seriously romantic: hard compromise by samanthe beck

hard compromise is the companion book to compromising her position, in fact many of the events in both novels overlap with one another, which is why it is so surprising that they are publishing nearly a year apart.

but no matter, luckily for me i didn't find out about the series until now and i read the books in the opposite order. and while reading this one first spoils some of the events that take place in compromising her position it's still not a big deal. and both books work perfectly well as standalones.

hard compromise tells lauralie peterson's story. she is chelsea's best friend, and her childhood left her with a lot of baggage. her mother was emotionally abusive, neglectful, and criminally indifferent to laurie's emotions. she first meets ethan booker when she is 16 and being busted for underage drinking. she'd gone to a college party with the intention of losing her virginity and booker stops her cold. he also turns her down when she propositions him. telling her then that they would revisit the matter in 10 years.

and since it's been 10 years, and ethan hasn't forgotten the original proposition, he takes steps to revisit the matter. the chemistry between these two leads is off the charts. but laurie has so many hang-ups about her past, about how she comes from nothing and ethan was born with a silver spoon. so it takes some convincing. he gets her to agree to a fake relationship with the hope that he can convince her to let down her guard and let him in, let him love her, let herself love him.

it's not easy for booker, but it does work. eventually. and their ups and downs make the whole thing worthwhile. when they finally figure it out, it's worth the wait.

here's hoping that the next installment in this series gives us arden st. sebastian's story. she's served as a decoy in both compromising her position and hard compromise and i think it's her turn now.

**hard compromise will publish on november 21, 2016. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (brazen) in exchange for my honest review.