Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Seond Chance, #1) by Jessica Lemmon

Source:  Received an eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance, #1) by Jessica Lemmon

The Bad Boy Is Back

Evan Downey needs a new beginning. Since the death of his wife five years ago, the brilliant tattoo artist has shut himself away in a prison of grief that not even his work can break him out of-and what's worse, Evan knows his son Lyon is bearing the brunt of his seclusion. Moving back to the lake town of Evergreen Cove where he spent his childhood summers is his last chance for a fresh start.

Charlotte Harris knows she owes it to her best friend's memory to help Evan and his son find their way again, but she can't stop her traitorous heart from skipping a beat every time she looks into Evan's mesmerizing eyes. Charlotte is determined to stay strictly in the Friend Zone-until a mind-blowing night knocks that plan by the wayside. Now, if they're brave enough to let it, Charlotte and Evan might just find a love capable of healing their broken hearts . . .

Review...

I adore Evan Downey.  I don't see him as a bad boy, though.  He's an artist who paints, draws, illustrates and tattoos.   He's recovering from the grief of his young wife dying before his eyes.  The memories bring the nightmares.  He's raising his seven year old son alone.  The girls he sees are all just for the moment.  But he's not giving off the bad boy vibe at all.  

The move back to Evergreen Cove gets Evan out of the house he lived in with his wife and closer to her best friend.  Charlotte has been an aunt to Evan's son and he wants to be closer.  The problem is that Charlotte has had a crush on Evan since he fell for her best friend.  Now she fights to keep her heart in check.

Except for the nightmares that still plague Evan, he's dealing with his grief.  He's ready to move on and Charlotte catches his eye.  But this story isn't really about Evan starting over as much as it is about Charlie figuring out how to grieve for her best friend, Rae, and deal with the feeling she has Rae's husband.  

And this is where I adore Evan.  Because he gets it.  He gets the problem that Charlie is having and he's there for her.  The sweet moments this boy comes up with had me swooning and loving on him.  His patience, understanding and determination with Charlie were perfect.

A bit long, this one is full of details.  I'm thinking it set up the rest of the series with a few secondary characters.  

Speaking of secondary characters, I wanted to drop kick Russell.  I was so cheering when a certain yummy boy introduced him to his fist.  Talk about annoying waste of space, Russell deserves some serious bad karma coming his way.  

I did love Charlies friends and I'm sure they will be front and center in future books.  I'd love to see Ash and Glo get a book.  That's an interesting couple if I ever saw one.

If you love to luxuriant over your romance, then this is your book.  Lots and lots of yummy scenes as this couple works through a bunch of issues that weren't easy to dismiss.  I enjoy it.



                     
  If you love to luxuriant over your romance, then this is your book.   

 

About the Author...

Jessica Lemmon writes sexy contemporary romances with a squeeze of humor for Grand Central (Tempting the Billionaire, Hard to Handle) and Entangled (If You Dare).

She is an artist, dreamer, former meateater, fun-loving, fast-talking wife, and a den mother to two dogs. She loves to hear from her fans.