Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough. When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.
Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers. Audiobook
Published January 29th 2019 by HarperAudio
Source: Publisher
Three stars: A romance with an adorable male lead, but the prickly female character is frustrating.
Darcy is biding time at her dead end job in a dive bar, just waiting for the day when she can find her passport and leave town. Since she was eighteen years old, Darcy has been running away. After a particularly bad night, Darcy heads to the store to load up on sugar, her drug of choice. When she gets home, she finds a van in her driveway. Thankfully, her intruder turns out to be her lifelong friend Tom. Tom is here to help restore her grandmother’s cottage that was left to Darcy and her twin brother. Darcy is thrilled to see Tom, but the problem is that she has long had unrequited feelings for him, and worse he is engaged. Will Darcy be able to survive working side by side with Tom?
What I Liked:
- I think many of us bloggers had this book on our radar after reading the delightful debut by Ms. Thorne called The Hating Game. This book doesn’t measure up, but it does have a few things to like about it.
- Tom Valeska in my opinion makes the book. He is charming, kind, hardworking, big hearted and the best guy to have around. I adored Tom. I thought he was a terrific love interest.
- Darcy is a trip. I am not going to lie, I struggled for most of the book with her character, but by the end, I was pleased with her growth, and I liked the way she turned things around, that made it worth it.
- The romance is rather straightforward. It is a dance around long unrequited feelings. When the two finally decide to be honest, things take off. I enjoyed the chemistry and that this was a friends to lovers romance. I also appreciated that there wasn’t ridiculous drama or angst.
- I enjoyed the house flipping angle of the story. It was interesting to read about all that goes into a home renovation. I also liked getting to know Tom’s crew.
- I have to admit, I was completely surprised by Megan’s maturity when Jamie and Darcy reached out to her. Loved that!
- The ending is just right. Everything ends in a good spot. I liked the way it all worked out. I was especially pleased to discover an epilogue at the end for The Hating Game. It was fun to go back and catch up with the characters from that book.
And The Not So Much:
- For the majority of the book, Darcy is a difficult character to like. She is reckless, full of self loathing, and she is self centered and prickly. I did not like her for most of the book. She has lots of issues. When she does work through them, I liked her better.
- I was disappointed that more of Darcy and Tom’s history wasn’t covered. It would have enhanced the romance in my opinion to see how the two felt about each other as kids and teens.
- I got really sick and tired of Darcy constantly lusting after Tom. It felt like the majority of the book was her thoughts about Tom. It got old fast.
- I wish there had been more with Truly and Jamie.
99 Percent Mine was a book I was highly anticipating, unfortunately this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I loved Tom, and I enjoyed the friends to lovers romance, but I was not a fan of Darcy. She is a difficult character to connect with. I also got tired of her lusting constantly after Tom. This is a book that I would recommend borrowing from the library. If you want a stellar romance check out The Hating Game by this author instead.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
