He’s the town player. She’s the untouchable good girl. Game on. Former MLB player Jax Wilder is back home again. After leaving the fame of professional baseball behind, he’s starting a new career as a bodyguard with his closest friends. He just never expected one of his first clients to be his best friend’s little sister, Cassidy Dixon. The gorgeous, off-limits woman he grew up with and grew to … off-limits woman he grew up with and grew to have a baseball-sized…thing for is being stalked. Not that Cass ever would guess he has the hots for her. She’s too busy hating him.
Cass came to Jax for help because she trusts him. She also can’t stand him for leaving town without keeping in touch. And now the dirty-talking, pompous jerk had the nerve to make her want to forget all their bad blood.
At least long enough to get naked a time or seventeen.
But Jax will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Because this time, he’s pulling out all the stops to win Cass’s heart…if he can catch her stalker before it’s too late.
Author’s note: Guarding His Best Friend’s Sister has a HEA, no cheating and no cliffhanger!
Author’s note part deux: Guarding His Best Friend’s Sister was previously published as Guarding His Heart by Cari Quinn through Samhain Publishing in 2014. This edition has a new cover and has been lightly re-edited.
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I enjoyed the hate-to-love relationship between Cass and Jax. And Grammy is a hoot.
This could of actually been a pretty good book but way too much F-word. Not everyone talks like that. Lots of sex if you like lots of love scenes. Jax has been in love with his best friend Chase’s sister forever. They grew up together but he never dared act on it. Jax left town and played pro baseball for many years and loved it, but when Chase asked him to come back home and to start a business with him Jax did. They started a security company. When Chase’s sister needed help cause she was getting threatening letters she went to Jax. Jax was worried cause she didn’t want Chase to know and Jax didn’t agree with that but he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Especially with Chase out of town for several months with his celebrity girlfriend. What Jax didn’t know was Cass had been in love with Jax forever too. Lots of and twists and turns and very interesting!! A standalone with an HEA!
First of all, one of my favorite things about this book was:
Author’s note: Guarding His Best Friend’s Sister has a HEA, no cheating and no cliffhanger!
This book was full of great characters, unexpected events, and romance between long time friends/enemies! It is a great read, and keeps you hooked until the very end!
There’s not really any baseball, except in passing, throughout this book. So, if you’re looking for a sports rom-com, keep looking. If you’re looking for a rom-com that’s fun and entertaining with a side of steam you’ll find it here. Jax is a retired MLB player and a non-retired player in general. Cass is the All-American good girl and do-gooder who has a side no one knows about. Everyone treats her like she’s fragile, with good reason, she has a heart condition. There is a difference between concern and smothering, though. She is tired of the smothering. Jax is about the only one who can find a balance between the two. This one is just pure fun that’s quick and easy.
Some very good scenes bringing in the steamy. Great character development.
DNF I couldn’t get past 4% due to the God awful dialog! The hero sounded like a preteen girl what the hell?
Another red hot romance by Taryn Quinn. It is the second book in the Deuces Wild Series centered around a Security Protection Agency newly created by ex-baseball players launching their second stage careers. In Book 1, Chase reunited with his childhood friend Jax after many years of estrangement and invited him to join his new Security business. This book follows the romance of Chase’s sister Cass and Jax. Major catnip for lovers of ‘Best Friends Sister’, and ‘Long Time Crush All Grown Up’ tropes.
Book 1 set up that Cass and Jax have a long history of antipathy and their interactions for years have been all about friction and snark. This story starts with Cass reluctantly asking for Jax’s help because she has been receiving a series of threatening notes and she does not want to tell her overprotective brother.
Interesting backstory for Cass is that she has had an arrhythmia heart problem since childhood, and she was therefore coddled and protected all her life. This story shows how Cass manages her health issues but wants to break out of the box a little – she is tired of limitations in her life – she has always had to be ‘the good girl’ who takes no chances, follows routines and always has to be careful. Her sexual relationship with Jax allows her to break out of that box big time! The more Jax does not treat her like she is fragile, the more Cass comes out of her shell and heals her emotional stuff, and becomes the woman she wants to be.
I really loved Jax. He is caring and thoughtful of his mother, helping around the house and bringing flowers every week and the scenes with his dog are adorable. He is clear from the start that Cass is special and although he has a ‘manwhore’ reputation, (dating from the height of his baseball career), he has been celibate since he has come back to town and is living a relatively quiet life. In secret, Jax is building a home with intentions of settling down. Although he is crude and crass at times, and winds Cass up often to get a reaction, we also get hints that strengthen through the story that perhaps Jax has come back to town for Cass.
Their sexual scenes are off the charts raunchy, but they become very healing for Cass. My favourite parts of the story, however, are when Jax is so gentle and caring with Cass – it is clear he treasures and cherishes her. The major conflict comes when Cass misinterprets Jax’s motivations or dismisses Jax’s fumbling attempts to ask her to be in a committed relationship. The other conflict is also solving who is the stalker and that eventually reveals (like all Taryn Quinn heroines) that Cass is not weak; she is intelligent, capable and can defend herself.
Again strong friendship themes come through between Jax and Chase and BFFs Cass and Summer. An interesting side plot slides in as Jax’s Mom and Cass’s Father get together in the biblical sense and the kids have to deal with the embarrassment of their parents having sex…
We also start to get to know Sterling who is in the process of becoming the third partner in the Deuces Wild business and we get the set up for the next book.
Really liked the story, absolutely loved Jax. Final Rating: 4.5 Stars
What’s a guy to do when the Bro Code prevents him from having the one woman he’s wanted forever? In Jax’s case, he moves in with Cass when she acquires a stalker, and tells himself he’s not going to break his Bro Code and risk alienating his best friend, with whom he’s already lost too many years of friendship with.
When Cass comes to Jax for help with her stalker, it was inevitable that our baseball player turned professional bodyguard and his sweet little ice cream entrepreneur wouldn’t be able to resist each other for long. But, how will big brother Chase react when he finds out Jax has broken their Bro Code and his little sister is on the receiving end of Jax’s protection (charm)?
I loved Guarding His Best Friend’s Sister for one reason, well, for lots of reasons, but one main reason – Jax. He’s so sweet and sexy and naughty, and I can never resist the brother’s best friend trope. Taryn and Cari always give good romance, no, GREAT romance, and they’re raised the bar with Jax and his best friend’s little sister. Cass is sweet and sorta kinda innocent, a lot more innocent than Jax. But by the time he’s done with her, she’s not so innocent…
I’m super excited for more of the Deuces Wild crew. I know the next one, Sterling and Ang’s story, Shielding My Baby, will be just as sexy and sweet as Guarding His Best Friend’s Sister.
This is the second book in this series and it was a really sweet and sexy read!
Jax is Chase’s best friend and Cass is Chase’s sister and best friend to Summer (who’s dating Chase). All of them have grown up together but this book focuses on Jax and Cass’s relationship. Cass is a goody two-shoes and has a heart issue but its managed unless under stress. Most people treat her like she’s fragile. Unfortunately, she’s being stalked and turns to Jax for help. She’s lusted over Jax forever. Jax is an ex-baseball player and a player off the field as well. However, he’s always wanted Cass but would never go near her being that she’s his best friend’s sister. But since she’s being stalked, he easily steps in as protector.
I love the way Jax treats Cass. Its a mix of adoration, filled with lust, with pain in the ass I’ve known you forever attitude, and protector. But more importantly, he treats her like the woman she wants to be treated like. I’m not sure which part I loved more, the book reading club and the sex swing or when he finally gets back to her from NY and tells her what he’s feeling.
A great slow build of two friends finally admitting their feelings. Love this series!
3.5 stars– GUARDING HIS BEST FRIEND’S SISTER is the second instalment in Taryn Quinn’s (Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliott) contemporary, adult DEUCES WILD erotic, romance series. This is former MLB player Jax Wilder, and ice-cream parlor owner Cassidy Dixon’s story line. GUARDING HIS BEST FRIEND’S SISTER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
NOTE: GUARDING HIS BEST FRIEND’S SISTER is the re-release of Cari Quinn’s April 2014 Guarding His Heart with a new cover, and some re-editing.
Told from dual third person points of view (Jax and Cassidy) GUARDING HIS BEST FRIEND’S SISTER follows the building romance between former MLB player Jax Wilder, and ice-cream parlor owner Cassidy Dixon. Cass Dixon was being stalked; a series of threatening letters proved that someone was following our story line heroine. In desperation Cassidy approaches her brother’s best friend and business partner at Deuces Wild Bodyguard Agency for help. Enter Jax Wilder, the man with whom Cassidy will fall in love. What ensues is the building romance between Jax and Cassidy, and the continuing threats against our story line heroine.
Jax Wilder’s reputation with the ladies precedes his rekindling friendship with our story line heroine. A love-em and leave-em kinda guy, Jax wasn’t looking for anything permanent but his need to protect his best friend’s sister came with the side benefits of a potential happily ever after with the woman he has lusted after for many years. Cassidy Dixon suspected who was behind the threats to her life, although it didn’t make much sense, but when the threats began to escalate, something had to be done.
The relationship between Jax and Cassidy is one of immediate attraction but for Jax it was the forbidden aspect as Cass was off limits by decree of her brother. Jax likes to talk dirty both in and out of the bedroom; Cassidy, although naïve in some regards, is willing to play along with Jax’s ideas. There is plenty of sexual innuendo between our leading couple. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and provocative.
Chase and Summer (Protecting His Rockstar #1) return as secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to Jax’s mother Mrs. Wilder, as well as Chase and Cassidy’s father Dale Dixon; Cassidy’s ex boyfriend Russ, and his new girlfriend Amanda; and Chase and Jax’s business partner Sterling. Sterling and Ang’s story is next in SHIELDING MY BABY.
GUARDING HIS BEST FRIEND’S SISTER is a story with several familiar romance tropes including best friend’s sister /forbidden romance, childhood crush, and threats to our story line heroine. The premise is engaging; the romance is seductive and highly sexual; the characters are colorful and charismatic.
I did have a couple issues with the story line that were a little disappointing to my overall enjoyment. Our hero Jax is supposed to be guarding Cassidy Dixon but on more than one occasion he is doing something else; working another job thusly leaving our heroine exposed and unguarded. Also, the suspense / stalker aspect of the story line took a back seat to the building romance, and was virtually non-existent throughout most of the story.