An unfortunate and embarrassing incident that precipitated Audra Stuart’s breakup last winter sent her scurrying for cover, unwilling to show her face again at Whitman University. When her roommate Blair Paddington tracks her down and learns what happened, she convinces Audra that letting her jackass ex win is not the answer…but that maybe going to Sebastian Blair for help just might be.
Sebastian has established a reputation of being the guy without scruples—the one who can get you what you want, no questions asked. For a price.
His price for Audra Stuart? Pretend to be his girlfriend so he can legitimize himself and maybe snag a job from one of his “friends” before graduation.
To get her friends (and his) to buy the ruse the two of them have to get in deep—so deep that they forget they’re supposed to be pretending. Sebastian Blair is about to fall hard, but he can’t help but worry.
Because the girl he loves is bound to learn he was behind the incident that sent her tumbling his direction in the first place.
ABOUT LYLA
I’ve been publishing New Adult romance novels for a little over a year, starting with Broken at Love and continuing with the rest of the Whitman University series. I adore telling stories, discovering the little reasons people fall in love, and uncovering hidden truths in the world around us – past and present.
In my spare time I cuddle my two dogs, pretend to enjoy exercising so that I can eat as much Chipotle as I want, and harbor a deep and abiding hope that Zac Efron likes older women. I loves reading, of course, along with movies, traveling, and Irish whiskey.
I’m hard at work, ALWAYS, and hope to bring you more Whitman University antics and at least one more Lowcountry ghost tale before the end of the year.
Jaime’s Thoughts
Living the Dream by Lyla Payne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You all know I’m a huge fan of Lyla Payne. Her stories are always fun and sweet and have just the perfect amount of drama in them to keep me riveted to the story… and Living the Dream is no exception.
I wondered and wondered how Payne was going to write a story about a character that I’ve spent 4 books basically hating and make me change my mind about him.
Well…
She did it.
Even from the outset I was prepared to dislike him, I wasn’t giving Sebastian the benefit of the doubt and for good reason. He’s been quite the jackass for four books.
Enter Audra… a character that I’ve spent almost the same amount of time really liking. How, oh HOW could she ever fall for Sebastian? They are complete opposites and how could she overlook his history?? Well, you’ll have to read to find out!
Audra is in a bit of a bind when this story starts… her ex had been secretly taping their sexual encounters and he somehow put everything on the internet. In order to get it offline, she has to make a deal with the devil. Pretend to date Sebastian for the last four months of school so that he can work on changing how he’s perceived and he will remove the site.
With the deal made, neither one has any expectations other than that this is a situation of convenience, but as they slowly get to know each other they find a connection they never expected to appear.
But Sebastian is hiding the truth about the website from Audra and it’s only a matter of time before she finds out.
So yeah… Sebastian, but I have to say that reading this story about him really makes his character make more sense. I was finally able to understand why he acts the way he does and why he does the things he does. That absolutely doesn’t excuse those things but it makes them a bit more understandable.
Once again, Payne hits it out of the park with the character chemistry. These two, Audra and Sebastian, really worked for me, and Payne can write some sexy stuff for sure, and I really loved the development of their relationship from start to finish.
It was also nice to catch glimpses of some of my favorites from the other books. Since this is the last book (BOO) in the series, it was really nice to see where they all have ended up.
Lyla Payne is among my favorites in the New Adult genre, and if you haven’t picked this series up yet, I can’t recommend it more. I am definitely excited to see what she has coming next for us readers!
Thanks to the author for providing a copy of this title for my honest thoughts.
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