I won a copy of Marilyn Brant‘s Take a Chance on Me through Goodreads.

Description:
Chance Michaelsen, the youngest member of the family (by two minutes) and the quietest (by far), is a dedicated twenty-eight-year-old personal trainer at the local gym. While he might not say much, Chance has made it clear that he’s not a fan of toxic people, unhealthy habits, or sharing too many of his emotions. With anybody.

Enter Antonia “Nia” Pappayiannis—the prettiest member of the loudest and most overly demonstrative family in town. They’re also the owners of The Gala, a Greek restaurant and bakery known for its decadent pastries and located just a few steps from Chance’s gym. He considers their entire family business to be the enemy of good health, but he can’t quite shake his attraction to Nia, who doesn’t seem nearly as impressed with him or his sculpted physique as most of the women around Mirabelle Harbor.

Unfortunately, between her doctor’s orders and the interfering ways of Chance’s crazy-making ex-girlfriend, who just happens to be one of Nia’s long-time friends, Chance gets assigned to be Nia’s fitness coach for the month. Pure torture. And if his ex weren’t already causing enough problems, he also has to deal with Nia’s current boyfriend—some hotshot Chicago CEO who talks big but, in Chance’s opinion, is as fake as a Styrofoam barbell.

The road to romance is going to be a rocky one, and though Nia has her doubts about moving forward, Chance has a well-developed competitive streak and might just be willing to give it a shot…if he can convince her to do the same.

Review:
Wow, so this is probably a matter of taste and there isn’t anything actually wrong with this book, but it was 100% not my thing. I suspect readers were supposed to see Chance and Mia’s attraction as love at first sight. But I read the whole thing as a woman who is bored with her rich, polite boyfriend, meets her hot personal trainer, cheats on her boyfriend with him and (since sex = love) she and the trainer declare their ever lasting love for one another. (And she’s not wholly to blame. He pursued her knowing she had a boyfriend…because of his competitive streak. Gross.) Nothing in that appeals to me and there was no developing of a relation ship between the two of them! I think more of the book was dedicated to Mia and the boyfriend she dumps than her and Chance.

The writing and editing was fine, though the dialogue was stiff. But if this is Marilyn Brant’s idea of ROMANCE, I’m out. I don’t have any desire to read another.