GRR Reviews The Baby Pact by Lexi Whitlow

The Baby Pact relies on some WTF moments and reads more like a revenge fantasy than a romance. The decision process really makes no sense. And the ending was almost "all tell, no show". This book just left me very disappointed and is one of the author's worst books.

Eliza was the homely good girl, and Macon was the nerd back in high school. They messed up at prom, Eliza got pregnant, and Macon was exiled to another state. Eliza had a miscarriage. They met again in college, but then Eliza was with a possessive nerd, who turned out to be an abusive psycho. Ten years later, Eliza's latest escape attempt from her psycho abusive husband sent her back to her hometown, to work as a librarian while Macon became a billionaire. When they meet again, they picked up where they left off... and Eliza wanted desperately to have a child of her own, and Macon promised to pay for fertility treatments for her, and a full security detail. But Her psycho husband is still out there, taunting, waiting...

The scenario sounds desperate, but the detail makes no f***ing sense. Eliza ran, but her husband always finds her... Duh, if she only runs to places she knows! She went to police many times, but she's never hurt ENOUGH to go to a hospital? And the cops got NOTHING on the guy despite REPEATED reports over 10 years? Yet the husband sends email threats that identified himself by name? WTF? How does one rent a car with cash nowadays? (Yes, the psycho rented a car to "visit" her) The way Macon handled the psycho ex was improbable as well... Through hacking, AND bribing, AND favor with the Bratva (Russian mafia), and all this was merely "told". Argh. Not satisfying at all except maybe as a revenge fantasy.

The characters also seem to show lack of polish. Eliza was basically stereotypical "battered spouse" with zero self-respect ("I'm no good, I'm crap, my husband was right...") but somehow still wanted a baby when she can barely care for herself. Macon was a weird mix between rich alpha billionaire and tech geek / psycho devising the plan to trap the psycho ex for good. Add them together, and it's below average.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Abused woman found her first-love, now a billionaire, and wanted a baby, but her crazy ex is still out there...

Overall Rating: 2/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Wild by Lexi Whitlow

Wild is a reporter vs. recluse romance that managed to do a successful pivot once the couple got together into an adventure. With the timely topic of cryptocurrency, the whole thing is handled "decently" well, except the author forgot to hire a tech consultant for ONE fact that conveniently got overlooked.

Zee is an intrepid freelance reporter on the trail of Fox Guthrie, the rumored head of "Encrybit", the cryptocurrency that swept the world. FBI wants Fox found, as he's accused of money laundering and much more by his ex, a fellow hacker, but nobody had heard of him for years. Her clues lead her to this snowy mountain in Utah... when she wandered into a beartrap and she was slowly bleeding out, too weak to move, when a man rescued her and tended to her wounds in his cabin. Is he Fox, even though he denied he is?

Once you got past the rescue and later, the coupling, and admission that yes, he's Fox, the book managed a successful pivot when Fox got away from the mansion and escaped all the way to Vegas, then executed yet another escape plan for Zee to join him. And together, they will have to figure out why FBI was so hot on Fox, since Fox knew he didn't launder any money... The extended ending did explain all that, albeit in a somewhat less dramatic fashion.

With that said, there are two problems that the book didn't address. 1) I just find it horribly convenient that the law enforcement didn't put a tail on Zee since they tried charging her with obstructing justice 2) even if the house is energy self-sufficient (windmills, solar panels, etc.), the cryptocurrency mining is not handled alone. How is Fox getting the internet connection from high up in the mountains? And why didn't anyone track that? That's why this is 4/5

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Reporter chasing after the inventor of cryptocurrency, and was rescued by a stranger, but is he the one she's looking for, even as authorities close in?

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.