The Bartender - Book Review

By Piper Rayne

Synopsis

Who knew sleeping with the enemy could be this fun?

Was the one night stand a good idea? Well, no. Probably not in retrospect.

In my defense I had just moved back into my grandparent’s house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead.

So when the guy behind the bar started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it!

Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way.

I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

Review

THE BARTENDER is the first book from two USA Today Bestselling authors who decided to get together and write romantic comedies. I don’t know who they are, but for what I assume is their first collaboration, I’d say they did good.

Whitney is one of those women who seems to have the worst luck.
Stood up on a blind date? Check.
Lost her job because her boss started sleeping with someone else? Check.
Forced to move back home? Check.
Stood up by the guy she wanted a one-night-stand with on Tinder? Check.
Can’t remember her night with the hot bartender she went home with? Check.
Forced to work with the guy she’s hated for the past several years? Check.
See what I mean? You can’t help but love her and her determination to keep going despite the fact it appears the entire universe is against her.

I can’t say a lot about Cole because to do so would give away spoilers. I will say that he was a manwhore, but he sees something special in Whitney that makes him want to change his ways and settle down. While Whitney is treating their time together as a fling, he’s showing her exactly how special she is to him.

“Stop bowing. I’m not royalty.”
“To the right guy, you are.”

THE BARTENDER was a lighthearted and funny read that I finished fairly quickly. We were introduced to Whitney’s two best friends⎯stable Tahlia and wacky Lennon⎯who will get their own books in the Modern Love series, and every scene that Whitney’s dog⎯Sparky⎯was in was hilarious. There were a couple of things that bothered me though. Whitney kept alluding to how her life changed for the worse several years ago, before finally revealing what happened that night at the 74% mark. By that point, I was over waiting for the big reveal. I also thought Whitney’s reason for breaking up with Cole was weak, considering he really was trying to do the right thing. Other than those two things, I enjoyed this book and would gladly read the next one in the series. THE BARTENDER is told only in Whitney’s POV (at least from what I remember) and comes with a HFN ending for Cole and Whitney. The epilogue also leads us into the next book, THE BOXER, which will be about Tahlia, and maybe we’ll get a quick update on how Cole and Whitney are progressing in their relationship.