The Valentine's Arrangement appealed to me because the heroine is a tough, tattoo artist. I figured that alone would make the story interesting. Boy, was I wrong.Kale is on leave for two weeks. He walks into the tattoo shop where Ronnie works to get a tattoo of his fallen soldiers on his back. His tattoo artist happens to be Ronnie who he is immediately attracted to. Ronnie isn't in the mood for a relationship let alone flirting. Her fiance cheated on her and she is over being in that town and being around military men. When Kale starts showing his interest, Ronnie immediately shoots him down. But of course, Kale eventually wears her down and they agree to a sex-only relationship. Kale is on leave for 6 more days. There's no way they'd fall for each other, right?I've noticed that as I read more and more books, particularly contemporary romance, I've become a stickler with names. I'm not saying that everyone should have common names like Jane or Bob, but I don't like names that to me, don't fit the character or remind me of food. Ha. So while reading The Valentine's Arrangement I changed Kale's name to Kabe because whenever I'd see his name, I thought of the green, leafy vegetable.The Valentine's Arrangement was an okay read. Nothing about it stood out to me to make it exceptionally different from everything else that's out there. Ronnie and her mouth got on my nerves. I didn't feel like she was tough. I felt that she was mean for no damn reason. She's mean to anyone who looks in her direction. Not everyone wants to fuck you Ronnie. Get over yourself. Her attitude made her unlikable and the way she treated Kale towards the end of the book sealed the deal for me. She was downright selfish and bitchy. I get that she doesn't want to be in a relationship and she's scared of the way he makes her feel. But the guy is going back to fight in a country where his life is in danger on a daily basis. I thought it was extremely selfish how she completely shut him out. And the way she acted when he returned made me want to punch her in the throat. In my opinion, her actions were it was too little, too late.Kale is Ronnie's complete opposite and what he saw in her, I have no idea. I can understand he's on leave and has a scratch to itch and Ronnie is the person he wants to do it. But to want to be with that mean heifer forever, I don't think so. She had zero redeeming qualities.I was not rooting for this couple. More pages needed to be dedicated to Ronnie dealing with the issues that make her such a mean person. She doesn't care about anyone's feelings and that attitude will not get you far in life. It's amazing she had the two friends that she did.The Valentine's Arrangement did not work for me because I didn't like the heroine and I didn't buy the romance. The epilogue made me grit my teeth. I hate it when I don't want the couple to get their HEA but they get it anyway. I felt that Ronnie was so undeserving.
