Book Review: 99 Percent Mine – Sally Thorne

He’s gorgeous. I want him. It’s hard to carry a polite conversation when those are the only two thoughts in your brain. (230)

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne
Rating: 3 Stars

99 Percent Mine was very cute, 3.5 stars. I was in the mood for a low-key chick lit / romance and this perfectly fit the bill. Darcy is every person struggling to figure out what to do with her life, currently working at a bar while ignoring her passion for photography as she holes up in her late grandmother’s home, handed down to her and her estranged twin brother to fix up and sell. Hired to complete the renovation job, her brother’s best friend Tom appears in all his humble sexy glory to wreak havoc on Darcy’s struggling heart (literally – she has a heart condition).

Sally Thorne excels at dialogue, and the back-and-forth in this book felt completely natural, snarky, and exactly how people would banter in real life. I literally laughed out loud in a number of parts and loved how quickly and addictively the plot progressed. The “I know I’m plain and ugly but everyone else finds me sexy” trope is a bit overdone in the beginning, but the dialogue and will-they-won’t-they still pulled me along strong enough that my eye rolling was limited.

Each of Thorne’s characters was a fully developed, three-dimensional person. It was clear who each character was and their behavior was very realistic. However, Tom confused me from time to time – I struggled to understand if he actually wanted Darcy throughout most of this book. I realize Thorne was likely trying for the “I shouldn’t but I want it” vibe, but it got a bit lost in translation. I loved Darcy’s brother Jamie and I am obSESSED with his ending. Jamie and Darcy’s sibling bond with both love and irritated interactions felt authentic and genuine. And Darcy was great. She harped a lot on Tom’s sexiness, but I could again gloss over that for the content.

I had some difficulty understanding the passage of time during and between scenes and the chapter transitions themselves were occasionally confusing. In addition, there were a few unfinished plot points (why did Loretta send Darcy away after the first time she screwed up with Tom? What was the point of the discovered tarot card?) that left me a little disappointed in missed potential, but all-in-all 99 Percent Mine was an addictive read where you rooted for every single character’s happiness (but mostly for Darcy and Tom to finally make out already, my god).

Disclosure: I received this ARC for free through Goodreads’ Giveaways (thank you, William Morrow!). This does not affect my opinion or review.