The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher

Let’s see.

I started and finished this book while on a Caribbean island. Though it was a nice vacation, I don’t recommend reading this book while ‘trapped’ by water and with no one to talk to about the book.

The Opportunist has been on my TBR list for quite some time, but I never managed to get to it. At the constant urging of two book-junkies (you know who you are!), I finally decided that this was going to be one of my vacation reads.

First of all, I love the authors writing style. I think that alone kept me with the book in the beginning, because it sure wasn’t the warm and fuzzies towards the dysfunctional characters. From the very beginning, I got the sense that this author was less about the beautiful packaging, and more about the realness of people. And I think that’s what my issue was. Having read books where the main ‘heroine’ will always prevail because of her pretty eyes, killer figure, and meticulous hair had distorted my view on what life is really like. This book brought it all back to me. In spades.

Through a set of circumstances, Olivia finds herself at the precipice of a soul-altering decision. Someone with scruples might have made a different choice then what Olivia went with, but love can make you do crazy things - especially when it means a second chance.

Up until the boardroom where the lawyers meet Olivia’s new client, I had been feeling sorry for Caleb. In that split second, I saw him as conniving and manipulative. And then I realized that Olivia and Caleb were perfect for each other. It’s entirely possible to absolutely love two characters because of how much you want to lock them in padded cells.

And then our heroine got on a plane and went to Italy. Holy mother-F***! During that sincere conversation with a fellow passenger, I was silently praying ‘please for the love of books Ms. Fisher, don’t do this to me!’. I saw the possibility of that new ‘relationship’ unfolding and it absolutely broke my heart.

Of course if that didn’t seem to do me in, Olivia’s declaration to Caleb, and his subsequent confession gutted me. But the book wasn’t done, and there was no way I was going to be left with THAT.

Time elapses and the doors opened. And I started screaming. Cursing the book-junkies that told me to read this. Throwing expletives towards the author for making something so un-pretty, but perfect at the same time. And admonishing myself for having waited this long to fall in love with imperfect characters that are so easy to hate.