REVIEW: Shacking Up by Helena Hunting

Shacking Up by Helena Hunting: Ruby is a talented actress, singer, and dancer, but she’s a bit down on her luck. She may have been born within a wealthy, privileged family, but the corporate pharmaceutical life isn’t for her since she would rather try her luck on Broadway. She hasn’t had the success she’s hoping for when her ongoing show ends. She’s desperately hoping to land a recurring role to avoid working for her stepmother.

Bane is just starting out and learning the family hotel empire after years spent playing professional rugby. He’s hoping to manage the New York properties and have minimal travel since he spent years traveling for games. Bane is certainly quite the catch as he’s a sexy former athlete with a soft spot for his beloved pets Francesca the ferret and Tiny the tarantula.

An unexpectedly hot kiss from a stranger is the highlight of her best friend’s party, but Ruby leaves without getting the name of her mystery man. Her luck only gets worse as she’s about to end up homeless as well as jobless, until Bane steps in. Staying in Bane’s condo during his lengthy European business trip solves both of their immediate needs and helps to resolve his guilt over costing her a potential job.

She takes the binder from me and opens it. “How many pages is this? More than a hundred?”
“It’s ninety-eight. Francesca and Tiny have very specific needs.”
“Ninety-eight pages of needs.” She leafs through it and mutters, “I wish someone was this in tune to my needs.”

Neither are entirely sure about the arrangement. They don’t know each other besides their one scorching kiss, their incredible chemistry, and mutual friends. They grow pretty close as Bane frequently checks in on Francesca and Tiny. Their interactions are flirty and become a form of long distance foreplay as they get to know each other before they can really act on their chemistry. Bane goes after what he wants while Ruby is feisty. They love to challenge and push each other’s buttons.

He admitted it. Out loud. Thank God. He doesn’t make a move to take me, though, so I push what I hope is his very last button. “Well, what are you going to do about it?”
“You can’t make anything easy, can you?”

Shacking Up was engaging, entertaining, and HOT. Helena Hunting kept me engaged from the first page with great dialogue, banter, chemistry, friendship, romance, and Francesca’s antics. Ms. Hunting built the tension and anticipation while still developing the characters and relationships. Fans of Emma Chase and Sawyer Bennett will love Shacking Up.

Book Info:

Publication: Published May 30th 2017 | Swerve |

Ruby Scott is months behind on rent and can’t seem to land a steady job. She has one chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed—and then coughed on—her at a party the night before.

Luckily, her best friend might have found the perfect opportunity; a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel magnate Bancroft Mills while he’s out of town, taking care of his exotic pets. But when the newly-evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out Bane is the same guy who got her sick.

Seeing his role in Ruby’s dilemma, Bane offers her a permanent job as his live-in pet sitter until she can get back on her feet. Filled with hilariously awkward encounters and enough sexual tension to heat a New York City block, Shacking Up, from NYT and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting, is sure to keep you laughing and swooning all night long.