When your ultimate crush starts to show you attention, will you take what he’s offering?
What’s it About? 
The moment twenty year old Frankie Finnegan saw bad boy Mason Zannuto she gave him a piece of her heart. Too bad he chose her friend, Nora. But that didn’t exactly work out and now he wants her, Frankie. Their chemistry is instantaneous and fiery, but when Frankie’s had a lifetime of second hand, can she settle for being second best? Loving Mason is part of the Imperfect Love series but can be read as a stand-alone novel.
First Impressions
How best to describe Mason and Frankie’s relationship? I like to think of it as a roller coaster that one rides in the dark. It has its ups and downs, and constant twists and turns that you never see coming, let alone can prepare for. It’s bumpy, somewhat painful, and at times you kind of wonder when it’s finally going to be over already. These two are drawn to each other, and their physical connection is off the charts sexy. However, they are also constantly bickering over something or other.
From his lack of commitment to drama with both of their exes, his nephew’s presence in his life, her partying with friends, his job, the list seemingly goes on and on. Just when they would overcome one disagreement, it seems another would rise up to cause another bout of bickering between them. I’ll admit, after a while it did get kind of tiring to have so many highs and lows to their relationship interspersed with some steamy sex scenes. Perhaps shortening the book slightly to have a tad fewer arguments between our lead couple could have helped the flow of the book. That being said, everything does come together towards the end for a remarkably intense and emotional ending that both brings our characters together, yet also threatens to tear them apart.
Second Best or Leading Lady?
Frankie has had a crush on Mason since she first met him in a bar. Unfortunately, Frankie sees herself as second best considering he pursued her close friend, Nora, instead of her. Even though nothing intimate or physical happened between Mason and Nora, once he ultimately turns his attentions to Frankie she can’t help but feel that she’s a runner up in this competition. This lower opinion of herself continues when Mason’s ex girlfriend comes into the picture, as Frankie always feels inferior when compared to the other female figures in his life.
While you can definitely understand Frankie’s initial hesitation to get involved with Mason considering his original pursuit of Nora, after a while you almost want to yell, “oh just get over it already!”. After all, this is Frankie’s ultimate crush, and he’s finally expressing an interest in her. Forget your inhibitions and get yourself some man love girlfriend! However, we then discover that feeling second best is a familiar theme in Frankie’s life, related to her relationship with her mother who chose alcohol over her own daughter. Although Frankie grew up in a loving home with her grandma and grandpa, there were still intermittent appearances from her hateful mother who would hail abuse on her before leaving once again for the bottle. My initial opinion of Frankie definitely changed after seeing how this complicated history with her mother could impact her current relationship with Mason.
Grandmothers and Sisters
Both Frankie and Mason definitely have their faults, but the supporting characters in this novel were EVERYTHING! From Frankie’s eccentric yet lovable gran, Ivy, to Mason’s no nonsense sister Carolyn, you couldn’t help but love their moxie. What made these characters so special was that they were always the kick in the pants that both Mason and Frankie needed to stop their wallowing and figure out what was really important in life. Turns out, both Ivy and Carolyn liked to employ the same tactic. Whenever Frankie and Mason were experiencing a low point of bickering over some issue or another, our supporting ladies would say, “So you two are arguing over this little inconsequential issue? Not talking to each other? Mkay, well that’s too bad! Time to move on. It’s not like you love ’em or anything.” Well hello little wake up call!! So nice to see you. Ivy and Carolyn were masters at helping Frankie and Mason realize that their feelings of love for each other were worth sticking around for, and putting up with everything else.
*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*
Series: Imperfect Love, book 2. A wonderfully apt title for this series. I hadn’t read the first book in this series, but I think I’ll continue on with the third to see how some of their friends carry on.
Should you read it? At times their constant arguing did get kind of old. I also felt like some issues were left unresolved, or rushed through, such as an extremely important issue with one of their exes. All in all though, it shows that relationships aren’t always a walk in the park. They push you and test you, but if you truly love the other person you can’t just walk away. Sometimes you have to stick around and fight for what you love.
Smut Level: These two have perfected the art of make up sex. Considering how often they got into verbal sparring matches, let’s just say they were experts by the end of it all!
Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $3.84 Kindle Price. Self-Published. 265 Pages.
Romance Novels for the Beach 