I'm going to start by saying I love this author and all of her books but with that said this book was hard for me to get into. Lets start with what I loved about the book:

The storyline was amazing and I enjoyed it because it was different and I hadn't read anything like it yet. Brodie was amazing, sweet, and had a sense of humor. He was constantly aware of others feelings and he liked to lookout for the underdogs or those who may not be able to take care of themselves in certain situations. Also his dog, Howler was loyal, sweet, protective, and the story surrounding Brodie rescuing him was so sweet. Ok so lets go to my main issue with this book:

Mary. She was so uptight and out to prove herself to the world that she didn't realize how obnoxious, judgmental, and downright rude she came off as. I tried so hard to like her because as the reader you just know there is a reason for her being this way. you know that she wants to be treated as an equal and come off as I am an independent woman hear me roar which is fine because I am all for strong heroine leads but when they are constantly being condescending to the Hero over and over and over again you can't connect with them. She keep treating Brodie like he was a lowlife and every situation that occurred she yelled at him and belittled him. I honestly wanted Brodie to walk away from her and not look back because he kept apologizing for absolutely nothing. Honestly her attitude was so annoying it took away from their chemistry and romance.

Overall I enjoyed this book but Mary wasn't even likeable until she finally let go of her attitude but that was about at 80% of the book. If she had lost some of her attitude earlier then I could see the connection between her and Brodie but she had me feeling so sorry for him that I couldn't buy into their romance. ( )

Oh my wow! I wish Brodie lived in my town! Mary is very straight laced, trying to remove herself from her past and Brodie is just a hunk taking care of his family. Mary's boss Therman is a bit eccentric and collects odd things. Mary's job, with the help of a driver, is to get the items he's purchased. Since the collecting game can be cutthroat, this can cause problems in the process of getting the items. Brodie is great taking care of Mary, even though she doesn't want him to. The slow build up to the romance is great, and who couldn't love Howler?? I honestly don't think it took me 24 hours to read, I couldn't put it down and needed to finish before I went on with my day. Can't wait for book 2!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own. ( )

Lori Foster has an amazing way of making her characters come to life and the characters in this book are amazing. Who can resist a big alpha male who talks baby talk to a dog he rescued, who makes believe he's tasting the dog food so the dog things he's eating human food and who can see beneath the outer shell of a tightly wound woman to the soft heart beneath.
Additionally, you have a female character who had such a damaging childhood that she must protect her feelings at all costs - even from the people who want to care for her.
On top of that, add in a dangerous threat from two men who are following and threatening them. It all combines into a great read and a good start to this new series.
I received an ARC from NetGalley, and this is my honest review. ( )

Driven to Distraction draws heavily on the ‘opposites attract’ trope. Mary Daniels is a no-nonsense professional sent by her billionaire employer, Therman Ritter, to hire the courier services of Brodie Crews, whose middle name is ‘Casual’ and their first meeting is less-than-professional. Little hint, Brodie’s half-naked and hungover and some woman is groping him outside of his shop. So much yikes, so little time, right?
The story shifts POVs between hero and heroine with the occasional villain POV dropped in to mix things up. The timeline is a couple months if my counting is right (I wouldn’t put money on it) and mainly consists of Mary and Brodie going on courier jobs together, Mary as the ‘bagman’ and Brodie as the wheels.
Character dish time! Obviously, Howler is my favourite from Driven to Distraction’s cast of characters. He reminds me of my dearly departed Zeus Amadeus. A goofy omnivore giant with clingy overprotective instincts but lazy dudebro tendencies. And playing opposite as my least favourite character is Therman Ritter. He cares more for his precious objects than he does his employees’ safety. He spends, I don’t even want to guess how much money, on stupid things just to say he owns them. And, he’s of the belief that he can do whatever he wants and get away with it because he’s rich. He admits in a conversation with Brodie that he not only didn’t bother with training his small breed dog, but that he took delight in letting it bite people when he was bored. That is not okay, folks.
Mary vacillates between masquerading as this character she’s created to protect herself from the world and who she really is and, honestly, a lot of us do it, it’s a great defensive measure. But she does it so much throughout the book, even in her POV, that I was a bit lost in figuring her out. There's a lot of alluding to a painful past and then we talk about it a smidgen and it's over and done with, complete with pretty bow tying up the problems. Then, towards the end, she's talking with Brodie's friend/co-worker who basically says "dude looks like he's serious about you, maybe you're not friends with benefits" and suddenly, bam!, she comes back over as a completely different person. And then there's a lot of coverage in there making sure we all understand that Mary didn't change for a boy. But she did?
Brodie is a pretty good hero character, Ms Foster knows how to write a male lead and leave us wanting more of him. Brodie is just enough of an alpha male to rev the engine but not enough to make me want to dig out my taser (I have my things and you have yours, we don't judge on my page, y'all). He supports Mary, left, right, and center, unless it endangers her, and then he's supporting her but also backing her up so when the bad guy rears his head, she's not alone. And he saves dogs. All the yes there.
The ending and the bad guy were both let-downs for me in a lot of ways. I won't say much on these subjects because this is a no-spoiler site, but normally Lori's villains can make me nervous for our hero and heroine set but this one fell flat on their face. Maybe my three-year-old niece might have cried over this baddie, but that's about it. The big ending where the bad guy gets what's coming to them and the hero and the heroine have their HEA moment is usually an OMG but this a "wait, that's it?"
I liked the made family of Therman Ritter's employees that adopted Mary. I would have loved to have more involvement from them in the book because that's some wholesomeness Mary needed. Charlotte does befriend Mary and she's adopted by Brodie's mom (who is next-level amazing, btw), but Mary needed some wrap-up, either dealing with her past or settling into her made family comfortably. Yes, this is going to be a thing for me.
Overall, I'm giving Driven to Distraction three stars and matching flames. For a variety of reasons, this book fell flat and it hurt me when I finished it to know that. Now. I do want to say things here. Lori Foster's writing is comfortable. It makes me feel warm and comfortable. Her books are books you take out on the porch with your handknit blanket and cup of hot tea and watch the sun come up after you've spent all night talking with your soulmate. Awww. I'm a huge fan of Lori's and I'm going to read Road to Love #2 shortly, asking whatever literary deity is listening to make sure it more than makes up for its predecessor. And I hope y'all give her books a chance if you haven't already.
This has been a review from Once Upon a Time, I Read a Book, for more of my reviews, you can follow me here or visit my dot-com. Have a happily ever after! ( )

Please see all of my reviews on my blog at www.robinlovesreading.com.

At Mary Daniels first glance towards Brodie Crews, she is completely breathless. In his own way, he is just as affected. She meets him when she hires him as a transporter for a job to acquire rare artifacts. Things get started off on the wrong foot, however. Brodie has a hangover and Mary wonders that he hardly seems responsible enough for the job she needs him to do.

Mary is flummoxed. When she approaches the Mustang Transport company she is immediately worried for her job. It is very important to her and now she is forced to work for a potent guy determined to call her Red. She is serious about what she does and now it appears to her that Brodie could easily upset that.

In many ways the two seem complete opposites. She is conservative and apparently trying very hard to protect her inner shell. Brodie is nothing like her. He seems very outgoing and appears to not take anything too serious. So, Mary’s job and her protected way about herself just might be at risk. The fact that they both share a powerful attraction to one another further complicates things.

Mary’s employer wants unique items and things become very hairy for her and Brodie. Mystery and danger begin to develop in this sizzling romance. Although they spend even more time together due to these difficult circumstances it certainly poses no hardship. It is very clear that Mary and Brodie are perfect for each other in every way that counts.

My review would be remiss if I did not mention Howler, Brodie’s dog, as well as the background behind that. Brodie’s relationship with Howler is absolutely wonderful.

Leave it to Lori Foster for writing another exceptional book that combines sizzling romance, suspense, humor and overwhelming sensitivity. Driven to Distraction is a wonderful start to another new series. It is rather exciting to wonder which character from this engaging book will get their own story.

Many thanks for this ARC to review. This is my honest opinion. ( )