Boycotts and Barflies By Victoria Michaels

After an endless string of bad dates and a generally pathetic love life, Grace Park and her friends decide to boycott men for six weeks. With a fantastic pair of shoes on the line for the woman who makes it to the end without breaking any rules, the competition gets fierce. Sparks fly a few days into the bet when Grace and her friends cross paths with a sexy bartender named Michael Andris who happens to have a little bet of his own going with his friends....

In this hilarious debut novel, Victoria Michaels brings us a colorful and relatable cast of characters. She sends them on a sweet and sexy escapade as they sidestep one booby trap after another, manage the best of misguided intentions, and exert a whole lot of willpower and self control as they race down the path to true love.

Winning isn't everything...or is it?

Elena's Review:

Fun and Snarky!

This novel had me by my strings! It was loads of laughs, humorous and downright awesome!

Let the games begin!

Grace,Meg,and Bianca, met in college and have known each other for four years and now are the best of friends, they're so close you could consider them sisters. I loved them to pieces! Their characters were snarky,full of enthusiasm and so much fun. The novel starts off with the girls going on lame dates and not finding the right man who aren't what the girls would call "Dorks" Lol!! Poor girls, their so full of life and so pretty, one would think they would've found the right guy by now. But the answer is, no they haven't. So they've decided to have a bet on not dating men till the New Year. The Boy-Cott Rules:
1.No Dates

2. No tongue kissing *snickers*

3.No sex of anything kind

4.Each of them puts $200 into a pot. If they break rules of the boycott, they lose the money.and the last person standing gets the money to spend on a hot new pair of shoes to be worn on her first date of the new year and gets eternal bragging rights about her superior will power.

Their bet isn't as easy as they think. They have one challenge coming their way that they would have never expected..... So much fun!

Michael,Jack and Ryan, met also in college, as they finished their degrees in management. They've known one another for years. They now want to learn the ropes on bar-tending on hopes of pursing and opening up their very own nightclub. Here's the challenge they're all in,they're in their early twenty's but haven't found the love of their life yet, and are tired of dating woman who flirt with them on a daily basis in the bar they work at. Their looking for woman with intelligence,smarts and still have a corky fun side. So what the guys would call "Barflies" (woman from the bar) don't quite fit in their description. They're determined to go searching for that one woman who would win them over. In the meantime they also set a bet that goes into effect immediately.

NO MORE BARFLIES! Rules:

1.No barflies, if they meet a woman from the bar, she's off limits

2.No sex, the last person standing wins the money.

(Yeesh!) Their rules are much simple,compare to the girls....)

OMD!!! Let me just say! I don't blame these Barflies for swooning over them. They are so damn hot! *sweaty palms and naughty dreams* Lol!! Gosh I can't put the picture of them out of my head! They too are, Snarky,Sexy (in all areas) and no filters going on for either of them,they're so funny! My dream men *dazes off* I love their relationship and how close they are. Total knockouts!

Grace,Meg and Bianca are the outgoing, witty girls and everything the guys are looking for. The guys sweep them off their feet. BUT!! (and that's a huge But..) with the ladies and guys making bets, it makes it harder for them to keep things simple and clean, they're all in with wanting to win the bets. At this stage it's couples against couples. Who will win? Read it and find out! *squeals*

I love their interactions and relationships. Theirs no secrets and lies to worry about, it's all in love and fun. I sat back waiting for something to back fire or the usual gut-wrenching scenes. They never came and I was beyond grateful! This novel speaks for itself. In all honesty I'm on a hunt for other similar books. I'm a "Hook, line and sinker" kind of gal! This author got me good. I can't express how much I loved it. But hope someone would jump on my happy boat and join me, it's guaranteed to make you laugh,cry and swoon even after you're done with the novel :)

 

 

Trust in Advertising - Victoria Michaels

Lexi White finds herself at a crossroads. After putting everything on hold to care for her ailing father, it’s finally time for her to start living her life again. An exciting new job holds the promise of a fresh start, until she comes face to face with someone from her past who has always stopped her dead in her tracks, and who evidently still has the power to make her forget her own name. This time around, Lexi’s a grown woman who refuses to back away from her dreams, even if it requires working with her old high school crush. Side by side. Every day. Will he end up being her downfall or exactly what she needs?

Vincent doesn’t even remember Lexi from high school, but he begins to take notice when the fiery young woman is hired as his new assistant. Quickly, Lexi turns his world upside down and becomes an invaluable addition not only to his team, but to his life. Having learned a few hard lessons about trust in the past, Vincent is reluctant to let down his guard, especially when it appears that someone is out to sabotage his family’s advertising agency. Professionally, they are dynamite together, but when sparks fly between them personally, will Vincent let lies and jealousy ruin everything between them, or will he finally learn not only how to love, but ultimately trust…in advertising? 

Trust in Advertising

by Victoria Michaels

I spent 4 days reading this book, and it was absolutely wonderful,  I just couldn’t put it down no matter how much it pissed me off!  LOL!  It was a little slow to start up, but I found myself so invested in the story and the characters, that I just had to know how this was all going to play out.

Lexie White lost her mother as a young girl, which forced her to grow up a little faster than most.  Then having to help her father run their household along with taking care of herself, she missed out on a lot as a child.  Once in high school,  the super shy Lexie had a massive crush on Vincent Drake, the most popular guy in school.  But he never knew, and in fact Lexie pretty much stayed to herself, and Vincent never knew she existed. Upon graduation, Lexie receives a scholarship to NYU to continue her education in advertising. After two years in college, she had to drop out to go back home to care of her father who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which is where she spent the next several years.

After the death of her father, a now 28 year old Lexie moves to San Francisco and is looking for work.  After having to drop out of college and having no experience or credentials in advertising, which is her dream career, she thinks she is going to have to end up taking a crap job.  After the encouragement of her friend Hope who lives across the hall from her, they scour the want ads together, and Lexie applies for some positions at a few local advertising companies.  She ends up landing a low level position with Hunter Advertising, a company who prefers to promote within.  By pure accident, Lexie moves up within the company very quickly becoming assistant to one of the top executives. Imagine her shock when she finds out on her first day in her new position that she has become the personal assistant to Vincent Drake.

The years apparently haven’t been kind to Vincent, the outgoing, charismatic boy from high school has been replaced with a brooding, pompous ass!  Vincent has gone through his personal assistants like the changing of his underwear, either firing them or they’ve quit because of his asinine behavior.  After his first face to face meeting with his new personal assistant (Lexie) goes really bad, it becomes apparent that he has no idea who she is.  For now Lexie is content to keep things that way, until his twin sister spills it to Vincent, and much to Lexie’s disappointment he doesn’t remember her from high school.  Vincent and Lexie really start to develop a friendship while working together,  and those friendly feelings start to blossom into more, but the biggest obstacle in their way is Vincent’s girlfriend, (wicked witch music)  Jade who is a bitch beyond words.  Jade is a  supermodel, and I wanted to punch her the first time she appeared, and it only got worse.  Jade was the central part of what pissed me off about this book, but as the story plays out, she plays a huge part in the plot. I still wanted to strangle her every time she showed up! 

There were situations involving Jade, Vincent and Lexie that made me want to beat the crap out of Vincent.

Over the years, Vincent has endured betrayal more than anyone should have to, and as a result he has become very guarded, and untrusting.  As the story progresses,  Lexie starts to see through his facade as he starts to let the barriers down for her, and she sees that there is still in fact that charismatic boy from high school lurking within.

The story between Lexie and Vincent is really sweet but doesn’t come without some turbulence. I loved their bantering, and watching these two fall completely in love.

This was really a great read, the plot was good. The characterization was outstanding!!!!

I mean, every single character in this book was so well written, from the H/h through the entire cast.  My favorites aside from Lexie and Vincent were Hope, Lexie’s best friend, and Sean, Vincent’s cousin.  I loved hope every time she showed up, she provided a lot of comic relief with her quick wit, and her tough girl attitude.  And she is a great friend to Lexie, listening, helpful, supportive, and ready to kick anyone’s ass that jacks with her friend.   And Sean…. *falls over swooning*  He is funny, easy going and is also a great supportive friend to Vincent along with being family. Vincent’s 5yr old niece was just too cute for words.  There are a ton of characters in this book, and they all play a role in this story.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes contemporary romance, it was like watching a good chick flick.  There were lots of laughs, and too many good quotes to start listing them.  Great Job Victoria Michaels!!!!