That Kind of Guy (Ravenswood Book 3)

Rae is experiencing a momentary writer's block because she has to be at a convention in Manchester which her ex-husband Kevin will also attend. She feels somewhat secure in the small town of Ravenswood; she has a few good friends, and she secretly lusts after one of them: Zach Davis, the local manwhore. He's the perfect arm candy, and when she asks him to be her pretend boyfriend for the three-day convention, he accepts. He has made it clear that nothing physical is to be expected of him, except what is for public consumption. Oh wow! What have I not said already about Talia Hibbert? Give her a trope, she'll turn it on its head with flair and humour. Her writing is dynamic, gorgeous, urban, and elegant; the dialogues sparkle with wit and honesty, and the characters are exquisitely crafted. Rae and Zach are extremely complex, utterly compelling, and Zach has a condition I had never heard of before. Besides being wildly entertaining, THAT KIND OF GUY is also quite enlightening. I want to say as little as possible about the plot, but Talia Hibbert polishes an overused trope and makes it all shiny and new; I have never read anything like it. Isn't it marvellous! And not a typo in sight! There are so many wonderful things to THAT KIND OF GUY: Rae is forty and a writer, Zach is twenty eight and a blue collar worker, and in spite of being so different, they get each other, they support each other. Zach really is a dream of a book boyfriend! You have it all: angst, lust, passion, friendship, love. THAT KIND OF GUY is a brilliant, brilliant book, which is the only kind of book Talia Hibbert seems to write. Sometimes it feels like most contemporary romance novels are interchangeable, but Talia Hibbert's clever, intelligent, and original stories with relatable protagonists and situations float happily above the competition. Every one of her books makes me happy, and I couldn't ask for anything more. If you don't know Talia Hibbert's books, now is the time to start.

Zach is a hot jack of all trades who recently took an oath to please himself and not others. Rae is a writer. She seems to have some stress and issues in her own life. Rae has her own problems, but I love that she has a chronic illness and is handling it primarily by herself. It is very inspirational; she has POTS. I feel that post-orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is very relatable right now. However, she admits hers is mild. This book has no miscommunication, as their talking leads to a fake relationship plan. Only one-bed trope pops up as well. Rae has had very toxic relationships, and Zach is shy and determined to mind his manners. But their chemistry is insanely palpable. Ah, the chemistry gets more palpable as they have more forced proximity and develop their friendship and feelings for each other. This book does get steamy. It also slightly reads like an “Emily Henry “ romance. However, there is an age gap between Zach and Rae. Rae is very emotionally damaged by her past and her mother. They communicated so well until the end that someone had to misconstrue something. They do get their happy ending.

“That Kind of Guy” is the kind of romance novel I didn’t know I needed (which applies to most of Talia Hibbert’s books, honestly). Many other reviews have mentioned her deft and respectful treatment of marginalized identities, and that goes hand-in-hand with her excellent plots and genuine character beats - Zach and Rae are three-dimensional people who care about each other but are having realistic struggles with legitimate challenges. Rae is snarky and brilliant, and she’s also rebuilding her life (and self-worth) after years of emotional abuse to the point that she doesn’t trust herself to trust others. Zach is a total sweetheart, but his extreme people-pleaser habits are self-destructive, particularly since he’s demisexual - all too often, he has slept with women when he didn’t want to, rather than risk hurting them by rejecting them - and he’s working on new, healthier patterns of behavior. Watching them struggle and grow is deeply satisfying, as well as fun. Additionally, I love how the story slyly plays with tropes. Fake dating! Only one bed! It’s just delightful.

*****Spoilers***** The idea I thought was good but didn't appreciate the execution. Zach and Rae are supposedly friends and Rae needs him to help buffer the embarrassment of running into her ex-husband at this convention for authors where she's been nominated for an award. Zach is going to pose as her fake boyfriend for the three day conference and Rae will avoid embarrassment. Before the convention though, Rae had come on to Zach but he turned her down because his sexuality is tied to deeper feelings about someone and he's no longer willing to be intimate just to make his partner happy. I thought it was different and applauded his realization that he's demisexual but also that he stuck to his guns when it came to Rae. But I couldn't quite believe he had no real emotional connection to Rae since they'd known one another for over a year and he'd been taking breaks from work specifically at the appropriate time to see her regularly. But again, okay. However, it's not believable to me that two weeks later when they're at this convention that Zach suddenly realizes his feelings for Rae, that he's all in, and that he's now vulnerable because of it. They end up having a disagreement, a misunderstanding and separate for a several days before coming back together for I'm sorry and let's not place blame and just let it go so that we're together. All in all, the book felt odd even though the story is decent.

This is another 5 star Ravenswood book! This whole series is 5 stars! I love the diversity, the strong heroines, the heroes who are alphas but not jerks and who are genuinely sweet and love their women. Zach is definitely different than we've seen him in the other books! But it turns out that he didn't really know himself either. I'd never heard of demisexuality before, but I'd like to think most people don't develop sexual attraction until there's a deep emotional connection (I know this isn't true, but I'd still like to think it 😆). I didn't really know what to think of Rae when we'd met her in previous books but she was awesome! Her backstory validated her insecurities and I liked how she figured them out herself, not needing Zach or anyone else to tell her she was making a mistake. They are a perfect match and who cares that she's 12 years older than him?! With Zach's sexuality, I think it's better he fell for an older, more mature heroine. There's many uses of the f- word as well as other curse words. Two very detailed sex scenes (uses of the c- word ), that were hottttt!!!! I'm sad the series is over but excited to read what Ms. Hibbert writes next!

I saw another blogger rave about this book, so despite not reading the other books in this series, I decided to give it a go. I don't read a lot of books that have the older woman, younger man trope, but I kinda of loved it in this one. Also! Fake relationship! You know I love that! I definitely want to go back and read the other books in the series, and check out more from this author. I like to read more books that have diversity and more books that have different types of sexualities represented. So I was glad to find both in this book. Rae is a black woman, and Zach is a man who identifies as demisexual. I have to admit that I didn't know that much about demisexual prior to reading this book. I did a little research afterward, and I like to think the author did a good job with the representation. I don't want to completely say that though, because as a person that does not identify this way, I can't speak to that. I did struggle a little bit with this, because like in other romances there was the breakup and he was killing both of them! Like, hello you two idiots, just go talk to each other and tell each other how you feel! I feel strongly about this thing in romance books lately. I definitely really enjoyed this one, I'm going to looking out for more books by Talia Hibbert in the future!

This series is absolutely amazing. All of the quirkiness and friendships are so intertwined and the love is raw and real. Zach and Ray were friends and connected so much deeper than they were ready to see. Their actions spoke so loudly of their deep caring for each other. Yes they each had their truth to tell and work through. They trusted each other in ways words were unable to convey. I highly recommend reading this entire series. Ms. Hibbert writes with a heart open wide that teaches love is perfect. It's different for different couples in full unconditional love that blows everything before it out of the water. Maybe she will come back with the weddings of these 3 amazing couples. Love it!

Rae has come to the town of Ravenswood to escape her former life as helpmate to her author ex-husband. She has scarring on one side of her face, reason enough for the nasty small town to ostracize her. Every day, as she composes her novel, she walks by Zach's workplace with her big, adorable dog. They become friends, and the attraction is powerful. But Zach's the town playboy and she's been burned, so they try to just be friends. This was an interesting divergence from many romance novels I've read because the male lead is grappling with issues of his own that aren't typical for the genre (to the extent I'm aware). It was really relatable. Zach is coming to grips with his own sexuality; he's a pleaser but that's a coping mechanism. I was introduced to the term demisexual (only feeling sexual attraction with another person after a strong emotional bond has been formed). So Zach is a work in progress, and Rae is untrusting. But she was a little too flakey for me and I got annoyed at her, although she was a good test for Zach.

THAT KIND OF GUY tells the story of Zach and Rae. These two have quickly become friends since Rae's arrival in town so it makes sense for Zach to pretend to be her boyfriend during her attendance at an awards ceremony. Zach has been a bit of a playboy in the past but now he's put that life behind him. He's coming to terms with his demisexual identity and is determined not to do anything that makes him uncomfortable just to please others. Zach is soft and just such a sweetheart, I loved seeing him standing up for himself and making the decision to put his own feelings first. Rae is such a wonderful heroine. She's such a strong and fierce character in Ravenswood but when it comes to seeing people from her old life she immediately becomes uncomfortable. She's stronger than she believes though and I loved seeing her begin to realise her own strength. Her and Zach have a lot in common in their need to start putting themselves first and stop allowing others to put then down, and it was a very relatable and understandable struggle. I feel like most readers can definitely relate to one, or both, of them as MC's. I loved seeing these two realise their feelings for one another - friends-to-lovers is not my favourite trope but it was done so well here! They really fought for one another but also for themselves and it made for such an uplifting book. The perfect ending to a perfect series!

Well written as her other books. My only reservations: she should have won the award, it would have cemented her as the superior author. Because if her husband is so full of himself he is never going to feel like she thought I.e that his biggest success is because of her. Also, even if she wanted a lot I don’t see why she gave up the rights. She should have had a share of that success. I guess I have issues with people letting others walked all over them at 40😏 Also about the children, it is an important topic and I felt it was just brushed aside. I am not saying that everyone should have or want children but there is a reason for it usually. Neither one explained why. Lastly, contrary to the book with Hannah or Ruth everything happened more or less in a weekend so we didn’t get to see or read about a relationship progression including the interactions with friends and family. Shame

I love the friends to lovers trope not to mention a bit of the older woman to younger man thing. This is a book that will not just entertain, cause you to get hot and bothered but most importantly, it will hit you right in the feels. I love a romance that has real emotional intensity. I identified so much with Rae that I felt like I was personally involved in their romance. What a wonderfully amazing novel. This is my new favourite in this series. I really relish well developed characters and Ms. Hibbert knows how to deliver, people who are so much more than 3 dimentianal. I had to look up the term demisexual and all I can say is, 'aren't a lot of us like this? Do they have to catagorise it and put it in a box?

I love the ravenscroft series. Zach has been a character from the start finally getting his own story. Although he didn’t come across as the village bike before he apparently is and hates it cause he’s a demisexual and wants wants to have an emotional connection. He seems to be best friends connection with Rae who recently moved to town and it’s sweet funny friendship showing their different character personalities. I sad that this is the end of the series as I’d like to revisit all the characters again.

Loved book 3 the relationship being a romantic reader more than anything and being in a mixed relationship personally I loved that Rae was nearer to my age (kind of 😂) and also childless through choice. Just another great story with the right amount of everything, thanks Talia 🤗🥂❤️