Off the Record (Record #1)

The author created 2 characters who never developed into more than paper cutouts of stereotypes – the smart, beautiful, athletic heroine (although inappropriately young for her role in this story) who turned into a spineless desperate clinger who would do anything for sex with the hero. The dynamic, charismatic male lead who turned into a man who manipulates the heroine for his own convenience and pleasure and treats her like an unpaid whore. And she\’s willing to put up with it. By 4 hours into the audiobook, I couldn\’t stand either one of them. Plot-wise, I kept slogging through the interpersonal melodrama, waiting for something to actually happen that didn\’t involve a secret sexual encounter. Nothing did, at least by the time I lost all interest. And why did the relationship have to be secret? The excuse that he couldn\’t be seen having a relationship with a \”reporter\” rang pretty false. She\’s a college kid, for crying out loud – that would have been a more credible concern. Why was a 27 man who was supposedly morally upstanding and mature, running for the House of Representatives, manipulating an immature college student who was presented as being around 19 or 20 years old? What a slime ball. And why was the heroine doing so much drinking in public bars – she\’s not even old enough to drink legally! Overall, this book strained credibility as well as patience. I ran out of both and deleted the book from my audiobook library after wasting 4+ hours of my life on it. Definitely not worth it.

I am ashamed to admit that this book has been lost in my kindle for over a year! It is also the first book that I\’ve read from K.A. Linde and I really enjoyed her writing style. The plot was unique so that coupled with the great cast of characters kept me flipping the pages. I was very curious to see how the political aspect would tie into the book and it worked wonderfully. It created a great dynamic, full of angst, between the leading characters. Off the Record follows the story of up and coming reporter/ journalist Liz. She has been working at her way up for her campus newspaper while harboring a secret crush for her boss, Hayden. While they\’re at an event for the paper, Liz is thrust into the spotlight when she questions one Brady Maxwell III. She stunned him stupid for a second but he quickly brushed it off. He was intrigued by Liz and when they ran into each other again all bets were off. Holy hot! Those two together really burned up the sheets. They both wanted more and more but knew that there was a lot at stake if their affair got out. Most of the time Brady was cold and unapproachable. But I liked seeing the side of Brady that only Liz brought out. When his campaign mask wasn\’t on. In those moments he was sweet, sexy, thoughtful and kind. Of course, with Brady being in the spotlight and Liz being a reporter, things are a bit up in the air. I enjoyed the progression of their relationship as well. Both of their works reflected the change that their time together brought out in them. And that moment at the Fourth of July rally was one of my favorite parts of the entire book as well as when Brady introduced Liz to his best friend, Chris. The cast of secondary characters was great. Everyone from Heather to Clay to Victoria played a role in the grand scheme of things. All of the drama leads up to the big night, the primary. The votes are in and a winner is called. And that is where things end. Oh, but there is that little treat of some POV from Brady at the end. It was great getting inside of his head. I know that things are going to get much worse for Brady and Liz before they get better in the series. But, I for one love the angst and can\’t wait to see what is in store for them next.

I was really hoping for a good read but it fell pretty flat. I like a strong female but Liz was far from one. She was willing to be Brady\’s dirty little secret just so she could be with him. Not to mention, he treated her pretty poorly as well and she put up with it. When she decides she has enough, she just picks another poor sap to be with, She acted like an immature teenager. I got the series for a good price and will continue to read them but I as disappointed in the direction they are taking so far.

I read a hell of a lot of books and I only ever rate a book now if its worth a read because I\’m just too busy to rate all the books I read. This books is worth reading, someone actually only gave this book 1 star, I think she was reading a different book because I cant understand her reasons for giving it 1 star, unbelievable. I liked the story line, yes, it could have been better and I do think it was a bit rushed in parts, but there is a second addition to this book called \’On the record\’ coming out in August so I\’m guessing that\’s why. Anyway, I just hope that the author allows the female character Liz to show a bit more back bone where it comes to relationship with men. The author really needs to allow the character Liz to grow more and instead of chasing Brady, she should get angry with him more and make Brady work harder in the relationship with Liz, it was really frustrating to keep reading that Liz was doing all the chasing and waiting around. Otherwise I thought it was o.k and worth reading.

I did love the whole idea of a politician/reporter love story. Unfortunately I felt the final execution of the story was lacking. Herein we enter the world of seedy power hungry politicians and ruthless reporters in search of the next big story. I felt the couples love and feelings for each other were forever a back burner to the story and made to feel \”wrong\” in both their desperate bids to establish their careers. Was a mediocre effort for me, hope to see Brady maxwell to grow a pair of balls in the next book.

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