Review of Preferred Rewards by Michael Patrick Lewis

What can I say about Preferred Rewards? Unexpected, realistic, maddening, and heartbreaking are a few adjectives I can use.

It's not something that I expected when I agreed to review it, but it's a healthy dose of reality. Spoiler Alert: We don't get the happy-ever-after ending that we hope for -- or at least that I hoped for -- but it does leave a lot to the imagination.

Title: Preferred Rewards

Author: Michael Patrick Lewis

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

Publication Date: April 24, 2015

Published By: Smashwords Edition

Source: Copy Given by Author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25456415-preferred-rewards

SYNOPSIS:

Troy has a problem: he likes a girl whose best friend likes him. Should he take the marshmallow in front of him, or wait for the Preferred Reward?

REVIEW:

The story started out with a good, solid foundation and built up with a good momentum. The story line was realistic from start to finish and the characters were easily relatable. Troy is a typical college guy who focuses more on the physical appearance of a woman and what other people say, Gina is the kind of girl who doesn't care about social standards but will end up surprising you all the time, Carrie is your typical hot chick that has nothing more to offer than her face and body.

Preferred Rewards took me on a roller coaster ride, one that I so badly wanted to get out off. But because I was a freaking masochist, I continued forward. The emotional turmoil I felt for Troy and Gina gave me heartburn and stomach cramps. There were times I found myself happy for how Troy treated Gina -- at the beginning he treated her like one of the boys, but then later on he can't get enough of her. But there were also times that I just hated him! But I guess this is what made his character believable -- he wasn't perfect; he was insecure, he got hurt, he made mistakes, and he felt remorse. But then you think about Gina; she doesn't rely on her looks, and she doesn't care what other people think about her. She's deep and easily relatable, but she also has her flaws.

Author Michael Patrick Lewis took an intelligent and realistic approach when he created Preferred Rewards. He gave amazing explanations, excellent analogies, and realistic applications in life. Let me say though that the story is not exactly as sexy as the cover would suggest. I mean, I definitely won't categorize this book under the erotica genre. But it could be just me though, since I'm pretty "well-read" when it comes to real erotica and this is something I would call 100% vanilla.

I won't give much away about the story, but basically it's a young man's journey through life and relationships. It's his road to learning about the things that really matter in life ... even if it is too late.

SUMMARY:

I will give Preferred Rewards a solid 4-star rating. It was good through and through and it didn't take the route I, along with others, expected it will.

Let me just share with you guys that I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Michael, the author, about the ending. I'm still trying to convince him to write a 2nd part to this story, but as of the moment he's still standing firm and saying no.

Give this a chance you guys, you won't regret it.

RATING: