All Jacked Up by Lorelei James
The Rough Rider Series by Lorelei James is one of my favorite erotica guilty pleasures. A bunch of alliteration-inspired cowboys (Cord, Colby, Cash, Kade, Colt, Cameron, and on and on....) have all sorts of kinky, naughty, wild adventures on the ranch, in the barn, on the dining room table, against a wall. You get the idea. James has tapped into a winning idea with this series....a tight-knit family and all of their friends (so you get tons of awesome secondary characters) dealing with real-life troubles (lots of good conflict) get to exhibit their Neanderthal alpha male tendencies with the sassy gals who are leading them on a merry, merry chase (super hot sexy times). Some of the books have M/M relationships, and some have multi-partner groups, etc. I like my cowboy sex old-fashioned and simple: One man, one woman, and some fringe-y chaps.
Anyhoo, this book was a total winner. James has created some very unique characters in this story...Keely is a bad-girl on the outside, but a hard working, ambitious gal on the inside, and tired of living with her over-bearing family's constant interference. She has a dream and she's willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it. "Whatever it takes" is entering into a fake engagement (one of my fav themes) with Jack Donohue, a super competitive and sexy workoholic "suit" who might not be wearing a cowboy hat, but his alpha-male dominating personality is just as crazy as the rancher boys. Unlike some erotica that skimps on the character arcs and storyline, this book has it all. The story is solid, and I love how both of these characters come to terms with their own shortcomings and needs, as well as falling in love (and lust) with each other. The huge black moment fight-from-hell scene at the end is one of the best I've read, and the follow-up between Keely's brothers and Jack is fantastic.
There is snappy dialogue, perfect pacing, incredibly hot sex scenes, and even an evil villainess in high-heeled pumps. My only beef with the story is that the bitchy villainess doesn't get what's coming to her (I'm a vengeful gal, and I like to see pay-back), and the epilogue was sort of lame, IMO. Otherwise, this book is close to perfect. Sexy, funny, and satisfying.
Giddy up, cowboy! Lorelei James has created another winner.
Grade: A
Ready to lasso a beardy cowboy,
Penelope
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