I was given an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

I love Charlotte West’s writing. Her books are usually an easy read for me with great dialogue and thoughtful character development. Her books are a must read for me. 

In Bad Rules (A Wild Minds Novel), Lily Phillips-Thomas, best friend of Addison Price, our heroine from Book One in the series, has been raised by nannies in lieu of her absentee parents, anthropologists who travel the globe. Lily and Addison at one point in the past followed Wild Minds, a rock band, across Europe, and Lily who was never shown love or tenderness by her parents, began to fall in love. Things didn’t work out, and she and Addison ran. In present day Addison is pregnant by her rock star husband and needs Lily to come with her on tour again, putting her in direct contact with her ex. Although this is a rock star romance there is little of the usual rock band part of the story. I forgot half the time what the hero’s “job” was. 

I never once connected with Lily. She was a feminist, and that’s all she was. She was so one dimensional. I got sick of hearing her spout her vitriol about feminism and smashing the patriarchy and blah, blah, blah. It got old. And what was up with the seventeen marriage proposals? Every guy who meets her within ten seconds wants to marry her even though she’s telling him he’s a pig and all men are jerks. We kept hearing how smart she was, yet she was so stupid. 

I get that she was abandoned and damaged by her idiotic parents, but why did she spend the entire book chasing after them still seeking their approval? Her mother was a true bitch yet Lily was just like her. Wouldn’t she have bent over backwards to distance herself from that nonsense? I didn’t “get” Lily at all. 

I loved that the hero, Asher did, however. He was crazy about her. I spent the entire book feeling sorry for this man. From the video he had playing on repeat on his phone while he slept, to the women he had visiting his hotel room and the reason why, to his telling Lily “I’m into whatever you’re into”. He was so obviously in love with her and destroyed by the fact that she couldn’t love him back that he turned to alcohol. He broke my heart. 

I would’ve loved to have had more of him in the story and less of Lily and her constantly interacting with other men. Ash deserved better. This read was worth it for me solely because of the hero.