In Finishing in the New Year we meet Jared, playboy extraordinaire. He’s rich, he’s gorgeous and he is totally skilled in the art of pleasing a woman. Well, many women and that’s kind of the problem. Jared spots Marla and he is instantly gobsmacked. Smitten. In lust.

But Marla has a cheating ex in her recent history and she’s not interested in a guy like Jared, in fact, she hates his gorgeous guts. Between healing her heart and taking care of her teenage brother, Marla doesn’t have time to waste her time on a guy like Jared.

Until the elevator. That’s right, the friggin’ elevator!!!

And that’s all the setup you’re getting for this fun-ish story.

What I liked about the story was that Jared knew who he was and unlike plenty of playboy stories, he wasn’t ashamed of his past or how he behaved with women in the past. No one got hurt and it’s not his fault if the woman got the wrong impression…but despite all that he’s decided he wants to change and find his forever girl.

Watching him pursue Marla while trying to handle her mouthy teenage brother was hilarious. Oliver was exactly what a guy like him needed, someone who wasn’t easily impressed by him and that gave the story the real-ness it needed because the villains were, in my opinion over the top. I pretty much guessed what they were up to and I know the story needed it, but it was my least favorite part of Finishing in the New Year.

This story kept me engaged, even when I wanted to toss my Kindle and yell at Marla so for that I’m giving it a solid 4.25 stars because I think we should all, as book reviewers, adopt Star Search scoring practices!!