Let me start by saying this is a review I never wanted to have to write. I have been a huge fan of Rachel Van Dyken's for a very long time, and for the most part I love her books. But occasionally she writes some that just don't work for me, and unfortunately Cheater was one that didn't. I still love her and am a huge fan, this just wasn't the book for me.
On the night before his wedding Lucas Thorn was caught in an incident that changed his life and reputation forever. Branded a cheater after being caught in another woman's bed, Lucas decided to own his new reputation. Now he has a different girl for every day of the week (except Sundays of course!) and he doesn't do any kind of commitment. But when Avery Black goes to work for him, he finds himself wanting more. Avery hasn't been able to forgive Lucas though since he betrayed her family and ruined everything, but she quickly learns that she just might want more than revenge when it comes to Lucas.
I have to admit that a huge part of my issue here were the characters. They were immature and over the top, something that I have had problems with from RVD before. Sometimes her humor just doesn't click with me and gets a bit too much, and that was definitely the case here. While there were a few things I found funny, for the most part it just felt so forced and didn't do anything for me. Lucas also continued to act as though nothing had changed and I wasn't okay with that when there were feelings being developed. I understand his reputation was the main point of the book, but he continued to have all these girls that he was with right in front of Avery. Once feelings start to develop or return, that is the kind of thing that ruins a book for me...especially considering that she worked for him and she had to manage his "other" calendar. Because of all that it just made it hard to really believe in any kind of connection between these characters.
Besides the character issues, I felt like the story itself was just a bit too over the top and unbelievable as well. Like the humor, there were so many things that just didn't sit right for me and I found it hard to actually believe that they were possible. Lucas was engaged to his high school sweetheart, Kayla who also happened to be Avery's sister, and the night before he was to marry her he was found drunk in bed with their other sister Brooke all the while he hadn't actually loved Kayla but was in love with Avery...it just didn't work. I thought maybe I could find something that would change my mind about these two and their relationship as I read, but honestly I just didn't see it and couldn't get past all the issues I had with the story. For me, Cheater was too contrived and immature for me to ever get into and unfortunately I was disappointed with this one. It won't be the last I read from Rachel Van Dyken though as I do love a lot of her stories. If it sounds like one you might like, give it a go but be prepared for the over the top and immature characters and humor.
**ARC Provided by Publisher**
I had the same feelings with this one. Lucas did not act like he was 32, I had such an issue with his immaturity. I did feel a bit of a connection with him and Avery, but for him to continuously flaunt his girls in her face bugged me to no end.
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