A Review by Wendy
4.5 Owning Up to Mistakes Stars
* * * *1/2
* * * *1/2
Spoiler Free
Think experiencing a “Sex and the City” circle of friends who are interconnected and cross paths. Blakely has done this without using a heavy hand and every new book flows with the touch of other characters from past books to give us the anchor of knowing this group.
In the past string of books, we have had a taste of Tyler... at pick up basketball games and other events...He has been that guy who supported his friends and also gave a feel of knowing his mistake with women...Now we get the full deal.
Tyler is a very successful Entertainment attorney... he has never feared going all in and playing the risks... in fact, he has relished it. The key to his success, though, is all of the prep and knowledge he has acquired before going full throttle... and only his partners and friends know this side of him. He has been known to enjoy a woman or two....but nothing every measured up to the feelings he had with his college sweetheart... and he has thought of her more than he will admit. He was a driven in college...wanting to prove himself to his mentor and family. Nothing was going to cause him to miss his destiny...
Delaney was Tyler's partner in college... they had a bond which was more than sexy times... they had a deep connection of laughter, smarts, confrontation and understanding. They had it all....everything which would make a future... both equals... both respecting each other...both on track to be attorneys and have a life together.
And then not...
Tyler cut Delaney off...
No real explanation as to why except he wouldn't be able to juggle her and his need for success in law school...
That action cut Delaney to the quick...But Delaney being Delaney...she rose up, dusted herself off and became the woman she was today...
Smart, capable, strong in her owning a successful Spa and supported by her gal posse.
She just cannot seem to have any success in the bedroom...
Well, she does....but only with her BOB...
And only when she thinks of her past and Tyler...
Which is not what she wants at all....
Which brings us to their fated crossing of paths in Central Park. Tyler is there with his niece. He adores her and will practically do anything she requests...They saw a juggler and in Tyler fashion, when asked if he could do what the Juggler was doing, Tyler told his niece... Sure with my eyes closed...
As Tyler is juggling the 5 balls in the air, with his eyes closed... Delaney is jogging past with her gals...He opens his eyes to see the vision of his dreams, dropping all of the balls...
A Hey is all that can come out of his mouth and Delaney slays him with a comment about how well that juggling is going for him as she runs past...
She cannot believe she is seeing him...and he has a little girl who looks to be his...
When she talks with her posse, they are split in how to assess Tyler...One is in love right now so she is open to second chances... it worked for her...The other is dead set against re do's with ex's...They are Ex's for a reason.
This one shared moment between Tyler and Delaney, who have a history, is life changing for the both of them...And it is Tyler who wants to see if the feelings he is having now and all this time are real. He talks with his guys... and they tell him to be careful and not do anything crazy... knowing that is his go to plays... in business and personal.
But Tyler will be Tyler and he starts a journey to see what can happen between his past love and him.
And We Benefit Big Time.
This is a very special Second Chance Love Story... because I think anyone could relate to it. Things can happen in a moment... when young adults are trying to figure out who they want to be...They can make judgement errors and think it is the only way to achieve what they are so focused on...
What was so impressive in this tale was the undercurrent of what real life is... that we become who we are from the life experiences we have had...and sometimes it is the hurdles we face and overcome which have made us into the people we were supposed to be all along...That we learned our life lessons... became stronger and more sure of ourselves, so that when a Second Chance came along... the people who both were now..were the ones that belonged to together.
Now that is a terrific lesson... and it is there front and center...and I loved how both of these two came to it...But I would be hiding the best part of this tale if I didn't share with you....
How F@CKING HOT this was....And as Hot as this was... IT WAS SMART TOO!
The way Tyler approached this... and, yes did the brash....but also did the SWEET...It is the combination of the Naughty, Dirty Talking, the mix of paying attention to what Delaney says, who she was in the past and seeing the woman she is now... all of it together made every sexy encounter all the better.
And Delaney brought her own sexy times to Tyler ...and equal in mischief and swag...She was wanting him as much as he wanted her...She was strong, though, in making sure it was not because she was a conquest... that they were both looking for the same thing.
The best was how Blakely gave us a real look at compromise and understanding one another...Both of them needed to see it didn't have to be all or nothing.
This book worked with all of the past characters we knew, doling out advice and guidance to our main characters...We also go a taste of another one who will probably have her own book coming...
As you can tell... this was a huge winner for me. It wasn't overly angsty... it focused on giving someone important to you in the past another chance...yet it didn't make the gal an easy conquest...For me they had such a strong foundation from the past...I could understand the draw and I was with our gal every step of the way.
More of these Contemporary Books are coming ... and Ms. Blakely, I will be mainlining them as soon as you get them out.
A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
A #1 New York Times
Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance
style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her
family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With
fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New
York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more
than seventy-five times, and she's sold more than 1.5 million books. Her
bestselling series include Sinful Nights, Seductive Nights, No Regrets,
Caught Up in Love, and Fighting Fire as well as standalone hit romances
like BIG ROCK, MISTER O, WELL HUNG, FULL PACKAGE and THE SEXY ONE. In
February she'll release THE HOT ONE, a standalone contemporary romance.
To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her
newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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