4.5 Stars

This book has an original opening paragraph that will intrigue readers from the first line. Elle Napier is working as a columnist for Made Man Magazine in New York and dating a good guy (she believes) when she suffers a brain aneurism and actually dies for 3 minutes. Incredibly, she survives with the help of a guardian angel and good doctors. When she finally returns to her job a couple of months later, she has a new perspective on her life and what she wants to do with it. Things come to a head when she is late for a meeting with other magazine staffers and West Maxwell, Editor in Chief of Made Man Magazine. He is a class A jerk, and berates a few people in the conference room, Elle included. Shortly thereafter, Elle quits her job and decides that she wants to do something with more meaning.

West has come a long way from his childhood in a very poor part of Nebraska. He has just gotten custody of his brother’s daughter, Scarlett, who was being raised in a neglectful environment after the death of his brother several years earlier. West wasn’t aware of how dire Scarlett’s circumstances were because he chose to never go back home to Nebraska unless he absolutely had to do so. Once he discovers the truth, he brings Scarlett to NY to live with him. Scarlett is miserable and hates her school and just wants to go back to Nebraska, so she keeps running away and skipping school. West wants to hire Elle to be a companion to Scarlett.

This book delves into several sensitive topics: childhood abandonment, building trust, breaking trust, using others for selfish gain, and self-centeredness to name a few. As usual, Ms. Renshaw examines everything carefully, and lets readers make their own decisions about the worthiness of each character. Additionally, many of Ms. Renshaw’s books have a major surprise twist toward the end. This story does have a slight twist toward the end, but it isn’t as major as some of her previous twists have been in prior books. Nevertheless, this is a well-crafted and fascinating story about the humanization of a jerk and the beautiful soul who sees him as he is.

This book had a sort of slow burn, yet also heated up real fast. While she admitted he's an attractive man, he was her boss and she never thought of him in any romantic capacity... that is until he spilled the beans that he's been wanting to kiss her for a long time. Once he opened that can of worms, things went from cold to scorching in five seconds flat. While this is a romance, a majority of the book is her getting him to open up. Loosen up a little. Try going against the norm and see what happens. (And this is all before they have any kind of romantic relationship.) There are some deeper life changing thoughts throughout that give the book a heavier feel, there is also some light humor here and there. There is also a little tension and angst as he is dealing with a teenager who has lots of angst herself. They both have some past life experiences that play a part in their behaviors (both good and bad.) There is some sexual content, but it is mostly behind closed doors. (One or two scenes are shown when they first begin, but nothing too graphic.) The characters are both well written, as is the story as a whole. It's a quick and easy read that alternates between two POVs.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

Life is just a series of firsts and The Dirty Truth, was my first Winter Renshaw romance read.

What a way to get to know this new to me author. I became emotionally invested in Elle and West’s story and Scarlett too, became a part of that.

What surprised me most about this book, was that I really didn’t like West Maxwell, at all. But damn if he didn’t grow on me. What began as a workplace, enemies to lovers romance turned out to be so much more.

I admired Elle and her profound take on life and found myself rooting for her. When West began to change, I could just see how perfect they were for each other.

Truth 1 - This is a five star romance read.
Truth 2 - Winter Renshaw is a new favorite.

I’m giving it the judy.ann.loves.books stamp of approval, TBR and Enjoy!

This book was a 3.5 stars for me. I really wanted to love it more than I did, but it was still good.

My favorite part of the book was that this wasn't a normal employee/boss romance like I thought it would be. Mostly since technically West wasn't Elle's boss for the majority of the book. I really wanted to see more development in Scarlett's character than we got up until the epilogue.

I think the hardest notion that I had with this book was that I never really felt the connection between the characters. The day that something finally happens between West and Elle, it came out of nowhere for me. I never once felt that anything was happening romantically between them from their conversations and interactions up until that point.

All in all, this book was good, but not great. I would definitely read more from the author.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is a quick easy read. You will find the characters in this story to have depth and to change overtime. It is a journey that will speak to you on so many levels. Elle is the author of the Dirty Truth column in the Man Made magazine. She writes about different aspects of dating life providing advice. West Maxwell is the CEO of the magazine and he is arrogant and guarded and keeps everyone on their toes when he comes in the office. Elle is back after a near fatal event. She still managed to get her column completed on time. West tells her that he will not print her latest column and expects a new one in 24 hours. Elle writes a new article the is up close and personal to West and then she decides to quit her job. She meets a young girl by chance and only later finds out she is West’s niece. West tries to hire Elle to help him with his niece. Elle declines payment but volunteers to mentor his niece.
What will Elle discover about West? Is there a man with a heart underneath?
Thank you to netgalley for complimentary copy.

Really enjoyed this story and would recommend

Sometimes I’ll start a book and immediately know I’m not going to read farther than the first few pages; that’s never the case with something written by Winter Renshaw! I was interested in these characters and their story from the get-go.
I really liked West—he wasn’t the evil jerk you often see in stories like this, he was just intense. Elle was great, so savvy and comfortable in her own skin. They made a lovely couple and I enjoyed reading about their journey from animosity to love!

4.5 Stars

The farther I got into this story the more I liked it and the connection these two have. There is so much more to West Maxwell than he allows anyone to see.

I am a fan of Winter Renshaw’s books and was excited to receive an ARC of her newest book. I liked the heroine, Elle, and how she does not take any of West’s antics. I liked how West was truly a good guy under his hardened exterior. I felt the side plot with Scarlett was just for plot convenience and that she did not add any depth to the story.She seemed added to the story as a way to get Elle and West together but I felt like their jib could have easily provided a way for them to be together. That was a gripe for me. Another gripe is that this romance is slow. They do not kiss or show any other romantic inclinations towards each other until about 70% into the book. That is a little too far into the book for an impatient reader like me. Those issues aside, I enjoyed the book and will continue to read Winter Renshaw writes.

Winter Renshaw has written a wonderful book. I love this story and couldn’t put it down! The dynamics between the Hero and heroine was fabulously creative. I live it when she gives him his due comeuppance. However, it took quite a while to get to the steamy stuff but au understand how the story needed to start that way.

Très bonne romance pour un nouveau regard sur la vie
L’histoire est définitivement intense dès le premier chapitre quand l’héroïne, Elle, décrit son expérience après une mort de 3 minutes. Son retour au travail est compliqué avec son patron Maxwell West qui la met sous pression alors qu’elle n’a pas encore complètement repris du poil de la bête.
Ce récit a un regard intéressant sur le paraître et la réalité de chacun, notamment à travers les médias, et ici, comme Elle ne supporte plus le « paraitre pour les autres », elle impose ses limites qui rendent le récit intrigant pour savoir comment ses choix vont interférer avec la vie des autres, et notamment celle de Maxwell et de sa nièce.
La manière dont l’auteur en tire une romance est excellente, amené en douceur.
Very good romance for a new outlook on life
The story is definitely intense from the first chapter when the heroine, Elle, describes her experience after a 3 minute death. Her return to work is complicated with her boss Maxwell West putting her under pressure when she has not yet fully recovered.
This story has an interesting look about appearance and reality of each one, especially through the media, and here, as Elle no longer supports "lying to the others", she imposes her limits which make the story intriguing to know how her choices will interfere with the lives of others, including Maxwell and his niece's lives.
The way the author makes a romance out of it, is excellent, smoothly delivered.

The author knows how to write a novel with a built-up, tension and release. But whether it is worth the praise of literature is another question. The language is basic, clipped and crude.

It's like bad candy, it tastes very good while you are at it, but at least it is candy (there are so many ebooks nowadays that rather taste like coal). There is no much substance despite the heroine's attempt in change of life that seemed quite predictable, and I wouldn't like them in real life, but the built up is quite intense and the sex scenes believable.

Thanks Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of the honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with this arc. This is not my first Winter Renshaw book and it will not be my last. I LOVED this book. LOVED. This book was a journey for the two main characters (West and Elle) from dislike to respect and then to love. Read this book.

Winter Renshaw has never written a story that I did not love. The Dirty Truth is no exception. Fantastic writing style. Great characters and excellent attention to detail. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE is not an appropriate description of the way I feel about this book, because i love all Ms. Renshaw’s work.

Elle died. But she came back. Now her job at Made Man as a writer of the Dirty Truth doesnt hold the same “aww” it did before. West Maxwell is the owner of the magazine and is a hard ass boss that doesnt give a second thought to telling you how bad your work is in front of the staff. West decides that Elle’s article for the current edition isn’t up to snuff and tells her to rewrite it at the 11th hour…

Elle doesn’t Like West at all, and does her best to rewrite the article but…. You’ll have to read on to find our what happens next.

this is another great book. Ms. Renshaw you never disappoint me. Thank you for being a great writer.

I loved this story; no wasted characters or words that didn't add to the journey. Lots of start and stop, run and chase. Lots of introspection, forgiveness and redemption. The smexiness is mild, but enough and well-written. West and Elle were each exactly what the other needed and their HEA was hard-won and perfect 🥰.

The Dirty Truth by Winter Renshaw is a romance novel set to release on the 14th of June 2022! Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read it a bit earlier than that!

After being dead for nearly three minutes, Elle decides that she wants to try living again! After a run-in with her asshole boss, she decides to quit. After a meeting with his niece, Elle agrees to mentor her, and things go from there!

I do want to give Winter Renshaw some credit to start with; even though the version provided to us is unedited, I didn’t catch any of the usual mistakes. The story also started fairly strong. While I normally don’t give romance novels higher than three (out of five) stars, I was beginning to think I’d have to make an exception for this one!

Long story short; I didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, The Dirty Truth is a decent romance novel, but that's all it is; just decent. It isn't exceptional in any way.

I loved Elle at the start, but her behavior became more and more cliched as the book went on; why is she standing there and rumpling his hair to make it less perfect? The cheesiness of that killed me (in a not good way). She also really bulldozed over all of his boundaries in a way that I didn’t appreciate —yes he needed to open up, but if he did this to her, I’d like to tell her to run away!

Scarlett, West's niece, was a sweetheart though. However, I felt like both of them were really hard on her. They expected every meeting to be the one that turned her around and make her a good kid. That feels like an odd burden to place on a child.

So as a whole, while The Dirty Truth is a nice read, I think Winter Renshaw could have done better, given the number of books she’s already written.

This book was a refreshing change from some of the nonsense I’ve read. I appreciated that the heroine was not a ninny. She was delightful. The hero was a bit of an alphahole, but he had a good character arc. The conflict wasn’t silly but organic to the relationship- which was SO NICE to have a conflict that made sense and wasn’t stupid.

And the epilogue was delightful. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Three things absolutely worth gushing over this book; the writing style (It’s just wow!), the melting slow burn romance and the brilliant storyline. In my opinion, this is not your typical romance novel. Just like how Elle is trying to figure out what makes West the man he is, reading this book is like being in a maze puzzle. Once in, solving the puzzle is the only way out.

So our heroine, Elle Napier is a dedicated journalist behind The Dirty Truth, a monthly article that’s being publish under one column in Made Man magazine for five years now. Elle hasn’t been feeling like herself post-brain aneurysm and personal struggle. Only one week back to work after her two months medical leave, she took the chance to quit her job when her heartless employer, West Maxwell, the owner of that magazine company rejected her next write-up and demanded another in less than twenty-four hours. Enjoying her freedom the next day, she meets a sullen teenage girl. Turns out she is Scarlett, West’s 14 year old rebellious niece. Naturally, Elle was intrigued by how West, a bona fide asshole got the heart to play his role as an uncle at home.

Short of begging, West Maxwell, our hero, never thought he saw the day he would make an outrageous proposition to offer Elle, no less, to be a mentor to his niece. Out of curiosity and her kind heart, Elle agreed doing it for free. Soon she began collecting bits and pieces of West to complete her own mental puzzle. But, is she the one West truly wanted to complete his puzzle and bare his soul to? Coming out 14 June 2022, the answer is none other in The Dirty Truth by Winter Renshaw.

This has been a voluntary review in exchange for the e-ARC I received. I’m truly grateful to NetGalley, Montlake and the author for the chance. Thank you.
#TheDirtyTruth #NetGalley

More than just a love story... More like a self-love story!
Since retiring and becoming my own boss my motto is: "Know your worth and live each day the way you want to, unapologetically." (I will not divulge any spoilers) Our main characters learn in very hard lessons to do just that. And in doing so learned to love themselves as well as someone else. I related to this story on so many levels and felt emotional at times because of personal similarities. Very well received! I usually enjoy the love connections Winter Renshaw creates for the romantic, steamy unions, but this one really hit the ball out of the park for me.

TDT by W. Renshaw, published by Montlake, is a full length, stand-alone, enemies-to-lovers romance that put me through the wringer. Not only are the main characters magnificent, the secondary are just as great.
Elle Napier is an editor, writes a column at a magazine. She's through a lot and came to the conclusion, no more wasting time - go girl.
West Maxwell, her not so pleasant boss needs a lesson. And that lesson gets teached by our Elle.
This book gripped me right from the start. I connect with the charaters, loved the writing, the twists and turns. A great read, 5 stars.