how to beat the high cost of loving

Olivia Martin is not an actor. She never wanted to be on screen, even though her mother was a well-known actress. Olivia hadn’t gotten a chance to get to know her mother, though, because her parents were killed in a car accident when she just a baby. Her grandmother had stepped in and raised her, and Olivia would do anything for her. Even if it means spending all her money on her grandmother’s care. Olivia has a good job working for an entertainment magazine, but she doesn’t make enough to sustain the monthly payments on her grandmother’s care facility, and she needs an influx of money, fast.

And then, she gets into (another) big fight with her boyfriend, actor Chuck Walsh. They met when Olivia showed up to interview him for a story, and by the end of the day, Olivia had gotten the interview reassigned to someone else and she and Chuck had gone on their first date. Since they first met, their chemistry is off the charts, so when they come together, it’s nothing but sparks. But when they disagree, those sparks turn fiery. And when Chuck went to an audition instead of Olivia’s grandmother’s birthday celebration, Olivia has had enough.

Olivia tells Chuck that it’s over, and she walks out of his apartment. He follows her, taking the argument into the hallway, then the elevator, then the lobby of his apartment. It evens goes outside, with the two of them yelling at each other as Olivia goes to her car. When Chuck points out that she’s wearing his shirt, she takes it off and throws it at him before getting into her car and driving away. What they don’t know is that someone on the street got that on video and posted it online. By the next day, the video has gone viral, including the part where Olivia yelled, “I wouldn’t get back together with you for a million dollars!”

And that was all reality show executive producer Parker Stone needed to hatch his next great idea. He runs a show called Name Your Price, where he takes people out of their lives and challenges them to do things they normally wouldn’t for an exorbitant amount of money. And he calls up Olivia and offers her a chance to be on the show. She would have to live with Chuck together in a house for one month, and if they both stay in the house the entire time. And there can be no physical contact. Any touching will cause them to be fined against the final amount they could win. Which is a million dollars. Each.

Olivia needs the money for her grandmother, and Chuck needs the money because he got fired from the film that was supposed to be his big break. Parker only gives them a day after the contracts are signed to pack their bags and get their ducks in a row, so Olivia and Chuck find themselves walking into a house together before they know it. There is not a lot of furniture in the house, and there is only one bedroom. With only one bed. Olivia thought she’d be able to find some space in the house where she could get away from Chuck, but the producers had other ideas.

The days to come bring challenges, like putting together furniture while they’re handcuffed together. They have to sit through interviews. They have to agree on dinner and make it themselves. Then they have to clean up the kitchen, but the dishwasher is locked until they can win some challenges. But with the producers making them face personal secrets in interviews and pushing them together while they struggle to find their own space in the house, the chemistry between Olivia and Chuck become more combustible. But will they be able to keep things from exploding long enough to win the money?

Name Your Price is an adorable rom com about reality television and true love. Author Holly James brings two strong characters together and throws them into a series of difficult situations, letting them figure out how to get along and seeing if they can work out their differences or if they will just completely walk away from each other There are several fun surprise scenes throughout, and as these characters learn how to get out of their own way and open up to each other, they finally figure out how to make love work at any price.

I loved Name Your Price. There are steamy scenes and hilarious scenes, and I even got to bring out my moral outrage for how the media and the reality television producers were treating these characters. There is a lot of warmth as well as a lot of heat between Olivia and Chuck, and I just couldn’t stop rooting for them to figure things out and get together already. This one is just fun and perfect when you need a steamy escape from the world for a while.

Egalleys for Name Your Price were provided by Dutton through NetGalley, with many thanks.