“He’s as hot, smooth, and rich as a lava cake. And he makes politics thrilling.”

FINAL DECISION:  I loved this book and I can only hope that the next book will live up to the standard set here.  This book has all kinds of sexual and emotional tension with an incredibly sweet and romantic relationship.  A win for Hamilton!

THE STORY:  As a child, Charlotte Wells met the president and his son Matt Hamilton.  She promised Matt that if he ever ran for president, she would support him.  Now years after the assassination of his father, Matt has taken up the challenge to be the youngest man to ever be elected president.  Charlotte signs on to his campaign.  As the two spend time together, the attraction between them is obvious and forbidden.  Matt knows all to well the sacrifice that being the president means for a wife and family and has no intention of having either.  Rather Matt intends to dedicate himself to the American people.  Despite this, he can’t resist Charlotte even as they risk scandal for what they both know must be a temporary relationship.

OPINION:  I approached this book with a tremendous amount of dread.  After the miserable political season this year, the last thing I wanted was a political themed romance.  But this book surprised me and actually made me feel good about the possibilities of politics even if our current reality stinks.

I absolutely loved the story in this book.  Charlotte and Matt are so wonderful together.  Their romance is sweet and incredibly romantic while at the same time the two are hiding from the press. They know that their romance has an end date even as the two become more engrossed in one another.

Charlotte has had a crush on Matt for years.  When the two encounter one another again, the sparks fly between them.  She is a do-gooder who feels that she needs to dedicate herself to something.  That thing becomes the election of Matt Hamilton.  She believes in all his idealism and his reality.  I liked her because even though she is young at twenty-two, she is a hard worker and a realist about her relationship with Matt.

Matt Hamilton is just adorable (and gosh, I wish there was a real version of him running for president).  He is strong and dominant and funny and sweet.  He is completely dedicated to his run for president to fulfill his father’s legacy but he risks it all to be with Charlotte.  Even as his instincts and those around him keep warning him, he cannot help but fall for Charlotte.

What makes this book for me is how Charlotte and Matt develop a relationship even as they are determined to remember that their affair has an expiration date.  Matt takes incredible risks for Charlotte even as he claims that their relationship has to end.  Charlotte gives everything to Matt even as she knows that she could be the cause of his ruin.

The tension of these two obviously falling in love despite their best intentions not to made this book just sing for me.  The angst and the desperation of these two was beautiful especially when combined with the sweet situations they find themselves in.

This book is sexy but it was the emotional purity between Charlotte and Matt that made this book for me.

This book ends on a cliffhanger.  I’ve been burnt by multi-book relationship stories before but I hope that the next book in the series lives up to this one.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is part of a continuing series with these characters so their relationship is not resolved in this book.

CONNECTED BOOKS:  MR. PRESIDENT is the first book in the White House series.

STAR RATING:  I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received  an ARC of this book in order to provide a review.  I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions contained herein are my own.