main character is not the nicest of people. Finally he gets to see what life is like in the real world. This contemporary story may not be for everyone but it is written in an excellent unusual way that is not predictable as far as Rake Tarbell is concerned. He is in trouble, deserved trouble for sure. I for one wanted to see how he got himself out of it. I expected no less from this author and she delivers in spades.

Perhaps I should explain where I first heard her name. Several years ago standing in a used bookstore I heard two young adults probably college kids since there was no less than three colleges nearby talking about what books one should buy. The other said something like this, “You have to try the Undead Series, this author writes in a unique, original way that is addictive. I have read all of the series and can’t wait for the next.” Wow, what a recommendation, I thought. I of course, went over to the paranormal section after they left and bought the first in the series. Unique yes, later I found a contemporary romance by Ms. Davidson and I was sold.

The Love Scam shows her continued ability to push the edge on sassy while being sweet too. It is worth a read.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review to my blog. I found the writing stilted and the story a bit formulaic. Thank you for your consideration and the opportunity.

3.5⭐
The Love Scam is my first book by MaryJanice Davidson and it was certainly an interesting read. That pulled together different tropes, and some comedic moments to create a story that was well-developed, and for the most part engaging to read. However, it didn't quite get me laughing out loud, and for me, the romance just didn't click. And there were simply too many inner monologues for the story to really flow smoothly. Yet overall there was more in this story that I liked than I didn't, but saying that I'm not sure I'd read it again. However, I would certainly look out for more books by this author in the future.