Accidentally on Purpose: A Heartbreaker Bay Novel

Good romance novels have their heroines engage in other activities besides worrying about having a man. Accidentally On Purpose leans into having an unromantic hero and obnoxious heroine disrespecting each other at every turn.

Archer and Elle have a past. Archer is some sort of private security officer/bounty hunter, and Elle works with him.

This romance novel, set in the present day, is profoundly lacking in chemistry. The only way I could have guessed Archer and Elle actually had the hots for each other was because all of the surrounding secondary characters were trying to convince Archer and Elle that they had the hots for each other.

In the meantime, Elle tries to have a love life with other people, even if they’re temporary flings; Archer somehow sabotages her dates, and she gets angry. Then they yell at each other, then one of them apologizes (usually Elle, even though she has every right to be angry), and the cycle begins again.

For being a romance novel, it certainly was not a romantic story. The only interesting parts came from Elle’s past, where she escaped a life of crime with her sister, Morgan. While Elle got out of her shady situation, Morgan was still trapped.

Accidentally On Purpose misses the mark. Find another romance novel.