4 Stars

Publisher:

Date of Publication: July 4th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Beta Brothers

My Best Friend’s Ex—Book 1

Friends with Benefits—Book 2 (Review Here)

Professor with Benefits—Book 3 (Review Here)

The Other Brother—Book 4

Where you can find The Other Brother: Amazon | BookBub

Book synopsis:

I never imagined I’d hit rock bottom. 

To be honest, the only thing I expected less was him. 

From the moment our eyes met across the zucchini, something woke in me and started dusting away the cobwebs I’d let gather around my heart. 

Not that there was anything loveable about the guy. He was gentle as a scorpion when I met him, and his venomous words stung me more than once. Which was fine. Really. Detesting him made it easier to do my job. Easier to sleep at night. 

But it was all a front, a costume, a lie. He’d simply been a beast for so long he didn’t know how to stop stomping around his castle, his grudges clanging behind him like a rusted ball and chain. 

Yet even the most hardened men can change. Even the most stubborn can learn to admit when they’re wrong. 

Not that Ash was wrong very often. At least, not when it came to me. 

And now I feel hopeful again. Beautiful. Enchanted. 

All because of a beast. 

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First Line:

I’d never felt less beautiful.

The Other Brother by Hazel Kelly

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My Review:

The Other Brother was the last book in a weeklong romance binge. Yes, I binge-read a ton of romance novels over the past week. I thought that The Other Brother would be the perfect end for this marathon. And it was. I enjoyed reading it.

The Other Brother’s plot was simple. Piper is a chef who is down on her luck. Forced to drop out of culinary school, she works two jobs. One at a sleazy diner and the other for a catering service. Due to circumstance beyond her control, she is forced to live with her ex-fling, who is the diner owners son. He abuses Piper. Piper meets Ash at an upscale grocery store she goes to unwind/escape. After that humorous encounter, Piper meets Ash at an event she’s catering for. Ash makes Piper a job offer that she can’t refuse: Become his live-in chef. What both Piper and Ash don’t expect is them falling for each other. Can their love overcome everything that life throws at them?

I liked Piper. She was trying her best to go forward in her chosen career, but it seemed life was determined to keep her down. She endured so much in those first few chapters. She was working horrific hours to pay bills and keep herself fed. Her roommate emotionally and physically abused her. She was starving. So I was glad when she remet Ash at the function, and he offered her a job. I was thrilled that she had a safe place to live and she could eat!! I liked that she wasn’t afraid to tell Ash where to go. I was surprised at specific things that were revealed about her, later in the book. My heart broke for her.

Ash was a grump the entire book. At first, I was put off, but as the book went on, I found out that there was a reason for his grumpiness. Ash had been hurt by his ex-fiance and best friend. He figured the best way to deal with his pain was to shut everyone out, which worked fine until he met Piper. His grumpiness, which did bother me at the beginning of the book, became an endearing character flaw.

Piper was Ash’s chef. He tried his hardest not to blur the lines. I loved watching him fall for her. The deal was sealed when he came to her aid at the supermarket. That was when I knew he had fallen for her. Piper falling for Ash was as impressive. Like Ash, she tried her hardest not to blur the employee/employer lines. She didn’t want to lose her job if things fell apart.

Ash and Piper had major sexual chemistry. From the moment they first met, it was crackling between them. So, I wasn’t surprised when that chemistry translated into hot sex scenes. I had to put my Kindle down a couple of times; they were that hot!!

The Other Brother can be read as a stand-alone book. The author does have the characters from the other books make an appearance in this one. But, and this is important, she doesn’t have those characters overwhelm the book. Instead, they make small cameos and then leave. I loved it!!!

The end of The Other Billionaire was great. I loved that Piper was able to achieve her dream and Ash was able to let the past go. It was the perfect ending for the book.

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I would give The Other Brother an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Other Brother I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**