Saturday, August 17, 2013

Book Boyfriend #3 & REVEIW for The Best Man's Baby by Victoria James

Joining Readingandthings in the meme, Book Boyfriend.

Here's the rules:

1) Pick a book boyfriend, it can be from the book your currently reading or from one you've already read.
2) Write what kind of boyfriend he is, and if you want, say why you think that
3) Pick a quote from his book, it could be long or short, that proves he is the kind of boyfriend you said he is
4) Make sure the quote, and the explanation, DO NOT give away anything from the book (we want all of the twists and plot surprises to remain surprises)
5) Share it! And shout it out it using #ReadingAndThings


So my book boyfriend for the week is

Jake Manning

from
THE BEST MAN'S BABY by Victoria James



Florist Claire Holbrook has always played by the rules her entire life, but breaks them to spend one night with sexy lone wolf Jake Manning, a man she's adored since she was a teenager. Six weeks later things get complicated when she discovers they created a bond that will last a lifetime...Jake has never played by the rules. Getting Minister Holbrook's daughter pregnant wasn't part of any life plan, but he won't run from his responsibilities. He'll step up and be the best man he can, even if he doesn't have a clue where to begin. The more time he spends with Claire, though, the more he wants her, and the harder it is to get close because that would mean sharing the one thing he hasn't with anyone--the truth and his heart.



First...why my book boyfriend for the week?

Jake is sweet but it's hidden under a little jerkiness.  But his reasons will break your heart.  Oh and he can bring the steamy! Here are a few quotes I loved.


 "I want you, Claire, god, I want you," he said harshly and then claimed her mouth fiercely, possessively, and she felt his hands move up to cup her breasts.  She heard herself whimper against his lips as her nipples pressed against the palms of his hands. (Kindle location 1330)


This is the closest I get to minivans," he said, cocking his head in the direction of the shiny SUV.
Claire smiled at him.  "I hate minivans."
"We were meant to be together, Claire," Jake said, reaching out to grasp her hand.  She unsuccessfully tried to ignore  the way her entire body responded to his touch and his words.
"Because we hate minivans?"
"Well, that helps, but no," he said taking her hand, sending a delicious warmth through her body.  (Kindle location 1925)


"Oh, before I forget, I brought you a coffee," Jake said, slowly standing and walking to the dresser...."Coffee.  Have I told you how much I love you?" (Kindle location 1977)


My Thoughts:




4 stars - This book has that perfect balance of emotional pull and authentic plot.

This is book two in a companion series.  It's not necessary to have read the first one and I didn't.  I am thinking I want to go back and read it now, though.  I picked this one up because I loved the premise.  Crush from growing up and unrequited love plus giving into the lust all spelled a good read to me.  And it was.

I loved the characters in this book.  Everyone thinks Claire had a perfect life growing up but that may not quite be true.  Her mom is a little over the top.  It made Claire real to me.  She had some body image issues growing up and she had a huge crush on Jake Manning.  Too bad he didn't even notice her.  Jake was the bad boy in the family, always getting into trouble and making his mom cry.  But he has a secret even his two brothers don't know about that changes the light on his bad boy image.  And he really has noticed Claire but he knows he's not good enough for the ministers daughter.  The truth is that Jake Manning is a fabulous guy that I just wanted to hug.  His secret made the mom in me cry and made me want to put the hurt on his fictitious father.  Whenever character inspire this much passion in me, I know they are written well.

The best part of this book was the lack of angst.   Sometimes I read a book and it's so good but it's brutal on me emotionally.  The characters are making the worst decisions and I'm screaming at them.  This book has that perfect balance of emotional pull and authentic plot that makes for a comfortable and enjoyable read without the screaming on my part.  Things are stressed at times but I was never pulling my hair out and yelling at characters.  It was such a nice change.

The hints the author gives to Jake's secret nudge the reader into understanding him better.  I kinda expected what his secret was but there was still this little punch that surprised me.  I'm super glad the author didn't dump it on me with a total shock.  That would have been too much.  Instead, I got him and I wanted to hug him.

This is a quick read that was perfect to help me de-stress after work.  I could get lost in it's pages and forget the craziness for a while.  If you like a great romance with characters that become real for you, then this one is a great choice.

About the author:

I always knew I wanted to be a writer and in grade five, I penned my first story, bound it (with staples) and a cardboard cover and did all the illustrations myself (if you’ve ever seen my drawings you’ll know how horrible they must have been.  I still draw stick figures).  Luckily, this book will never see the light of day again.
In high school I fell in love with historical romance and then contemporary romance.  After graduating University with an English Literature degree, I married my own hero, pursued a degree in Interior Design and then opened my own business.

After the birth of our first child, I knew it was time to fulfill the dream of writing romantic fiction.  I’m a hopeless romantic who is living my dream, penning happily-ever-after’s for my characters in between managing kids and the family business.  Writing on a laptop in the middle of the country in a rambling old Victorian house would be ideal, but I’m quite content living in suburbia with my husband, our two young children, and very bad cat.




12 comments:

  1. Jake sounds like a nice kind of guy even if he is a bit jerky. Great review. Think I might add this one to my TBR pile.

    My BB @ Marilyn's Mystery Blog

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  2. This sounds like a fun, sweet read.

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  3. Ohmygoodness! You know that this book is for me, Pal! Jake and Claire sound fabulous. I'm adding to my tbr right now!

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  4. Valerie, thank you so much for the review! Loved the lines you chose ;-)

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  5. I like sweet with a little jerkiness. ;) Great post!

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  6. I loved the 1st book in this series and really wanna read this one, too. I love it when authors dial down the angst. It's all well and good once in awhile, but in moderation. Enough is enough! Lol. Great review Val!

    Vi
    Confessions of a Vi3tBabe
    Deity Island

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  7. Great pick!

    Here's My Book Boyfriend!

    Catarina
    @Reading and Things

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  8. Swoon!! He does sound awesome!! Will have to check it out!

    Thanx for visiting my Book Boyfriend!
    Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace

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  9. Loving the cover, synopsis, excerpts - the whole vibe to this one. Great choice!

    Thanks for stopping by MY BOOK BOYFRIEND post!

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  10. Erin took this one for review. Now seeing you liked it, maybe I should read it too! Sounds like my kind of book.

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  11. Okay, you have me convinced that I need to meet Jake.

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