The Shameless Hour

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Nick Podehl

She's not looking for a hero. He's not looking for a hookup.

For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men's hockey team, sex is a second language. She's used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don't (often) bother her. So she can't understand why her smoking-hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there's something in those espresso eyes that makes her second-guess herself.

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor - but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright nasty fraternity stunt, it's Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.

Bella doesn't want Rafe's help, and she's through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can't be extinguished.

©2015 Sarina Bowen (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

A pretty good story

If you could sum up The Shameless Hour in three words, what would they be?

Loved Raf and at times I did like Bella but sometimes this book felt kinda white feminist-y. Because I listened to the audiobook I'm mostly judging my review based off the narration read to me. The narrators were pretty great aside from when they spoke words in spanish. I pretty much cringed every time they said words in spanish because they were spoken just like a person with 3rd grade knowledge of spanish. Speaking of the spanish, a lot of it was incorrectly written and since Raf was Dominican, I was sort of hoping for Dominican Spanish cuz I mean, they were from NYC, I can't imagine him speaking spanish all textbook like, but alas, the author didn't recruit any native spanish speakers otherwise she would have known that. Like I said, I loved Raf regardless of the lack of research she put in to make him authentically Dominicano. He was a virgin when he met Bella and he was so sweet and a nice change from the man-whores I read in books. He actually wanted a relationship and was there for Bella through the thick and thin.

I think my biggest disconnect was the fact that it took Bella and Raf so long to get together so it didn't really feel like a romance until the last 30%. They were literally just friends(not even friends with benefits) until the 70% mark. For that reason I put the book down several times because I was always waiting for something to happen between them and yet, nada! I will say that the book did a decent job at unveiling the ugliness of slut shaming but I think with Bella being a girl with few girlfriends, it sort of made her that type of girl who doesn't feel like she gets along with other girls. But I liked that Bella was a girl in charge of her own sexuality and wasn't a darn virgin like most girls in NA romances. I get so tired of the silly virgin. It was nice that the author switched the roles of the guy and the girl. The good boy and the bad girl. I wished I read more books with that combination.

So why a 3? Like I said the book was sort of white feminist-y at times. Here comes this working class Latin kid who is in awe of this pretty, blonde, rich white girl who pretty much has the world in her hands. And then she has a latina maid which Raf didn't even blink an eye at. It just made me uncomfortable to see all the PoC in this book aiding the white girl with her giving so little in return. Overall, I enjoyed it though. Not sure if I'd listen to the rest in the series though. I picked this one up because of the Latin hero and because there are no other PoC in the series, i'm not sure it would interest me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Sexy addition to the ivy series!

I loved the Bella got her own story with an unlikely, sexy and hard working hero! I loved the role reversal for female/male stereotypes as well. The narrators as expected were amazing as always! Perfect addition to the series!

OH MY BELLA!! SHE GOT HER SELF A REAL MAN!!!

I loved this one too!! I did NOT like the slut shaming! I did NOT like the drugging! But I loved the story and I love Bella and Rav! This series has been a real pleasure...I needed it! Sarina is going on my fave author list...and I highly recommend this whole series and this author highly!!

love it

this book was entertaining from start to finish! love the author's writer voice. bravo

Flips the Script

Finally, a book that flipped the script. Usually, the male lead has much more experience, but here, it was Bella who showed Rafe the ropes. And Rafe was the sweetest. Even when he didn’t have to be. He was almost too perfect to be real. I also really admired Bella. She had so much confidence. Sure, it may have been shaken up, but she fought back and persevered. I was a bit worried about the representation after going through reviews, and it wasn’t great, but the scenes were so minor it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the story.