When Your Ex is Your Only Hope: A Review of Elle Wright's The Ex-Dilemma

"Marry or lose your inheritance." A commitment phobic heir in Detroit, Michigan, faces the ultimate challenge from his powerful grandmother and family company CEO in this charming, irresistibly fun, and flirty new contemporary romance from award-winning author Elle Wright.

Wesley Batchelor is desperate for an image reboot—stat. A mysterious social media influencer keeps revealing his many reckless romantic liaisons, putting everything Wesley has worked so hard for at stake. Worse, he’s in deep trouble with his grandmother and Batchelor Enterprises boss, Joyce, his one and only true cheerleader. So, he’s stunned and relieved when his gorgeous ex, private detective Albany Keyes, is recruited to track down the leaker . . .

All Wes has to do is keep a cool-headed, professional distance. Easy, right? Until the incendiary passion between him and Albany suddenly reignites. And he realizes he wants more from her, just like always...

Albany reluctantly accepts the assignment to aid Wes. After all, she needs the money to regroup after a disastrous divorce. But this time, she's going to call the shots. She doesn’t need her heart re-broken by the only man she's ever loved. Yet she soon finds their differences are drawing them together again. And again. And again. Now, with both their careers and their hearts on the line, can they risk another chance on each other...this time, for keeps?

My Thoughts...

Wesley Batchelor has a huge problem: he needs to clean up his Playboy act to save his inheritance, and the only person who can help is the one woman he hurt and was so far from his reach...his ex, private detective Albany Keyes.

Albany has grown past Wes's antics, but she needs the paycheck. She's focused on hunting an influencer, with a mission to destroy, not rekindling an old flame. Yet, with each close encounter and shared look, the chemistry between them begins to ignite, blurring the lines between professional obligation and undeniable attraction.

"The Ex-Dilemma" is an intense second chance at love that explores the challenging journey of a reckless heir determined to prove his worthiness to the only woman who has ever held his heart. Prepare for a whirlwind of workplace drama that intertwines with family complexities, where sharp-witted banter crackles in the air and sparks fly with every unresolved tension.

Oh, and some secondary characters deserve some attention and possibly pave the way for an exciting sequel.

Wine Review: Just like the layered emotions in "The Ex-Dilemma," this wine pairing needs depth, maturity, and the ability to reveal itself slowly. A Pinot Noir offers the perfect complement. It's elegant yet complex, with initial notes that evolve into something richer and more nuanced as it opens up, much like the character's rekindled relationship.

The wine's earthy undertones and hints of cherry and spice mirror the bittersweet nostalgia of revisiting a past love, and its silky texture represents the smooth moments of reconnection between heated

conflicts. A Pinot Noir that improves with age, it perfectly symbolizes the growth and maturation both characters needed before they could successfully reunite.

Pour this wine, let it breathe, curl up with this book, and prepare for an emotional journey that, like the wine, gets better as it develops.