Series: Neighpalm Industries Collective #1
Publication date: July 10th, 2020
Pages: 272
Synopsis:
Her entire life, Harlow has been the cuckoo in another bird's nest. With an unreliable junkie for a mother and an unknown father, her foster family, the kind, successful, and generous Bostons, are the brightest spot in her life.
But even with a foster family like Harlow's, there are some things money can't buy--like the ability to fit in with the shallow socialites who act like her lack of pedigree is contagious.
Now that she's finished college and her veterinary degree, Harlow's life was supposed to take off. She was supposed to get a job and create a life away from the petty drama of the wealthy elite.
But when her mother dies and a life-changing secret is revealed, Harlow finds herself flying across the country to face an uncertain future that Kai, Holden, Jaxon, Thomas, Jacinta, Declan, and Oliver are going to make sure she won't accept.
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Review:
I am always anxious to try out new authors and see how their writing measures up to some of my favorites. Lexie Winston was a new author I hadn't heard anything about and with the synopsis of this budding series coupled with a very aesthetically pleasing cover, I wanted to see what she had and how she would be able to create a reverse harem series with a found long lost daddy foundation.
Harlow was accustom to not fitting in with her foster sister's friends as they were upper-crust and she was more day old slice. When invited to go clubbing with her foster sister one evening Harlow had no idea how her world would be turned upside down by the end of the night. After meeting a devastatingly beautiful man with a panty-dropping personality, Harlow thought she was on the way to finding nothing more than a night of pleasure but with one phone call from her foster father, her world shatters. Her junkie mother has been found dead of an overdose.
Upon cleaning out her mother's belongings she finds her birth certificate and a name written upon the father line that she never would have guessed would be filled in. Turns out the name given is a friend of her foster family and one of wealth and prestige. But with this newfound connection comes 7 adoptive siblings that may be less than thrilled to find their adoptive father's new biological daughter. Add to that the fact that one of those 7 children to be the man Harlow had almost left the club with in a very carnal fashion and the awkwardness ensues.
The siblings make it their mission to send Harlow packing back to where she came from before she can steal anymore of their father's heart. But the boys may find that a little harder to do than their sister as their attraction to the new addition seems to consume each of them at varying degrees.
Can Harlow navigate the treachery, animosity and underlying desire of her new family or will she be destined for a life of solitude?
The surprise daddy turned into a "yeah sure son, you can bang your new sister" vibe was a little cringe upon first inspection. I know none of them are actually blood related but there were points where the grandparents actively told the siblings that a reverse harem would be best for them. Whatchu talkin' about, Granny? What was most puzzling was the fact that they didn't try to curb their attraction to Harlow because of the weirdness of desiring their father's biological daughter but because they thought her to be a gold digger. Something seems just a little... HUH about that.
Add to that the fact that reverse harems were mention copious amounts before the idea was ever even presented by the Kink Granny herself. It got to the point where I tossed my e-reader aside and said "oh here we go again referencing reverse harems... foreshadowing overload!" I think it was mentioned in passing at least 6 or 7 times just in this one book. There might as well have been a huge neon sign that read: THERE WILL BE A REVERSE HAREM IN THIS STORY!
That is not to say that there weren't parts or characters that I didn't enjoy. I am kinda digging Declan and Thomas. They both seem to have that hard-ass businessman vibe that make me think of Christian Grey. I wouldn't mind either of them tying me up to be fair. Declan is loyal to a fault and Thomas is the strong silent type. I guess I have a type.
Abandoned Girl is an unconventional yet cute story of a girl searching for her place in a family that is not equipped to trust or love without it being earned.
