Review: 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Title: 99 Percent Mine
Author: Sally Thorne
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Paperback, 368 Pages
Published January 2019

Summary: Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough. When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade. Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

I first heard of Sally Thorne when a friend of ours recommended THE HATING GAME to me, and ever since I read that book, I was absolutely hooked and tore through the entire book in a little more than a day. And it turns out that I read that book right in time, too -- because now her second novel, 99 Percent Mine, was due to come out soon, so I preordered it and got it as soon as I could! I'm super glad I did, because I loved this one just as much and it took me on just as much of an emotional roller coaster. So without further ado, let's get into the review!

As the summary explains, Darcy Barrett has been on a tailspin, and she feels like there's no way out of it. That is, of course, until it's time to start renovating her late grandmother's cabin, and she finds out that her contractor is Tom, childhood friend and beyond hot Viking god. And he's single for the first time in 8 years. And she's definitely not about to let her chance pass. So, as expected, tons of sexual tension and plot twists ensue.

I absolutely loved this book. As a hopeless romantic, seeing Darcy and Tom banter made me laugh, and there were some scenes in this book that definitely made me fan myself and swoon a little bit. Sally Thorne doesn't hold back on the white-hot romance, that's for sure! This book is over 300 pages but I still managed to tear through the entire thing in only a few days, because I couldn't put it down and I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen next. It was the worst case of "one more chapter" syndrome that I've had in the longest time!

Darcy's character was super hysterical. She basically blurted out whatever she was thinking, whether it was sarcastic or super X-rated, and it just made the story ten times funnier and more interesting because I always wanted to know what she was going to say next. There were definitely some scenes where I cringed or laughed out loud or hid my face in the book because I couldn't believe the amount of guts it took for her to say some of the things she wanted to say. It was definitely interesting, that's for sure!

On the other hand, Tom's character was super sweet and I found myself swooning over him more than once. He was basically this super sexy, super adorable Viking man with crazy muscles that wanted to protect everyone around him. At times he was such a sweet little cinnamon bun that I just wanted to give him a big hug. And other times...whew. I won't spoil anything for you guys, but all I'll say is that other times, he was something completely different. And something that I'd DEFINITELY like to get to know better. ;-)

(Spoilers ahead! Skip to the next paragraph to avoid them!) Another thing that I really loved about this book was the fact that it contained bonus content -- including epilogues for 99 PERCENT MINE and THE HATING GAME! The fact that both of them involved them getting engaged and married made my swoony little hopeless romantic heart sail over the moon. And seeing Lucy and Josh again was just adorable, especially when they described the proposal scene at the strawberry fields...ugh. It was all just so freaking adorable that my heart couldn't take it.

Overall, I absolutely loved 99 PERCENT MINE, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who read THE HATING GAME. Even if you haven't, as I mentioned earlier, you definitely can still read this one because they aren't companions and they aren't related in any way. This book takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that will make you swoon, gasp, and definitely blush a time or two. What are you waiting for? You need this book on your TBR as soon as possible!!

Hats off to Sally Thorne for this book -- it's safe to say that I'm definitely a fan of her work and that I'll be reading more of it in the future!