Review by Diane ♥ Stiff Drink by Blair Babylon

A Review by Diane

6 Can I give This Book 6 Stars- Stars????

A copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Can I give this book 6 stars????

 

OMG!!!  I don’t even know where to begin with Stiff Drink by Blair Babylon.  Adjectives like “amazing,” “exciting,” “dangerous,” “sexy,” “sizzling” just don’t do this book justice.  I have never gotten so lost in a story as I did with Genevieve “Gen” Ward and Arthur Finch-Hatten, Earl of Severn, our main characters.  (Okay, I’m going to admit I’m sensing a little bit of Camelot with those names though.)

Gen is a young and fledgling barrister (lawyer) working long hours in a very influential English law firm (I’m using American terms here, even though the book is very British in terminology and where it takes place) for many reasons….trying to prove her worth to the firm she is working for, affording the care her mother’s dementia, staying away from the world due to some traumatic sexual assault in her past, this list goes on for this poor girl.  Enter Lord Severn, an extremely handsome, hot, aristocratic client whose law case has been handed to Gen due to the passing of a senior barrister in the firm.  Oh this case is a mess, and Lord Severn isn’t exactly a model client carousing at night, getting drunk,  pictures of him with unsavory women….you get the picture.  His brother is suing him for his title and lands and to be Lord Severn.  How can you win a case to help you gain permanent employment with your firm when you client is his own worst enemy??  He can’t seem to stay out of the tabloids.   So Gen comes up with an idea.  She’ll stick to him like glue and become his fake girlfriend to keep tabs on him and keep him out of trouble.  Only problem, the attraction is instant on both Gen and Arthur’s part and working to stay away from each other gets more difficult by the second.

The books spends a lot of time in the beginning laying the groundwork for the story, so the book moves a little slow at the start, but don’t give up!!!  The premise also seems like a friends to lovers’ story line, but let me assure you there is so much more to this “friendship.”  It’s about understanding, trust, patience, and even redemption and growing love, as our two main characters move through their complex and developing relationship.  Yes there are many things unanswered, and really the romance part of the book, even though very “hot” builds slowly, almost to the point where as a reader you want to say “come on, let’s get to the good part”, but hang in there.  The foundation that has been built, along with the incredible depth and complexity of the characters, it is definitely worth waiting for. 

Now I will be honest.  I felt at times there were twinges of everything from Fifty Shades of Grey to The Billionaire Banker Series subtle plot lines.  But even with me sensing that, this story has its own twists and turns that makes it stand all on its own.  I will warn you it is somewhat of a cliff hanger.  There’s another book coming in May (Hard Liquor) that I can’t wait for!!!!  I need to find out where Gen and Arthur end up.  What an amazing story!! 

About Blair Babylon

 
Blair Babylon is the nom de plume of an award-winning, USA Today-bestselling author who used to publish literary fiction. Because professional reviews of her other fiction usually included the caveat that there was too much deviant sex and too much interesting plot, she decided to abandon all literary pretensions, let her freak flag fly, and write hot, sexy, erotic romance, plus wild, suspenseful thrillers, science fiction, and urban fantasy using the super-secret pen name Blair C. Babylon.