Joint Review: Manwhore by Katy Evans

Publisher: Gallery Books
Where did you get the book: e-ARC widget from publisher
Release date: March 24th

This is the story I’ve been waiting for all my life, and its name is Malcolm Kyle Preston Logan Saint. Don’t be fooled by that last name though. There’s nothing holy about the man except the hell his parties raise. The hottest entrepreneur Chicago has ever known, he’s a man’s man with too much money to spend and too many women vying for his attention.

manwhoreMysterious. Privileged. Legendary. His entire life he’s been surrounded by the press as they dig for tidbits to see if his fairytale life is for real or all mirrors and social media lies. Since he hit the scene, his secrets have been his and his alone to keep. And that’s where I come in.

Assigned to investigate Saint and reveal his elusive personality, I’m determined to make him the story that will change my career.

But I never imagined he would change my life. Bit by bit, I start to wonder if I’m the one discovering him…or if he’s uncovering me.

*blurb taken from Goodreads*

Lou: Katy Evan’s debut book and I did not mix together after my issues with how mental illness was portrayed and treated. I decided to give Manwhore a try thanks to Has pushing me. I’m glad I did because Manwhore and I had a much better time together. The author has an addictive writing style that’s engaging and she has her own unique author voice. Rachel is a journalist for an ailing magazine. She’s given the chance by her boss to further her career prospects and that of the magazine by going undercover and digging dirt on journalist shy businessman and playboy Malcolm Saint.

I liked Rachel, though, I sometimes thought her blushing and bashfulness didn’t come across as entirely organic. While she’s unsure of her reactions to Malcolm and their attraction, there was no self-guilt regarding getting close to him for this article which I liked at the beginning. She was doing her job and she’s was determined to do this for herself and to make sure her mother was financially comfortable. But! I then became kinda uncomfortable because if a male journalist had done this to a woman, well, I wouldn’t be reading this book.

Has: I felt the same way. I wasn’t keen on Evan’s debut for the same reasons Lou has mentioned. I liked the sound of the premise of Manwhore and wanted to give the author another chance. And I am glad that I did because I liked Manwhore so much better because it didn’t have the problematic issues I disliked. But Evans has an engaging cracky way with the narration with the heroine and the romance, and I did laugh out loud a few times when she was describing the hero and her feelings. Katy Evans captures that well, although there was a few times that it got too much for me because I felt that Rachel sounded a bit like a teenager. I wished it was toned because it was beginning to overshadow the plot and tone of the story.

I also agree about feeling uncomfortable about the premise. I am not a huge fan of this trope but I really liked how Evan’s tackled it and I thought that the ending and the conflict, although it wasn’t fully resolved, really added to the love story. And I found it really romantic because the heroine was the one who was in the position to grovel instead of the hero and I found that refreshing.

Lou: We really didn’t get a good insight to Malcom since Manwhore is entirely in Rachel’s POV but I thought the beginning had a wonderful scene showing the enigma and forcefulness of Malcolm in his office when Rachel is interviewing him. I could understand her giddiness at times but I also felt she held her own against Malcolm, especially when she infiltrates his life. At times I couldn’t understand what made Rachel tick for Malcolm. Malcolm really did come across as a playboy. He reminded me of the womanizing and playboy ways the gossip magazines portray Leonardo Dicaprio for some reason, especially on a yacht scene. Malcolm comes across as the classic playboy who has too much of everything, including women who fawn over him. He has two friends who on the surface seem shallow like Malcolm. There’s a scene on the yacht and women who slept with Malcolm the night before feed him grapes and his response is almost absentminded and bored.

The book builds up to the moment when Malcolm finds out Rachel’s real reason of lusty courtship and I was frustrated when Rachel kept it from him, especially when it’s obvious they’ve both fallen for each other deeply. The ending did take me by surprise as I wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger but I can understand why.

Has: I totally agree with you about Malcolm’s character. I wished there was more insight and development because it was mostly in Rachel’s POV. Although, I really liked Malcolm even though he had this ladies-man reputation. I also never got the sense he was playing with Rachel’s affection and was actually quite taken by her. While Rachel was the one who, despite her inner giddiness with her growing feelings for Malcolm, was more reserved and playing it cool with their relationship. This was a nice twist on this trope because it’s usually the other way round.

However, I do have to say I wasn’t keen on Rachel’s friend and I couldn’t warm up to her character. Maybe its due to the fact that it was in Rachel’s POV but we never got to see and experience Gina’s negativity for being in a relationship and how that influenced her friendship with the heroine. But I found her annoying and not as well as fleshed out as other characters.

Lou: I didn’t mind Gina. I liked that she was warning Rachel about Malcolm and I have a feeling she might be further sequel bait with one of Malcolm’s friends. All in all I enjoyed Manwhore and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

B

Has: I also enjoyed Manwhore because it was different to what I expected with the trope of a playboy billionaire hero and a heroine who intrigues him. And I am glad that I took another chance with Katy Evans, and despite some issues with some scenes that especially involved Rachel’s inner dialogue at the halfway point, I thought this was a fun and sexy romance with the crack factor!

I give Manwhore a C+

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