I love a good enemies to lovers so I was looking forward to this story and it did not disappoint. Delia was mercilessly bullied by her twin brother and his best friend through her entire childhood and she still has he scars to prove it. Her relationship with her twin, Dell, is strained but at least she’s managed to avoid Matthais (Thai) for the last ten glorious years. Unfortunately for her, the streak ends now because Dell has sacrificed his inheritance in ordered to avoid any interest in the family business and the quickest way for him to do that was to sell his half to Thai.
Delia has worked for her father’s construction company her whole life and is a fantastic CEO. She’s content to be a workaholic and has dedicated herself to the company completely, so her father splitting the company equally in his will was a slap in the face. Nothing could be worse, she believes, until Thai walks into the boardroom and proves himself to be an equal owner of her company.
This story deals with some heavy subjects but manages to be pretty lighthearted and funny book despite handling those topics respectfully. Delia has a lot of angst because the bullying was severe and went on for years. Bullying shapes people and it ruins lives, so her struggle was very realistic. There was a tad too much angst in this for my personal preference. Toward the end, I began to get frustrated with her need to talk about it constantly. Like at one point, she’s supposed to be giving him head but she’s still talking and it’s like, enough already! But that’s very specific to me and what I want from characters so I know lots of readers will see it as just the perfect amount to tell their story.
I really enjoyed the characters and the way they interacted. Delia and Thai were adorable together, both getting to know one another and recognizing the changes in themselves. Delia seemed almost abrasive at first, but after learning some of the things the boys did to torture her, I realized she’s remarkably well-adjusted. Thai’s shallow to the point of cringe initially but he quickly realizes that he won’t get more out of life unless he gets more out of himself and changes his ways. The ending was a bit abrupt and so this is more of a HFA than HEA, but it works here. Both characters have great depth. I liked the circumstances that brought them together and their complex history makes it so much more interesting. This is a sweet, steamy, funny story and definitely worth your time.
I received an ARC from Grey’s Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
The Parent Trap on Amazon
The Parent Trap
by Jasinda Wilder
Standalone
Available August 10, 2021
He was my worst enemy. He spent every waking moment devising fresh new ways of torturing me. No one has ever been able to make me cry like Matthais Bristow: my twin brother’s best friend, and the person on this planet I hate most.
Then, he left for college and I was free of him. For ten blessed years, I was free of his torture.
Now, he’s back, and he owns half of the family business I spent my entire life preparing to take over.
Is this going to be a new round of his old favorite game, Make Delia McKenna Cry, or am I to believe he’s actually come back with good intentions?
