Review: Settling the Score by Eden Winters

Settling the Score is the third novel I've read by Eden Winters. I like her books and find her writing smooth and easy to read. This book was no exception.

The story follows Joey who's a small town mechanic and blissfully in love with his boyfriend who's just hit the Hollywood big time. However, all his dreams come crashing down when his boyfriend publicly breaks up with Joey on a TV interview, outing Joey to his family, friends and the members of his small town at the same time. The ensuing fall-out isn't pleasant for Joey and his family, but Joey tries his best to keep his head down and get on with life. Joey is surprised when famous author Troy contacts him and asks if he can use Joey to help with the research for his next book, but what Joey doesn't realise is that Troy has revenge in mind and Joey is going to be the key to his revenge schemes.

I have to admit I had a mixed response to this book, although overall my opinions are favourable. Much of the story hangs on the reader liking the main characters of Joey and Troy, and whilst I liked Joey a great deal, I wasn't as keen on Troy. Joey is your typical small town boy. He's not too bright, but intelligent enough to still be appealing. He has an honesty and integrity about him which he manages to keep throughout the book and a naivety which, thankfully because this was a bit annoying about him, he manages to lose as the story progresses. One of the delights of the book was watching the change in Joey from someone who is played for a fool and a doormat, to a man who is confident and willing to stand up for himself whilst also retaining the values he holds dear. A slight warning for those people who dislike such things: Joey has a strong Georgian accent, which could either be seen as endearing or annoying depending on your views of such things. It didn't bother me, mainly because the accent is used as a plot point in the book, but I know some readers are turned off by this so I thought I should mention it.

As I said earlier, I wasn't as keen on Troy. I found him rather self-absorbed and not particularly sympathetic. I think this is how we are supposed to see Troy at the beginning of the book, but for me at least, I didn't think there was enough of a change in him to really deserve Joey by the end of the book. He's done some pretty rotten things in the past and essentially uses Joey to further his revenge plans and I didn't think there was enough in terms of atonement for that. So whilst I found the end very gratifying for Joey, it was less so for Troy.  I also found the revenge plot a little uncomfortable.  The whole thing sat a little uneasily with me, especially as Troy is lying to Joey for a large portion of the book.  I do acknowledge that I was probably supposed to feel uncomfortable about the situation, but that didn't mean that I liked Troy any better for that.

The whole book is almost stolen by the secondary character of Erica, a tiny black woman who acts as Troy's PA and friend. She's tough and feisty and I liked her a great deal, even if she did occasionally slip into the mode of 'interfering friend'. I could forgive her that though because on the whole she was responsible for furthering the plot and getting the silly men to see sense! Joey's family were also great characters and managed to show life in a Southern USA family, without slipping into cliché. Another interesting character was Kez who only appears for a short time, but it was enough for me to be longing for his own story :).

In terms of pacing, this story is what would consider a quiet, steady book. There's not a lot of action and the plot is furthered through dialogue and is very character focused. This didn't mean that the plot was slow moving because the pages turned very quickly as I read on eagerly to find out how the story would conclude. Those looking for endless sex scenes are going to be disappointed as the romance also progresses slowly as the guys fight their attraction for each other. Again, this wasn't a bad thing as I found myself caught up in their games of who gets to crack first!

Overall, I enjoyed this story, although maybe not as much as the author's previous books. Joey was a delight and Troy less so, but those who are looking for a steady, character based romance are sure to like this story. Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.