I’ve read a lot of Renshaw's books and found them enjoyable and generally a different kind of story. This one, however, missed the mark for me. I didn’t really feel any kind of chemistry between Elle and Max. There was an okay story with Elle's backstory and how she befriended Max's niece, but not enough with the two MCs together creating a romance. I guess you could (maybe) call it SUPER slow-burn, and unfortunately that is not a favorite trope for me.

West and Elle are definitely one heck of a enemies to lovers couple. After experiencing a life-changing event, Elle has a new perspective on life and its priorities. It helps her to see that working for a cruel, rude and insensitive boss like West might not be in her bed interests. The problem is that West doesn't necessarily want to see Elle go, regardless of what she thinks of him.

I completely adored this book and this couple. It was addictive from start to finish!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I love reading books by Winter Renshaw because I know I will get a witty, wonderful story that is also full of romance and angst and The Dirty Truth is no exception! Elle has a life altering medical emergency, well if you call dying for 3 minutes before being resuscitated a medical emergency. She had a high energy journalist job she loved, and everything seemed to be perfect, well, except for her boss, West Maxwell; he is a jerk. Once she comes back to work, she realizes that the life she had is no longer the life she wants. Well, West isn't done being in her life because she has no idea how much he has thought about her since the first time he set his eyes on her. A great story where we get to see how the "new" Elle helps him find who the real man behind the crafted image is, one he worked so hard to build really is. A roller coaster of a ride as the man West becomes tries to convince Elle why they are perfect together.

This was a wonderful story of Elle that had a major medical issue and it leaves her with a choice to reevaluate her life! She’s done with some types of people that aren’t a good influence. West is someone closed of and after Elle meets him she sets out to change him! This was a wonderful storyline that has issues that get dealt with to make for a better life together! I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this boo

The Dirty Truth had me hooked from the very beginning. Elle worked at Made Man. And she loved her job til one day she had an aneurysm and her life changed. West is her handsome, single parent, rude boss. I loved the story it funny at times and entertaining. This is my first book by Winter Renshaw. I received an ARC for my honest opinion.

#TheDirtyTruth #WinterRenshaw #NetGalley

The Dirty Truth is a beautifully written sweet romance. I loved the characters. They are complex, and well developed. West is such an interesting and enigmatic character. Elle is beautiful, kind, smart, caring, and supportive. I loved Scarlett. The storyline is gripping, emotional, and engaging. I enjoyed it\ Winter Renshaw never disappoints. Looking forward to listening to the audiobook version, narrated by Aaron Shedlock and Nicola Lambo.

Elle recently had a near brush with death. To make matters worse, she finds out her boyfriend has been unfaithful to her. She realizes that she only has one life to live and she deserves better. She loves writing but her column, “The Dirty Truth”, is just not cutting it anymore. Her boss is a jerk and when he asks her to re-write an article, she does it and quits.

West realizes he needs Elle and to make it “right” he offers her a new position…assisting him with his niece. Elle accepts the offer. She should leave him hanging but something in her wants to help. Elle just doesn’t anticipate all that comes with her new role in West’s life.

I love a good romance story. This is a slow burn. I mean they are not getting it on until much later in the story. However, they are building a strong relationship. Elle has her hands full with West’s niece, Scarlett, but comes to adore her. She also finds herself adoring West which was not in her plans.

West is a bit cold and distant at first but when he sheds the iciness…swoon-worthy. I like how Elle takes her time with him. She really wants to know what makes him tick and she accepts him just as he is. There is a lot more to West than she could have imagined and Elle fully recognizes that they both have been on an emotional journey in life.

The only thing stopping me from full on gushing and loving this story is that it took me some time to really invest in the story and characters. The author has distinct way of writing that kept me going. I will absolutely read more books by her. The author has took entirely too long for anything to happen with them. I almost felt emotionally and physically. Once I got into them as a couple, the story was winding down.

Overall, I recommend this book to fans of slow burn romances.

~ Samantha

From start to finish I loved this story.

I loved Elle. She has a near death experience and that changed her outlook on a lot of things in her life and had her thinking differently. She wasn’t afraid to just take a plunge when it came to her life and her career. I love that she wasn’t afraid to just completely call out her jerk of a boss, West. I loved that West was complex. There is a lot more to him than what you get and it is exactly what he wants people to see of him. As each chapter continued it was like peeling back the layers of an onion discovering West and who the man really is.

While Elle and West’s story was a slow burn, it worked so well for them. I loved seeing them go from coworkers, to having some mutual respect for each other, to eventually something more. It just felt so natural and not rushed in any way. They had a connection and tons of chemistry so when they finally crossed that line it was perfection.

I loved Scarlett, too. She brought a different aspect to the story and to West. I felt so bad for her and seeing her struggle with major life changes including leaving behind her friends and her small Nebraska town for the big city. The story might not have been focused on her, but I loved her growth throughout the course of the story and seeing her really come out of her shell.

If you’re looking for an enemies to lovers, workplace, slow burn this is one to check out.

DNF for now: I'm a big fan of Renshaw's work, but I struggled to get into this one. It felt pretty standard to me, and I wasn't loving the hero. One of my favorite things about Renshaw's work is that it's unpredictable, so that was disappointing. It could just be an issue with my reading mood that day, so I'm leaving this a DNF for now.

This book was the perfect book for me at the perfect time. The heroine, Elle, writes a column called The Dirty Truth for a mens magazine owned by the hero, West. When West gives her less than 24 hours to rewrite a column it begins a turn of events that causes them both to take stock of where they are and where they are going. Elle is a strong woman who does not just bend to the wealthy West's wishes. The story is very well written and all the characters are complex. This is an enjoyable read!

As always a new book from Winter is an absolute treat to be savoured. The Dirty Truth features Elle whose recent near death experience has given her an new outlook on life, and West Maxwell her boss. The opening pages of the book would have been hilarious if I wasn't able to relate to the nightmare of a boss that West was. He is the owner of a magazine empire, cold, totally detached from his staff who he terrifies every time he arrives in the office. So when he rejects Elle's latest article for her column The Dirty Truth and tells her to come up with a new one in less than 24 hours she decides that enough is enough and that she has better things to do with her life than live under his reign of terror. But first she will write a new article and it will be a doozy! the truth about her boss who is titan of industry, a major influencer, the man all men aspire to be and a totally mean and heartless to his staff and everyone around him.

After that opening I knew that I would be in for a fun ride with this story and I was definitely not disappointed. West finds his life in chaos after bringing his wayward unruly teenage niece to live with him and on top of that he has to deal with Elle, her article and her resignation. I had to admire Elle in the way she stands up to him with her nothing left to lose attitude which affects him more deeply that she could have thought and the last thing she could imagine is for him to ask her for a favour.

That is the first brick in the wall surrounding West Maxwell that Elle starts to demolish, and layer by layer she unravels the truth of the man behind the ice image and West has no choice but to give in to his feelings for her. Their arguing and bickering makes for some hilarous banter between these two and wow those love scenes, these two are so perfectly matched in both wit and love.

After all the books of Winter's that I have read, this is definitely one of my favourites. There are so many things in West's past that make him like he is and though he is not likeable at first it is easy to understand why he hides behind his glossy image due to his guilt. Elle is a woman we might all like to be facing all her difficulties head on and not allowing West to put her down.

This is a book that you will have a hard time putting down and is truly Winter at her best. Five stars!

What happens when you pair a sassy heroine who's not afraid to speak her mind with an arrogant hero who's closed off? You get a story full of drama, heart, steam and all the feels and what a wonderful story it is!

I received a copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review Elle & West.
-Less dense and less complicated than any of the other Renshaw stories.
-Lots of chemistry but also a lot more problems. Add to that a typical teenager who's been taken away from her birth mother and friends.
-I'm confused as to how someone would know someone else would be "authentically French" when they don't know the language. I'm perfectly bilingual and when I speak French, people think I have an English accent and vice-versa. When you don't know the language the other is speaking, they might just fake it.
-I thought it was ridiculous the whole scene when Elle goes into the kitchen to get some water; the in-suite has a sink and water. Of course she gets caught by Scarlett. Duh.
-I think it's too bad that Elle didn't see that West was really trying to open up to her and he was making the effort. She only saw that she didn't get much answers to her questions. I felt for him.
-Why waste 3 pages in the book to reprint the magazine article? We already read it once in its entirety.

You can't handle the truth...

Winter Renshaw delivers it all in The Dirty Truth.
Elle has a come to Jesus moment (well, several of them) after a brain aneurysm that left her dead for three minutes. On her first day back to work, she writes an inflammatory column The Dirty Truth, in which she clearly spells out the truth about West Maxwell, her boss. And quits.
Props.

West is drowning an in so far above his head as he's caring for his brother's daughter. His niece is bringing him to his wits ends and Elle is going to bring him to his knees. He has a complicated family and his carefully constructed image and world are going to get The Dirty Truth from Elle and his niece.

Recommend.

Elle is at her breaking point and West, her infuriating boss is the one who pushes her over the edge. Little do we all know that his unexpected and odd request is the moment things shift for them both. Add a rebellious teenager and this gets even messier.
Both characters evolve with the help of each other and circumstances to become something they both weren't looking for. I loved Elle's firecracker personality and her unapologetic attitude make for some of the best arguments with West. He is caged and guarded which usually makes for a really interesting reveal, and he didn't disappoint.
A great story that makes you think and feel, but in the end want wins out for the characters and readers together. You'll enjoy this dirt.
Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.

4.5 Stars

The farther I got into this story the more I liked it and the connection these two have. There is so much more to West Maxwell than he allows anyone to see.

Let me say this is my first read by Winter Renshaw, and I AM IN LOVE!!! It definitely won't be the last time I read from Winter Renshaw. I have to check her back list.

I was intrigued when I first saw the cover, and signed up immediately for the arc. It was a slow burn, enemies to lovers that gave me all the feels.

After Elle suffers from aneurysm, her life was not like the same. She's a journalist for Made Man magazine. West is the owner of Made Man, and they definitely do not get a long. Elle decided to quit working for Made Man. It's like as if she threw her life away after the aneurysm, but it's because it no longer makes her happy. But West made an offer to Elle that totally threw her off, and she agreed to help him.

Guys!!! There were parts where I laughed so much, and parts where my heart hurts so much. Ugh. It was definitely perfect!!! The chemistry, the banters, the characters....chef kisses!!!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!

The Dirty Truth had one of my favorite kind of guys; the broody grump. On top of that we have enemies to lovers so yes I ate this story up. It was slow burn with delicious thick sexual tension, West and Elle’s story was more than a love story. It was also one of finding yourself, resiliency and making every day and thing you do count. As usual, Winter Renshaw didn’t disappoint. Finishing this book left me with the warmest of feelings and this air of hopefulness.

I've read a few books by this author years ago. They didn't wow me but I liked them well enough. I thought I'd give her another chance and I'm glad I did. While not a 5 star, it did keep me engaged and I could see the progression of the author's writing from the last few books I'd read in the past. There are plenty of lessons to be learned in this story by both our main characters. Seeing them travel their respective journeys brought me to some of my own insights. It's never too late to do something you are passionate about. Doing the right thing is not always easy. You may never see how you've changed someone's life, but know that there are others who wouldn't be the same without you in theirs.

So many things I liked about this book. The immediate chemistry. Elle’s amazing heart. The non-rushed ending. Just, I mean, the whole book.
I’m not ashamed to say I read this in one sitting. I never really even considered stopping. I needed to keep going.
I love Elle and West for each other and how they were able to be what the other needed. Elle needed that rock, to be there for her and keep showing up. West needed someone to help him open up and show him the good in the world.
They worked together well and were able to communicate and work through the difficulties of a new relationship together.
Highly recommend and adding to my best of 2022 list.