Flawless
by Elsie Silver
Published by Bloom Books
Book 1 in the Chestnut Springs Series
The rules were simple: keep his hands off his agent's daughter and stay out of trouble.
But now he's stuck with her. There's only one bed. And well, rules are made to be broken.
Rhett Eaton is the face of professional bull riding. The golden boy. Or at least he was until it all blew up in his face after a public brawl. Now his agent says he has to clean up his image, and sticks Rhett with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as "full-time supervision."
But Rhett doesn't need a goddamn babysitter--especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can't stop running.
A mouth he can't stop thinking about.
And he quickly learns that Summer Hamilton isn't just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn't run--she pulls him closer, even when she shouldn't.
She says this means nothing.
Rhett says this means everything.
She says there are boundaries they shouldn't cross. That Rhett's reputation can't take any more hits...and neither can her damaged heart.
Rhett says he's going to steal it anyway.
Genre
Triggers
Bull Riding, Injuries, Mentions of child grooming, emotional abuse by a step-parent
I'm not typically a cowboy romance fan.
Cowboys are ... cheesy.
I wasn't drawn in by the bull riding element of this book either. I'm definitely of the mindset that bull riding is dumb.
But Elsie Silver is recommended a lot.
She is a Canadian author, so, bonus.
One of my upcoming bookish box books are of her new books that are all connected in some way.
So I started at what I thought was the first book (it wasn't. I will have to go back to read that series) and started reading.
My final thoughts are ...
I liked it.
I didn't love it.
My main problem with the book was I just couldn't connect to the characters.
I couldn't connect to Rhett because of his passion for bull riding. I liked him because he was funny, sweet, and his moral compass.
I also found him immature at times. A man in his thirties should not act the way he does at moments in the first half of this book.
I couldn't connect with Summer because she was too sweet. Whenever she was meant to come off as sassy, it didn't work for me. It felt forced.
It lead to some stilted, flat banter. I also just felt like the chemistry was lackluster at best.
As for the overall story, I really liked it. Rhett trying to resuscitate his career after a PR dilemma was fun, and a little funny, considering it was over his hatred of milk (and I agree, milk is gross). His family dynamics were even more entertaining (I love Harvey), and it was easy to understand both sides of the divide in their family.
Summer's story was even more interesting to me. Her struggle with her job, and not living her passion, and her, frankly, messed up family dynamic made for lots of drama. Add in the very messy and disturbing ex, and it adds lots of juicy drama.. Plus, the fact that she almost died from a heart condition as a teen, it adds this interesting element of a character who strives to live her life with no regrets but also balancing that with her need to please her family.
In the end, Flawless wasn't terrible. The first half was okay, but I didn't really start getting into it until the last half of the book. Once we dug into these characters, and the outside dynamics they faced, it was easier to appreciate them. While left feeling lukewarm over Flawless, after reading the first chapter of Heartless, let's just say I don't think I will be feeling lukewarm over that book.
I think it will leave me on fire.
Rhett: “Alright. Give me my spanking so I can go home, Kip. I’m tired.”
Milk. Taken down by fucking milk.
Summer: Heading out there now.
Dad: Be safe. Don’t let that asshole in your pants.
Summer: I’m really more of a skirt gal.
Dad: -_-
Rhett: Want your daughter back yet ? I promise I’ll be good.
Kip: She’s not even there yet.
Rhett: Think of all the time you’ll save her by calling her back now.
Kip: No.
Rhett: Please?
Kip: Don’t try to be polite. It doesn’t suit you.
Rhett: Suck a dick.
Kip: How do you think I’m keeping all your sponsors?
Dad: You’ll win him over. Just make sure he keeps his dick in his pants.
Summer: I’ll pass the message along. A sure way to win him over!
Rhett: “Your dad made it seem like you were going to put me on a leash.”
Summer: “Only if you’re into that kind of thing.”
Beau: “Wait.”
Beau’s face brightens.
Beau: “Did you get assigned a babysitter?”
Rhett groans and drops his head back against the couch.
Luke: “I don’t like my babysitter either, Uncle Rhett.”
Luke pats him like a dog and a laugh bubbles up out of me. Because Rhett called this. Harvey called this. They knew exactly how it was going to go down, and that level of familiarity is heartwarming to me. It’s chaotic in here already, and I love it. I’m starry-eyed and giddy.
Cade: “Mind your manners, Lucas Eaton,”
Cade says while pulling a pan out from under the stove.
Beau: “Answer the question, Rhett.”
Rhett glances over at Beau and says,
Rhett: “You can contact my agent for a comment.”
Beau barks out a laugh and looks over at me, hands held up in prayer position.
Beau: “Please, Summer. Make my day. Tell me he’s in time out. Tell me he’s a thirty-two-year-old man with a full-time nanny.”
I press my lips together, dedicated to not throwing Rhett under the bus—no matter how badly I’d like to.
Summer: “I’m new at the firm. This job is so that I can get some experience under my belt outside of the office.”
Cade: “Yeah. She told me that too,”
Cade interjects as he seasons a sizeable chunk of beef now.
Cade: “I think Miss Hamilton might be full of shit though.”
Kip: Hello? You going to thank me?
Rhett: Nope.
Kip: I know you love me.
Rhett: I don’t. You sicced an attack dog on me. Your princess is a real ball-buster.
Kip: Good. Your balls could use some busting.
Rhett: “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Jesus, is a few beers at my local watering hole off the table?
Summer; “I know that. But I’m supposed to keep Little Rhett in your pants. And that one girl was ready to pack him up and take him home.”
Rhett: “Pardon me?”
Summer: “Your dick.”
She points at my lap.
Summer: “No coming out to play until this is all dealt with. Kip’s orders.
Summer: “Realize that I’m on your side. I don’t want this to be miserable. I don’t want to embarrass you. If you let me, we can be a team rather than fighting the entire time. Use your head.”
I’m accustomed to getting dressed down. Getting in trouble isn’t new, and I’m not about to roll over and take this from her. Which is why I reply with,
Rhett: “Which one?”
And with that, she storms out.
Harvey: “Good for you. I bet you’ll be back before Rhett even wakes up.”
Summer: “Well, great. If he gets up, give him a tranquilizer until I return.”
Summer: “You gonna tell me why you hate milk so much?”
Rhett: “Ever had raw farm milk?”
Summer: “No.”
Rhett: “Okay. Well, it’s thick, and yellow, and fatty, and we had a cow growing up, and my dad would make us drink a glass of it every day, and I’m pretty sure it was borderline child abuse. Now, the thought of sitting down and just slugging back an entire glass . . .”
He shudders.
Rhett: “I’ve never been happier than I was the day that cow died.”
Summer: “That’s dark!”
I burst out laughing.
Summer: “It sounds terrible though. I’ll give you that.”
Rhett: “I’m properly traumatized.”
Willa: “Huh. And he’s staying out of trouble?”
Summer: “Wils, he’s not a dog who keeps getting out of the yard. He mostly sleeps, reads, and helps his dad and brothers around the ranch. He’s not an idiot, and there’s only so much to do out here. I’m not going to ride his ass unnecessarily.”
She hums suggestively.
Willa: “But would you let him ride yours?”
Summer: “Okay, it’s been nice chatting! Bye!”
Willa: “Prude,”
Summer: “Love you too,”
Rhett told me earlier that he drew a good bull, and when I asked what that means, a slightly psychotic expression came over his face as his lips stretched into a toothy grin.
Rhett: “It means he’s going to want to kill me, Princess.”
Rhett: “Jesus, why are your hands so cold?”
Summer: “Because it’s freezing outside, and I walked to get you all this, dumbass.”
Her fingers prod along the line of the blade, and I wince.
Rhett: “Careful. Your dad told me to keep my hands off you.”
Summer: “Yeah, well, he didn’t tell me to keep my hands off you.”
Rhett: Can you fuck off now?
Beau: Sadly, no. You’re stuck with me forever. Don’t die out there tonight!
Rhett: What if that was the last thing you ever said to me?
Beau: Then I’d think to myself: if only Rhett had listened to my good advice.
“You look tired.”
She tilts her head and hits me with her most unimpressed look. All wide eyes and pursed lips.
Summer: “Thank you. How charming. Now lose the shirt and get on your bed.”
I blink slowly as I put together the real meaning behind what she’s saying.
“That’s very forward, Summer.”
Summer: “Don’t test my patience this morning, Eaton. I need at least three cups of coffee before I can deal with this adorable version of you.”
“It’s alright. I like it when a woman knows what she wants and just asks for it.”
He smirks now, cocky prick he is.
“Why? You worried you won’t be able to resist me?”
My jaw drops.
Summer: "Rude. And no. I’m more worried I might accidentally hold a pillow over your smug, pretty face until you stop breathing. I have a sweatsuit. I’ll dress warm. I’ll be fine.”
He turns, and in a few strides he flips the top half of my suitcase closed, and I stand frowning at him as he zips my bag shut.
Summer: “What do you think you’re doing?”
“All I heard was that you think I have a pretty face,”
he says as he marches past me, rolling my suitcase behind himself.
Summer: “Of course, you missed the part about me wanting to kill you.”
Willa: Did you bang him yet?
Summer: Goodnight, Willa.
Willa: You only live once, you know. This is a story you could tell your kids one day.
Summer: What the fuck kind of stories do you plan on telling your children, Wils?
“You okay?”
Summer: “No,”
“Are you hiding because your sister is a grade A bitch or because I now know that I’m your teenaged spank bank fodder?”
I’m pretty sure I hear her mumble a choked,
Summer: “Oh, my God.”
When she peeks out at me from between her fingers, I waggle my eyebrows. And when her only response is to groan and tip her head back against the vinyl chair back, I laugh.
Summer: “Can we please pretend that never happened?”
Her palms muffle her voice. I grin and shake my head, crossing my arms, irrationally pleased with the whole thing.
“Not a fuckin’ chance, Princess.”
Summer: For ducks’ sake.
Summer: Duck
Summer: *Duck
Summer: FUCK. Ugh. Why can’t my phone learn that word? I’ll be back around dinnertime.
Rhett: Quack.
Summer: “Rhett Eaton. What. The. Fuck. Do you think you’re doing?”
Raspy. Just like that. I look up just in time to see her riding on my mount, in a flowy white dress and fucking snakeskin boots.
If her face was a little more Please fuck me, sir and a little less I’m going to kill you, I’d be hard at the mere sight of her.
Dad: Okay. You’re defensive too. Got it.
Summer: I’m not being defensive. I’m just pointing something out.
Dad: Defensively.
“You know what I’m sick of, Summer?”
His hand comes to my throat, fluttering over the skin so gently that I arch toward him to increase the pressure.
Summer: “What’s that?”
“Having you think I’m out fucking everything that moves when I’ve looked at nothing and no one since the first day I laid eyes on you. I stepped into that godforsaken boardroom, and you practically demanded I become obsessed with you.”
“Now, tell me honestly, Summer. If this were your last moment on earth, what would you want me to do?”
I don’t even need to think about it. I know what I want from him.
Summer: “Ruin me.”
“Good. I’m about fucking done being a gentleman with you. And the only thing I’m ruining you for is anyone else.”
Summer: “Lose the shirt.”
I chuckle.
“There she is. My bossy girl.”
“That’s a crime, Summer. A terrible shame.”
I slide a finger in and feel her contract around me as she gasps.
“It seems I have some wrongs to right.”
I pump in and out, raptly watching her pussy take my finger, and then two.
“And I’m not even sad about it. Do you know why?”
Summer: “Why?”
she replies quickly, voice all raspy and thick.
“Because if this were my last moment on earth, that’s how I’d want to go.”
I thrust in hard now, watching her body shake with the force, hearing her curse.
“Head between these pretty little thighs, your pussy on my tongue.”
Kip: Is everything okay? Neither of you have answered my texts about your meeting with the Ariat guys.
Rhett: Yes, Daddy. Everything is fine. Some of us sleep at night.
Kip: I was worried she might have killed you. Just looking out for you, son.
Rhett: She almost did.
“What are you working out?”
She peeks up at me.
Summer: “Well, for starters, how to convince you to go again.”
My brows raise.
“Yeah?”
She grins.
Summer: “Yeah, but look at the time. You need to be at the arena for another interview and a meeting with a sponsor in one hour.”
I roll her on top of me, not caring at all about the fucking time. Especially not when her legs straddle my waist, and she sighs like she knows she belongs there.
“Fuck the meetings.”
I grip her waist as she taps at her lip. The sheet pools around her waist and the sun shines in brightly behind her, highlighting the beard burn across her chest, just above where her pert tits stare back at me.
Summer: “I’m also trying to figure out how I’m going to continue sleeping with a client who only has one-night stands.”
“Fuck one-night stands.”
My hands glide up over her ribs, pushing her breasts together.
Summer: “It would be unprofessional for me to continue but . . .”
She’s smiling now, looking light and sweet and totally fuckable.
“Fuck professionalism,”
I growl, tweaking a nipple.
Summer: “Yes, well, Kip Hamilton might not share that sentiment. You’re still a client.”
Her eyes sober.
“Fuck Kip Hamilton too. He’s fired.”
Summer: “Rhett—”
I silence her by sliding one hand up and pushing my thumb into her mouth, watching her lips part, and the flash of her pink tongue as I press down on it.
“If you keep talking about things that don’t matter, we’re going to run out of time to do things that do.”
Kip: Why did Rhett send me a text saying that I’m fired?
Summer: He. Didn’t.
Kip: He did. It said, “Fuck professionalism and fuck you. You’re fired.”
Summer: Well, he’s not wrong. That certainly isn’t very professional. I don’t think you’re actually fired though.
Kip: Of course I’m not fired. That asshole is stuck with me.
Dad: Wouldn’t miss it. Beers are on me. Maybe some of those cinnamon mini donuts too.
Summer: Sounds healthy.
Dad: If this were my last moment on earth, I’d want to go with a beer in one hand and a mini donut in the other.
Summer: I hate you.
Dad: I love you too.
“Okay, fine.”
He steps in close, tipping my chin up, thumb taking one swipe just beneath my lower lip.
“But I want to make one thing clear. I am not possessive. I am protective. And I’ll never stop protecting you. I’d hit that fucker again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping him from talking to you that way.”
Summer: "I know you don’t care what people think. But me? I do. And you keep steamrolling that. Maybe I shouldn’t care so much about what people think, and maybe you should care more. Maybe your family is unsupportive of you, or maybe they’re scared that every time you walk out that door, it might be the last time they ever see you.”
I’m panting now, and Rhett looks stricken by what I’ve just said.
Summer: “Other people’s feelings are involved. It’s not all about you and what you want, Rhett. Not when you love someone. I care what my sister thinks of me—even if I shouldn’t, even if she’s mean. And my dad?”
I point behind me.
Summer: “The man in that room, who could have died today, is the only person who really cares about me, the only person I’ve got. They both deserved better than hearing about this the way it just came out. Maybe Rob got what he deserves, but what about the rest of us?”
Summer: “Yeah, Dad. I like him. He’s not like he comes off. Nothing like everyone thinks.”
Kip: “I know.”
My head flips in his direction.
Summer: “You do?”
Kip: “Of course, I know. Been helping that kid for over a decade now. He pisses me off because he’s a loose fucking cannon, but I like him. I knew you two would get along eventually.”
I blink, thinking back to the way Kip ranted and raved about him when this whole milk thing hit the fan. I saw it as frustration, but now, I’m thinking it might be affection. Frustration that things weren’t going right for him rather than frustration directed at him.
Summer: “Well, cool,”
I say, slumping back in my chair.
Summer: “Way to play weird matchmaker. It worked.”
I can feel my dad staring at me. His gaze is burning a hole in my resolve to not say more.
Summer: “I let him get in my pants, okay?”
I finally blurt. My dad laughs. I bring my hands up to my forehead as I stare at the ceiling.
Summer: “You told me not to let him get into my pants, and I brushed you off like that was insane. And then I let him get in my pants. So, when we get back to work, you can just fire me and let me know what an unprofessional disappointment I am. Also, can we please never talk about my sex life again after this?”
Kip: I hope you’re not dead, but only because my daughter is distraught over you right now, and if you’re dead, I can’t kick your ass for hurting her.
“Fuck you, Cade.”
I shake my head.
Cade: “No, Rhett. Fuck you. You fucking bolthead. You had something with that girl.”
I huff out a laugh.
“Cade, you don’t even like her.”
Cade: “I like her because she’s good for you. I like her because she doesn’t take our shit, and she doesn’t roll over for you like some lovesick puppy dog. I don’t like her because she’s smarter than me, and that’s fucking annoying.”
Cade: “You’re so busy running around being a showboat rodeo boy that you don’t even realize what you’ve got. You think we all pick on you for riding bulls because we’re just being dicks? It’s because we love you. You don’t remember when mom died. But I do. I was there. I watched our dad hold her while she bled out. Suddenly, at eight, I was wrangling you and Beau because dad was a shell of himself, focused on taking care of Violet. And now I’m a single dad. I watch Luke grow every day and dread the day I can’t be the one to keep him safe.”
I bite my inner cheek. I know Cade is serious right now because I don’t think I can remember him ever telling me that he loves me.
Cade: “When you have a kid, everyone warns you about the sleepless nights. The explosive diaper changes. How they grow so fast that you hemorrhage money on clothing them. What they don’t tell you is that you’ll never spend another day of your life without worrying about another person. You’ll never completely relax again because that person you created will always, always be on your mind. You’ll wonder where they are, what they’re doing, and if they’re okay.”
Kip: “No, Summer. That was never my end game. I wanted to show you that anything was possible. That our transgressions don’t define us. I did a shitty thing, but one of the very best things in my life came out of it. Things will always be strained between Marina and I because as much as I apologize to her, I can’t bring myself to say that I regret it. Because I have you.”
Kip: “If Marina or that piece of shit your sister married ever made you feel unworthy for even one moment, put it out of your mind. You are not a burden. You are not a waste of time. You are very wanted. And anyone who makes you feel you’re anything less deserves Rhett Eaton’s fist to their face. Or yours. You can hit back too, you know? I’ll bail you out every fucking time.”
Kip: “Summer.”
His voice drops along with his shoulders.
Kip: “This place isn’t my legacy. This place is where I busy my mind and body. This place is my passion. My legacy is showing you that if you pursue something you love, you’ll make it work. Blood. Sweat. Tears. And a whole lotta love."
Summer: "I’ve been moping.”
Willa: “Because Daddy Hamilton fired you?”
Summer: “Can we not call him that?”
I reach for a mimosa and take a gulp.
Guy: “Is she okay?”
The guy sounds skeptical because I probably look hammered. I’m not, but two mimosas on an empty stomach isn’t a great recipe for sobriety either.
Willa: “Her? Oh, nah. She’s a mess. Get the lady a drink.”
Summer: “Oh, yeah? Pray tell, bestie. Where are we going? Mexico? Ooh. A weekend in Paris? We can drink wine by the Eiffel Tower.”
Willa: “You have expensive taste for an unemployed person.”
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