ARC Review: No Romance Required by Cari Quinn

No Romance Required is the third book in the Love Required Series by Cari Quinn. Never having read the previous books in the series, or a book by Cari Quinn before I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this story. This book can be read as a stand alone, and I didn't feel as though I was at a huge disadvantage having not read the other books before this one. For me though, there were parts of this book that I liked, and there were parts that I did not care for.

Cory is a workaholic used to getting his way in everything he does. When his parents give him the ultimatum of find a girlfriend or lose control of the family business, he quickly decides that he needs a woman who will easily fit into his world without expecting a huge commitment. Victoria, his interior designer and longtime frienemy, is the last woman that would ever be his choice. However after a passionate kiss between the two of them is caught on camera and winds up in their local news paper, Cory decides that maybe she is the best option. Cory presents the idea to Victoria, but quickly changes his mind mid proposal. But Victoria isn't so quick to give up, as she has harbored a crush on him for many years. As the two set out to convince family and friends the relationship is real, they begin to develop real feelings for each other. It isn't long before both of them are wondering how to turn their fake relationship into a real one without scaring the other one off.

I really wanted to like Cory. He is sexy and smart and there is just something about a man in a suit! But unfortunately for me, I just didn't like his character. He was a jerk most of the time to Victoria and I honestly couldn't figure out why she would be interested in him besides the fact that he was gorgeous. Towards the end of the book he did start to grow on me and redeem himself, but at that point it was almost too late for me. Victoria is smart and sassy. Often times being feisty and refusing to let Cory control her, and yet I couldn't get over the fact that he is constantly trying to push her away and was not nice to her at all and she just kept going back for more. Their relationship just didn't make sense to me. I didn't really feel a connection between them or the emotions until the very end of the story. The only part of their relationship that worked for me was the sex. These two were smoking hot together and those scenes were by far the highlights of this book. They were well written and the steam generated between them was clear as day.

Another problem I had with this story was that the beginning was extremely slow for me and I just felt the pacing was off. It was hard for me to get into this one. Up until about half way through the book I really thought that I wasn't going to like this book at all. Luckily things started to get better at that point and the last half of the book really started to draw me in which is why I ended up giving this book a higher rating than I had originally intended. Cory and Victoria really started to convince me of their feelings towards the end, but it would have been nice to see some of their growth and depth earlier on. I think that the believablity wasn't quite there because of that. Overall, I think this was a pretty good story. For me, it's not one that i'm going to go back and reread over and over or be thinking about for a long period after though. It was for the most part enjoyable and the sex was hot. Those scenes really turned the book around for me and were worth reading this story for. If you are looking for some steamy sex scenes, this book definitely delivers, but Cory's character and the pacing just kept this book from being a home-run for me. I think that most fans of contemporary romance will find this to be a quick enjoyable read.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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