SabrinaHe’s the cockiest bastard I’ve ever met and I mean that with all the affection and adoration in the world. I’ve been in love with him for years, and not just because of those intense blue eyes or that slow smug smile that promises to make all your dreams come true. I’ve seen what lies under that smile and his cocksure attitude. It’s enough to make me melt.Not that I’d ever let him know. … I’d ever let him know. Not only is Luke Cochran one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming movie stars…he’s also my boss. I’m his personal assistant and have seen all the women who come and go in his life.
I don’t even hold a candle. But a girl can dream…right?
Luke
Sabrina is one of the sharpest, funniest, kindest people I’ve ever met. Sometimes, I think I’m taking advantage of her, but I seriously cannot cope with my hectic lifestyle without her to keep me on track.
Of course, my life just got totally knocked off track. One of my sisters called. They need me back home. My mother is sick and the last thing I can think about is the promotional tour I’ve got coming up.
Sabrina’s coming with me. She’s the only person who can keep me focused and centered in a time like this. Besides, my family adores her. And it’s just a quick visit. My mother is tough. She’ll be alright.
But then something happens that knocks me for a loop and when my mother tells me that all she really wants in life is to see her kids happy and settled down, I do the stupidest damn thing ever and announce that Sabrina and I are in love. Now I’ve just got to convince my best friend to play along with me and act like she’s my fiancée and we’re stupid in love.
No big deal…right?
WRONG.
more
Cocksure is the first book in the Cochrans of Cocker County series from Shiloh Walker. Luke Cochran and Sabrina have pretty much been best friends since she first became his personal assistant. She is the reason he started spending time with is family again actually. They have such a strong friendship, and of course Luke has no idea that Sabrina has been in love with him for years.
I absolutely adored Sabrina. She is such a strong character and has put up with so much crap while working for Luke. When he tells his mom they are engaged, she has to put up with even more crap because of Luke’s fans and everyone’s questions about their relationship. I loved how much Luke respected Sabrina, but it really bothered me that he had never really seen her as more than his assistant for all those years. Hello, they had worked together for 5 years, and suddenly he finally sees how hot she is?!?! I also had major issues with Luke implying over and over about something happening to him at some point in his childhood, but never having the guts to voice it; even to Sabrina.
I really did love Luke and Sabrina as a couple and loved they each understood each other in a way no one else did. I was glad when Luke finally shared his past with her and could start to see he did nothing wrong all those years ago. I felt like Luke finally sharing that part of himself was the step in the right direction for them to have a real relationship. I really loved watching Luke realize how much he had loved Sabrina all along. Yes their new physical relationship was pretty smoking hot, but I think they worked faster for me because they really were friends first.
Cocksure was a really good start to this new series from Shiloh Walker. I liked meeting Luke’s siblings and really do hope she continues writing in this series. While I had to laugh that this story sprung up from all the hoopla over “cocky-gate” this summer, I truly forgot it had anything to do with it very soon after I started reading the book. It is a great example of Ms. Walker’s voice and I think fans of contemporary romance will really enjoy this book.
Rating: 3.75 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher
I have been a fan of Shiloh Walker since the Ellora’s Cave days so when I saw this book available I jumped at the chance. This book had one of my favorite tropes, unrequited love and one of my not so favorite tropes, fake relationships. I loved it all.
Sabrina has been working for Luke as his PA for the past 5 years and have been in love with him from pretty much the very beginning. Unfortunately, he is oblivious of it all. What they do have is this amazing friendship, he was there for her when she needed him and Sabrina was okay if this was all she gets from him. When Luke hears his mother is ill, Sabrina, the amazing PA she is, arranges everything for him to be there for her. When he sees how ill his mother really is, he tries to appease her guilt and fears by saying he is engaged to Sabrina. As they go through this fake relationship, secrets they have been both keeping is revealed and feelings get more and more complicated.
Wow, I did not see all the emotions that was pulled from me coming! My heart ached for Sabrina, she loved Luke so much but to read about her knowing she would eventually have to let him go made me so sad. And to finally understand Luke and what made him leave his family was gut wrenching. But on the flip side, I just loved how kind Luke is, he is seen as this manwhore and (dare I say) how cocky he is, but to those he loves and cares for, he will go all out for them. And to see how Sabrina was the calm in Luke’s chaotic life, mentally and physically was beautiful. Then when Luke ends up hurting Sabrina, she did not forgive him easily or too quickly, she really made him work for it. Oh all the feels in this book! I highly recommend this book!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.
Shiloh Walker is a new author to me but after reading Cocksure I certainly will be checking out previous books as well as waiting for book 2 in the Cochran’s of Cocker County.
Luke Cochran is a cocky playboy movie star he relies heavy on his personal assistant Sabrina to make sure he is in the right place at the right time and when he gets a call that his mother is sick he makes sure Sabrina not only makes the arrangements she also travels with him…….
Sabrina has been attracted to Luke from the moment she met him but she could never let him know after all he is a star and he is her boss. What she never expects is for Luke to tell his mum in a moment of madness is that they are engaged…….
Sabrina is so funny and she knows how to run Luke’s business life but can she convince everyone she is part of his personal life as well. This book is a mix of fake relationship, friends to lovers and forbidden love all rolled into one great read. Great characters who are strong, funny and have depth also make this book enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.
My love for Shiloh Walker’s words has never been a secret. If there’s a book out there with her name on it, I own/read it already. Some of them more than once 🙂
I love everything behind the *birth* of this series. The issue behind trademarking commonly used words and authors behaving very very badly. For that alone, this book should be purchased by everyone! If you’re unsure of what I’m referring to, just Google *cockygate* and you can get all caught up.
I think what I like most about this story is the mixture of tropes. One could say it’s a *workplace romance* or *friends to more* romance or even *fake girlfriend/fiancé to more* romance … You can’t just pick one because they are all intertwined in the journey of Luke and Sabrina. And it just makes their story that much more engaging.
Luke and Sabrina had fantastic chemistry as friends, as co-workers and as lovers. Their connection to one another didn’t become more/better when they took the step to *more*. It simply enhanced it. Their story was emotional as well as sexy. The best of both worlds! They were simply endearing and adorable to read. That’s not to say there was no conflict and it was all rainbows and gumdrops. It was not. But you’ll have to #oneclick for those kinds of details!
I will say this one thing that it lacked in my opinion and that’s an epilogue of some sort. Something to round out some of the threads in the story that didn’t quite read as finished/complete. It’s a small detail, but some stories feel abrupt in their ending without an epilogue and this was one of them.
This was so much better than I expected it to be. I knew from the title and the recent trademark situation what this author was doing, but I really wasn’t sure what the story was going to be like. I couldn’t have been more thrilled at just how GOOD it was!
An incident in Luke’s life when he was young has haunted him throughout the years but with the help of his assistant, Sabrina, he has managed it to some small degree. When he is called home due to a family emergency he finds himself making an outlandish proclamation. What follows results in a truly romantic story as he finds himself falling in love with his best friend.
Sabrina has been in love with Luke for years but she’s not a pushover when it comes to him. And yet, when he needs her to stand by him after he makes a crazy statement to his mother, she never really hesitates. She’s living her dreams knowing in the end she’ll have to let them go. But for now, she’s allowing herself to be consumed by Luke and what they have…albeit temporarily.
I’ll admit there’s an issue with Luke at the very beginning that I was not a fan of. It’s also one of those things that makes it hard for me to like friends-to-lovers and boss-employee-to lovers tropes. However, I’m a relatively lenient reader so I chose to push that issue aside and just enjoy the rest of this story. As a result, I ended up really enjoying this couple as they work together, trust each other, and share their secrets. Their dynamic was perfection and is the stuff you know exists in real life.
This is a lengthier book than I thought it would be but I never once skimmed. It does not repeat itself nor does it get bogged down with a lot of self-introspection. The steam is absolutely scorching and the secondary characters’ main goal was to help the story along rather than steal the limelight or lay foundation for future books.
The angst is light up until the last portion when Luke and Sabrina have a major conflict and then it is elevated but not what I would call gut clinching. I especially enjoyed how hard Luke had to work to win his woman – romance readers who love groveling will appreciate this.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an epilogue which I felt it needed and I desperately wanted. I may pout about that fact for a while because I wanted one so badly. Nevertheless, if you enjoy this trope I highly recommend this one.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Cochrans of Cocker County #1, It feels so nice to get a Shiloh Walker book in my hands again. Shiloh has created a fantastic family series this along with being a wonderful romance it was a great introduction to the family, I can’t wait for the other books. The emotions in this book run deep, I was in tears at a couple of parts. Luke and Sabrina are hot together. It’s a friends to lovers romance with an alternating first person POV. The characters have great depth and you really empathize with them, you root for them and when Luke does something stupid you want to hit him upside the head Gibbs style.
Sabrina works as Luke’s personal assistant and has been in love with him for years and she’ come to accept that they could never be a thing she’s happy just being in his life as is until his mom gets sick. Luke is a nice guy, despite being a playboy and very aware of his good looks and a bit self centered, okay a lot self centered but when someone he loves needs help he will go the distance to help them. Sabrina sees more than just movie star Luke she sees him for who he really is and that’s who she fell in love with.
When Luke’s mom starts having heart problems Sabrina works miracles to rearrange his schedule so he can go to her. In Luke’s hast to reassure his mom that he is happy he blurts out that Sabrina and him are engaged which inadvertently gets leaked to the press and now Sabrina is forced into Luke’s spotlight. As much as she doesn’t want it and hates lying to his family she loves him and agrees to do it. Luke in all this pretending finally realizes he’s not pretending he really does love Sabrina. But something from Luke’s past comes up, something he’s been hiding from for years and he lashes out and hurts Sabrina in the worst way possible. But once Luke gets his past sorted out he’s determined to set things right with Sabrina.
Overall, I am already in love with this family and it’s a good size family, so I really am looking forward to many more books and the other siblings falling. I love Shiloh’s writing style, hot romance, witty banter, and emotionally damaged characters you can see grow and become better. It’s a great story on so many levels.
For all the crap that went down with #cockygate earlier this year (and it was pure crap and totally awful), this book is a bright spot to come out of it (I’m not touching the actual scandal here, I won’t get into it…I’m just sayin). I never thought I’d be happy for that woman’s actions (not that I am, because it royally ticked me off), but it brought me this book so…I’m glad things worked out in the end.
So, with that said, I loved this book. I loved Sabrina and Luke. I loved their friendship and their chemistry together (once they actually got together). Prior to starting the book, I was wondering how the fake relationship would come about, and I liked how it went down.
And let me just say, I loved the moment of truth moment Luke had near the end with his mom. She was no fool. Just sayin.
I’ll admit, that this book delved into things that I wasn’t expecting. That’s not a complaint, just a comment. I didn’t expect Luke’s past. I didn’t expect that once I started. Obviously he had secrets, it was mentioned early on, but I didn’t expect what they really were until later.
I really liked Luke’s family. I loved his siblings and mom. She was awesome but not annoying. So often in books, the mother or grandmother is great in small doses but then becomes overwhelming and annoying. Luke’s mom wasn’t like that.
I think of of my favorite lines in the book was where Luke and Sabrina were talking about family and Luke told her that because she didn’t have a family, he wanted to share his with her. And that’s why he started going back to visit them.
“You said once that you would have loved it if you had a big family,” I said, staring hard at the door. “Somehow, you’d gotten me to talk about something or other that had happened when I was a kid and you got to laughing so hard. A little later, you were sitting there, all quiet, then you looked up at me. I’d already known about your parents. Your mom had been dead for a while. You only had Kelly. And you just told me, simple as that, You should go see your family, Luke. I can tell you love them. I would have loved it if I had a big family, a bunch of people I loved, who loved me. You shouldn’t take it for granted.”
She sniffed. “So, you can listen to reason.”
“I made you go with me for a couple of reasons,” I said, the ground under me uncertain, even though I was sitting down. I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand, focusing on how soft her skin felt.
“Yeah?”
I made myself look at her. “You wanted a family. I wanted to share mine.”
I’ll also say that I was glad that she really made him work for it after things went bad between them. I hate it when the heroines give in too quickly and fall at his feet. This book was definitely awesome and a must read!
Sabrina Maxwell has gone through something a child should never have to go through. Luke Cochran seems to be really full of himself – God’s gift and all. This author takes on the task of creating a character with two real conditions. My love for this book started with her inspiration for this story – bravo!
Sabrina seems to be a self-assured woman until she’s around her boss. Luke is a man that I’m not sure about in the beginning. He’s an actor that has an outside persona that he lets the world see but he’s struggling on the inside. There’s one person who seems to be able to ground him. We get to see the adventure of these two trying to navigate whatever they have going on. Luke also has family issues that have to be dealt with but it was nice to see that he had Sabrina to lean on. A secondary character that I came to love is Kelly. She’s a woman who won’t take anything from anyone. She’s also a good friend to Sabrina. And she’s the connection between our two main characters.
This is a book where you’ll get your money’s worth. It is longer than some but that didn’t surprise me since the author is building a new series. This is not a story that is all hearts ‘n flowers. It’s not a story that’s all about romance and the heat that the two main characters created. There’s some actual “meat” to the story and all the characters seem to be up to the task this author has given them. For some the ending may be a little confusing – how could someone be so obtuse – but in a way we get to see some of the man we met at the beginning of this story. We’re not left with a lead in to the second book in the series – and don’t expect any hints.
I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Sexy and entertaining read by a new-to-me author. I liked watching Ina and Jack’s relationship evoke.
I wish there was an epilogue-wanted more Ina and Jack goodness. Looking forward to further books in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC.
Title was a little misleading.. With that being said, I did enjoy the book and think others would enjoy it as well.
Cocksure was not Shiloh Walkers best work in my opinion. I just couldn’t connect with Luke, he really had no substance to him, and then when there was a plotline where he had substance, it didn’t seem natural. Same with Luke and Sabrina’s romance, it seemed forced at best. Overall not a terrible story, and I am glad I read it, but one I would never reread. Shiloh Walker is still one of my favorite authors.
Luke and Sabrina such a great story. I fell in love with them . Luke is a big time star that can be cocky, full of himself and downright self centered but when a young talented assistant stops on his doorstep she soon becomes his right hand woman.
Sabrina knows that is so ridiculous to be in love with her boss but really nothing can or will ever happen between them. It doesn’t hurt to admire him from afar. When they find out he is needed back home and his mother is ill he knows without a doubt that he cannot survive there or anywhere without Sabrina . What happens when a little white lie begins to feel so real! Just you wait and read Cocksure !!!
~~Michele McMullen~~