99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

HarperCollins | January 2019 | 368 pgs

Source: Purchased 

Anyone would think that Darcy Barrett is one tough woman based on her demeanour and outlook towards men and life as well as a person who values freedom. But in reality she's simply cynical about men since she has been bitten and moreover she thinks no one would measure up to her childhood crush, Tom Valeska. She has known Tom since she was eight and her family treats him like their own. As much as Darcy likes him, she also knows that he's her twin brother's best friend. And Tom, being loyal and righteous as he is, wouldn't want to cross the line and thus, Darcy's feelings for him is kept buried. Darcy goes on with her life and tries her hands on taking photography as a career but it didn't go on smoothly. By then, she has decided that bartending and learning to take life as it is is good enough until Tom appears in her life once again. 

After Darcy's grandmother passed, she left the twins her tumble-down cottage, with instructions that before selling the property they'll have to bring it back to its former glory. Darcy intends to get away from the place once the restoration begins, but once she sees who has arrived at her porch bearing power tools, she changes her mind for that person is none other than Tom. Throughout the years, Darcy thought he's off limits considering he has a girlfriend (which she didn't know they'd broken off until much later) but that doesn't change how she still feels for him. On top of it, her twin brother, Jamie, doesn't make things easy for her as their personality and opinions clash. He doesn't approve of her and Tom being more than friends either, partly due to the bromance. 

As the story progresses, we get to see more banter between Darcy and Tom but the signals they are sending to each other are mostly mixed and unclear. Darcy was a strong character and she could be blunt at times, but it was Tom's reactions which perplexed me because he couldn't seem to make up his mind if he should be with Darcy despite they have great chemistry together. But that is not all, I felt there isn't enough background covered for the characters but a brief mention here and there. Then there's the ending which I felt was pretty anti-climactic and a bit rushed but overall it still has some funny and sweet moments for the romantics. 

This book is a buddy read with Lark so do check out her review as well. (Thanks, Lark, for being such a wonderful book buddy! Here's to another great year of buddy reads!) 

Below is my answers to her book questions:

1. If you had to sum up Darcy in just three words, what three words would you choose?

Independent, opinionated and witty. 

2. And if you had to describe the romance between Tom and Darcy in just three words, what three words would you choose? 

Roller coaster romance (Both of them experienced the ups and downs before reaching the destination.)

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