Four Letter Word
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4.4 • 337 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Get ready for Trouble (R.S. Grey, USA Today bestselling author) in this New York Times bestseller about starting over, finding love, and embracing life's second chances.
Sydney Paige was never so mortified to hear the words "wrong number" in her life. She meant to tell off the guy who broke her best friend's heart, but unleashed her anger on a perfect stranger instead. And now her world is turned upside down by the captivating man who wants to keep her on the line.
Brian Savage is living a life he's quickly come to hate-until Sydney's wild rant has him hooked and hungry for more. Soon the sexy woman on the phone becomes the lover in his bed. But Brian has secrets, and the closer he lets Syd get, the harder it is to shield her from the devastating mistakes of his past.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Daniels (Sweet Obsession) launches a contemporary series with this uneven, ultimately disappointing novel. In the promising opening scenes, best friends Sydney and Tori, who are both having man trouble, decide to embrace a life of single gal pals living together in a small North Carolina town. But Sydney's hilariously overdone attempt to defend Tori leads to an embarrassing mistaken telephonic confrontation with Brian, a local surfer with some baggage of his own. As she gets to know him, Sydney starts to realize what she was missing in her marriage. Brian and Sydney embark on a charming sequence of phone calls and text messages, cautiously proceeding through a secretive quasi-affair that's a delight to follow. But when they finally meet in person, the story spirals into a series of uncomfortable encounters with Brian's unforgivably sleazy friend Jamie, interspersed with summarized sex scenes. The book develops an abrasive focus on catering to the emotional needs of the male characters. The story is innovative and interesting for the first half, but by the end it looks as if this series might be one to skip.
Customer Reviews
Fun and steamy read
Actual Rating 3.5 stars
I was really excited to read Four Letter Word and couldn't wait to get it. Sadly, for me, it ended up just being OK. It certainly wasn't terrible, and I enjoyed it enough to want to finish it, but I didn't feel all that invested in the characters. I thought the idea of how Brian and Sydney met was original (though I wouldn't do this in real life!), but even though they talked and got to know each other in this way, it still felt superficial and like instalove when they got together. I sympathized with Brian and his guilt, but how he decided to solve his money problem didn't really seem realistic. I don't feel like that would be the answer that most people would come to if in that situation, but until you walk a mile in someone's shoes...
I liked both MC's and it was nice to have the dual POV so that we could be in each of their heads. I did wish Sydney would have been a bit stronger emotionally, but given the circumstances she was facing I did understand where she was coming from. I actually was most annoyed by the way Brian spoke. It all seemed disjointed and was it my imagination that every sentence he said seemed to start with a verb? I feel like some nouns were missing.
The ending felt too rushed and was resolved really quickly, but perhaps since this is the first book in the series, we will get further updates/epilogues on the characters later. I was most surprised that the drama came up so late in the book. It was inevitable though with all the foreshadowing, so I was expecting it and the push away. In the end, Four Letter Word was a fun and steamy read, that was enjoyable enough that I will still continue on with the series.
Disappointing reread
I am the type of romance reader who needs to love the characters— or at least like them— to be invested in the, gettin together. I don’t always hate insta-lust if it’s done right. Sydney was quite insufferable the entire time & Brian was a bit pushier in ways that were undesirable for me personally. I get that you want to give a girl her dream but they don’t even discuss logistics ever. I’m usually able to overcome, the “this would never happen/work in real life” part of my brain but only if the characters and story are written well and they just weren’t. I don’t remember much about my first read of this (closer to the release date years ago) and have since enjoyed more recent releases from this author over the years, so adding a star for that!
A meet cute you won’t forget
A super cute concept. I love the idea of how Brian and Sydney meet. A wrong number gone really really wrong turns into finding the love of your life but Brian’s secrets keep him from taking what he has found. This book has some great steam a lot of love and a great group of characters you can’t help but fall in love with which is common with J. Daniels series. Very excited to read the rest.