Cori Sharpe: Single mom, fearless, perpetually loveless. With a daughter to raise and an ex-husband in prison, she wouldn’t have time for a man if she wanted one. When a tall, sexy, and tatted single dad shows up in ballet class with his daughter, Cori’s idea about men starts to shift. The more time she spends with Griffin and his daughter, the less she fears trying her hand at love again. … again.
Griffin Steele: Single dad, inked, badass. Since a daughter he never knew was dropped in his lap, life as he knew it was flipped upside down. Instead of late nights with loose women, he’s home in time for bedtime stories. As his priorities shift from fun to family, he finds himself falling for Cori and her spunky daughter who seem to pull his own child out of her shell a little more with each meeting. All he needs is to convince Cori that one family together is better than two apart.
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I had really high hopes for this book. I love seeing hot tattoo guys fall for someone that’s their complete opposite. And in this case, see a guy that’s really a fish out of water with a daughter he just took custody of, trying to be a good dad and do what was right for his daughter.
This book moved fast. Like speed of light fast. I can’t complain a whole lot, but at the same time I really expected it to be more of a slow build. I expected Cori and Griffin to become friends first, spend quite a bit of time together since their girls became instant bffs and then things would turn romantic. Well…that’s not what happened. They basically met, and he asked her out. She surprised herself by saying yes. Ok…we’ll go with this. So, they go on a date and she blurts out her past and then on the same date, they’re hot and heavy and I was sitting there just surprised that it moved that fast. If you know me, you know I’m down with hot and steamy books. I don’t mind when they move fast, I don’t mind when they move slow. But it has to make sense to the story and the characters.
So, this brings me to my issue…This will have spoilers, because it directly relates to my issue. So, prior to the book starting, Cori was raped by someone after her now ex-husband. It’s been 4 years, and while she’s been on a random date in the past, it didn’t go well. So when she meets Griffin, she’s surprised that she’s not freaking out about him being close to him and that’s she’s attracted to him. No problems here. He asks her out the same day he meets her and she even surprises herself by saying yes. Again, no issues here. Where I ended up having issues was by them moving so fast. They went out on their first date the next day and got hot and heavy on that date, even as she warned him she couldn’t handle it. They slept together after their second “date” and they were “serious” and falling in love…after knowing each other for only a week. Since she had PTSD and panic attacks from what she went through, I was just really surprised that things moved so quickly.
With that said…I loved that she felt safe with Griffin. When they first met, and he innocently sat next to her, she didn’t have that panic reaction. She felt safe enough to accept a date with him, and go for ice cream with their daughters. Even their first time together, even though it happened really fast, I loved that when she had a moment of panic, he was able to bring her out of it and make her feel safe.
Griffin wasn’t afraid to claim her. Even though he hadn’t been in a “real” relationship before, he knew what he wanted when he found it. He set out to win her and make her feel safe and make her his.
Overall, I did enjoy this story and loved Griffin and Cori, and it was a fun, quick read.
I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. I was wondering when Griffin would get his book and this one did not disappoint. I think this is my favorite book in the series thus far. Griffin and Cori were perfect for each other and I loved how he pushed and challenged her. I also loved Axel and Celia. There is no way not to fall in love with those two girls. I really didn’t care for Cori’s sister Ari but when it came down to it, she didn’t really matter. The ending was sweet and this is one story definitely worth reading. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.