I haven’t trusted women for a long time. Not since Brooke left me at the altar, breaking my heart and hardening my soul. Now she needs me. Or at least she needs my star power. Because the only way she’ll get her television reality series on the air is if I’m part of the deal as her on-the-air partner.I want to say no. After all, I’ve tried for years to forget her. But the hard truth is that I … the hard truth is that I still want her. Even more, I want to punish her.
So I’ll agree, but only my terms. Provocative, demanding, and wildly sensual terms.
It’s the perfect set-up for extracting revenge … but only if I don’t fall for Brooke all over again.
Each novel in the series is a STANDALONE romance with a guaranteed HEA!
And don’t miss Bar Bites: A Man of the Month cookbook featuring recipes, slices of life, and an all new short story!
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This second story in the J Kenner’s new Man of the Month series presents the second chance romance trope between former bad boy, Spencer, and rich girl making it on her own, Brooke. Five years ago, Brooke left Spencer at the altar with a seemingly lame reason, but due to his immature insecurities, Spencer believed her and walked away. Fast forwarding, Brooke presents an opportunity that may help grow her small design remodeling company, but her ex-fiancee must come with the deal. Although Brooke still feels justified she made the right, difficult decision 5 years ago, her heart fears Spencer may never forgive her apparent betrayal of their love.
Since the story is told from a dual perspective, we know her fears are justified since Spencer essentially tells Brooke he plans to use her and leave her once the project is complete. Their never-abated love for one another allows the truth to come out, but people and events from their past resurface to threaten their new relationship.
As with the first book in the series, I loved the connection between our Hero and heroine. J Kenner’s ability to create deep, meaningful characters we can relate to, distinguishes her from other authors. Unlike other series-styled books, each love story is seamlessly embedded within the continuation of the series story featuring a group of friends trying to save their beloved neighborhood bar. Each book in the series reaches a satisfying conclusion, but the underlying contest to find each month’s featured “cover boy” also brings fun to each book. Can’t wait to read the next ones!!
J Kenner est de retour avec un nouveau tome de sa saga L’homme du mois et je suis sûre que vous allez passer un bon moment avec Vague à l’âme. Pour le mois de février, il est question de seconde chance mais aussi d’explications tant nécessaires pour démêler une situation qui n’a que trop duré.
Spencer Dean touche des doigts son rêve car il va peut être acquérir le manoir Drysdale ( un manoir qui avait été construit par un homme amoureux pour sa dulcinée) pour le retaper et lui donner une seconde vie. Le parallèle avec ce qu’a vécu Spencer cinq ans auparavant est une évidence. Il n’a pas eu une vie facile car il a perdu sa mère très tôt et son père a été absent dans sa vie. A cause de cela , il n’a pas pu sauver son frère Ritchie des griffes des “Huits Rouges” et il est donc désormais absent de sa vie. Son passé n’a pas fini de le hanter car alors qu’il pensait être enfin heureux , le destin s’en est de nouveau mêlé. Mais cet aspect, il n’en a pas eu conscience et il est bien décidé à prendre sa revanche sur Brooke qui lui avait à l’époque brisé le coeur. Il se pense prêt à être odieux avec elle mais l’alchimie est toujours présente. Il va donc être temps de remettre les compteurs à zéro pour repartir sur de bonnes bases.
Brooke Hamlin est désireuse de faire connaître son entreprise “Réno Boutique” mais pour cela elle va devoir conclure un accord qui certes pourrait sauver son entreprise mais qui sera aussi un pacte avec le diable en personne. Elle va devoir convaincre l’équipe du bar Le Fix d’accepter des caméras pour que son projet puisse naître mais en plus, elle va devoir co animer l’émission avec Spencer. Elle n’est pas prête à lui faire face mais elle n’aura pas le choix. J’ai bien aimé son amie Amanda qui saura la pousser dans ses retranchements. Très vite on va comprendre ce qui s’est passé cinq ans plus tôt et on se met donc à espérer que la vérité va enfin éclater. Elle paie pour des actes sur lesquels elle n’avait pas vraiment le choix et elle aussi a vécu des événements marquants. La cohabitation avec Spencer sera t-elle possible et pourra t-elle supporter la vengeance qu’il veut lui infliger?
Bref un nouveau tome qui nous offre de nouveau un moment très sympathique de lecture. J Kenner nous permet de découvrir de nouveaux personnages tout en nous permettant de retrouver les personnages du premier tome. La romance est au rendez vous avec un bonne dose d’intensité dramatique et de sensualité. Rendez vous le mois prochain avec Cameron Reed !
It was a story with a tragic past and a happy ending.
5 stars
I purchased a copy of the short novel Hold On Tight: A Man Of The Month Novel book 2 by J. Kenner and this review was given freely.
An easy flowing steamy second chance at love story where two people who come from opposite social backgrounds are separated by a controlling father but both find some inner peace through renovations. Down on his luck TV property rehab host Spencer and his former fiancee Brooke ironically come together again when the sponsoring network seeks a ratings boost. Hoping for sparks and drama, Spencer and Brooke are placed together to do a charity rehab for The Fix on Sixth Street Bar in Austin,Texas. Sparks fly as Spencer tries to decide whether to make Brooke pay for leaving him or do everything he can to keep her. This contains mention of bondage and rape but ends happily. Best if read in sequence as the story opens with a bit of Spencer’s history but also reverts back to the time of Brooke’s introduction in book 1.
3.5
I liked this book better than the first book in the series. Spencer was brought up brought up on the wrong side of the social circle compared to Brooke and her family. Brooke had thought she chose the right path when her dad issued her a ultimatum when it came to Spencer.Brooke & Spencer were able to jump three the hoops to get there happy ending.
Another thrilling chapter from J Kenner…. with complicated past…Spencer isnt a man who felt ashamed about his family… Brooke knew it well… this is a second chance romance with heavy subject matters..
Great book
This contained a sexy hero, a heroic female, and a second chance at a happy ending. That’s what makes a good read!!
Can’t wait for next in series. Have pre ordered.
Title: Hold On Tight
Author: J. Kenner
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: Ebook – ARC
Pages: 250
Rating: 5
Heat: 4
Thoughts: As much as I loved the characters and the story, I felt that Spencer was quick to forgive Brooke without knowing all the facts. Other than that, it was an awesome story with a few surprises thrown in that kept me hooked until the last word was read. I like Brooke, and I love the fact that she finally stood up for herself and started making her own threats (sorry, that’s all I’ll give you). Spencer is swoon worthy and I love a man that can work with his hands (in more ways than one). I can’t wait to meet Mr. March!
Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work and chose to write a review.
A second chance at love is all some people dream of but not always something that happens. In their case it may be what they need. I love second chance romances especially when it is with characters that just break your heart. The best of intentions doesn’t always work out as planned. When they find themselves in a position of needing each other in business at first it is not with the best of intentions. But of course nothing is ever easy and the obstacles haven’t disappeared they are just using different tactics. It isn’t going to be easy especially when the truth comes out.
Secrets, lies, betrayal all make for a good story, the characters make it more. This story will hurt but it will also heal. I am loving this group, the strength, love, support and the calendar. This book is almost as good as the first one which is wonderful because it lets you know the intensity doesn’t fall. While each book could probably be read as a standalone don’t do it, read them all or you will be cheating yourself.
Hold on Tight is the second book in the new Man of The Month series. This book is the story of Mr. February and the story of Brooke and Spencer. Nothing is as delicious as second chance romance with a Romeo and Juliet type feel!
Brooke was introduced in book one when she met with Jenna to go over renovations for The Fix, the Sixth Street bar in Austin that they are trying to save from financial troubles. Brooke has her own Commercial Renovation Company, much to the disappointment of her parents. They are from the upper crust, her father is a lawyer and her mother is a doctor. They expected her to go to medical school and much to their disappointment, she chose another path.
Spencer is from a poor family. His father went from job to job and they lived in a trailer. His brother joined a local gang and was caught and put in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people. Spencer learned the construction trade from his father. Spencer and Brooke met and fell in love. Brooke’s family didn’t want Brooke to marry Spencer because of his family and background.
While planning a future with Brooke, Spencer worked construction and he was good with renovations. So good he approached the network about a television show and became a network star with Spencer’s Place. All was in motion for a happily ever after until Brooke called it off and they have been incommunicado for the last five years.
Spencer continued with Spencer’s Place until his friend and investment manager does some shady dealings and Spencer is in financial trouble. Spencer leaves the network and Spencer’s Place with one more season to film on his contract and returns to Austin. Spencer has been back in town for months and hasn’t run into his ex-finance Brooke until their paths cross when Brooke tries to broker a deal with the network to do a reno show on The Fix. The deal the network makes with Brooke is they will do the show if she does it with Spencer. He has a project on an old home he wants to do on Spencer’s Place, but the network plays the game if you do the reno show with Brooke then you can do the project on Spencer’s Place. They know of Spencer and Brooke’s troubled history and want that drama for the show.
I really disliked Spencer in the beginning. He is bitter and very angry. He wants Brooke to hurt as badly as he did, and he wants revenge. Brooke and Spencer have not spoken in five years and he has no idea the hell and heartbreak Brooke has been through since she had to call off the wedding to the only man she has ever loved and still loves.
Brooke and Spencer have a lot of issues and hurt to move through. This is a bittersweet second chance romance. There are secrets, bitterness, and regret that have to be dealt with. As the story unfolds, details are revealed, and secrets are told. My heart hurt for both of them. Spencer redeemed himself and I began to root of them to turn their relationship around.
This second chance romance with a Romeo and Juliet feel is just the thing to help with the winter blahs. I really enjoyed Mr. February and really look forward to Mr. March!
4 Stars
Hold On Tight is the second title in the Man of The Month series and features Brooke Hamlin and Spencer Dean.
Brooke and Spencer’s story is quite a heartbreaking second chance romance. Young loves that came from vastly different backgrounds, Brooke’s family is all about social status, whilst Spencer came from much humbler beginnings. Once engaged this pair were torn apart by secrets, lies and manipulations.
In order to fulfil their dreams and desires, and obligations Brooke and Spencer must put aside past hurt and anger to work together on a reality TV show to renovate The Fix, on Sixth in Austin. Not having interacted since their separation both parties are still hurt, and being told in dual point of view the reader can understand both mindsets.
Both characters are endearing, and their chemistry is intense, undeniable and passionate.
I look forward to reading Mr March’s story next.
Any future together for Spencer Dean and Brooke Hamlin stopped being a possibility five years ago when Brooke broke Spencer’s heart and walked away without a second glance and without an explanation as to the reasons behind her abrupt departure.
But the past always has a way of encroaching on the present and when Brooke’s future career depends on Spencer’s acquiescence, it’s clear that if these two don’t make amends and have an honest conversation about what happened all those years ago, Spencer and Brooke’s hearts will never mend and Brooke will never have a chance to prove she can handle herself in front of and behind the camera.
I love second chance romance stories, especially when the love the hero and heroine felt for each other never dissipated. In Spencer’s perspective, Brooke is the reason his life imploded, leaving him unable to move past how she left things and the many unanswered questions he has. But while it’s clear that it was Brooke’s actions that destroyed her relationship with Spencer, what readers are told about the circumstances surrounding their break up is much needed information – insight that absolutely proves that the decision was forced upon her and the fact that she’s berated herself and broken her own heart many times over attempting to deal with the fallout of her involuntary act shows just how much she regretted losing the only man she’s ever loved.
The premise behind J. Kenner’s Man of the Month series is to provide fast paced sultry and sweet reads that invite readers to experience hot and heavy encounters between the heroes and the heroines, and while there is some backstory provided and the plot has some substance to it in terms of why the characters are coming together – to save their favorite bar – The Fix on Sixth – and how all the characters are connected, these stories aren’t meant to dive too deep into anything too dramatic or emotional, keeping things mostly light and interweaving those moments with the sizzling encounters experienced by the hero and the heroine.
Two spots in the calendar have been filled, but there are still ten more to assign, and I can’t wait to see which males become Mr. March through December…I’m sure they’ll be gorgeous and also have to be persuaded to participate…just like the first two.
4 Poison Apples (The Fairest of All Book Reviews)
Okay . . . I had to take a day to gather my thoughts on just how much I adored Hold on Tight. Seriously. I love an interconnected series, but I had some concerns just how interactive the books would be in the Man of the Month series. Would they stand alone because not everyone starts a series at the beginning. Now, those people who jump right in the middle, I don’t get—why miss out on all the fun, the inside jokes . . . but I digress . . . And at any rate, I shouldn’t have been one bit worried, because this series is amazing.
In Hold on Tight, we get the pleasure of Spencer and Brooke’s full story. And holy moly, is there some history there! Both Brooke and Spencer are a bit stuck in the past—both trying, sorta, to move into some sort of positive working relationship. Well, Brooke is . . . Spencer is trying to figure out how to make her hurt as much as he was when she left him at the altar.
Man, there are so many secrets that these two are keeping. A so much hidden desire and love for the other that you can’t help but want them to figure their shit out. Seriously . . . get to the good stuff, because, damn, the good stuff is so very good. *eyebrow wiggle*
I loved Brooke and her tenacity. Her desire to make something of herself—to be independent and free from the constraints of her family and their overbearing nature. And Spence. Damn. I adored him from the start—the good man with the bad boy background, who pulled himself out of a crappy situation to have a good life. And Brooke and Spence together. Good golly, the heat between them was palpable—my Kindle got quite warm.
I cannot wait for more in this excellent series. Cam and Mira are going to be fun to get to know.
An unexpectedly gritty and raw second chance romance that’s hot, sexy and full of surprises…
I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to sing the 12 Months of the Year song ever again without drooling. Mr. January had me pressing my thighs together and now, Mr. February has me drooling like a St. Bernard on hot Summer’s day! I cannot get enough of this series, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Like I said, I loved Reece’s and Jenna’s story in Down on Me, and now I am completely enthralled with Hold On Tight—Spencer’s and Brooke’s story.
This book again is in third person narrative, and again it did not make me love or empathise with the story any less than if it were written in first person narrative. You still get the dual POV, but actually you almost get that fly on the wall perspective too with the third person narrative. I don’t know, but I can’t seem to find fault with that aspect in this books. Like I said in my review for Down on Me, I’m not usually a fan of it, but in this instance it actually adds to the feel of the story. Am I saying that I am converted? Hmmmm, no. Maybe? I don’t know, all I do know it’s that the flow you get from it in this series is verging on flawless. I find that it makes the larger cast appear some what manageable and not as intimidating. If that makes sense? I guess, what I mean to say is that I don’t normally enjoy stories with lots of characters, but J. Kenner has done it so well, that it doesn’t feel like it is a big cast. You have that warm familial feel through out the story.
Plot wise, what can I say? Hold On Tight is a second chance romance that starts off dripping in animosity between the hero and the heroine due to their past. Is it a trope that has never been done before? No it’s not, but actually the twists and turns not just within the present story but also in Spencer’s and Brooke’s backstories make it standout and inject said plot with a whole new fresh zing. There were certain times where there was a lot going on, especially when the past gets rehashed. The drama in this book is cray-cray. Out of this world! Oh, and I LOVED IT. I normally don’t like over the top drama, but with these two characters it worked so freaking well. They’re just such big characters that you needed that drama to take them to the wow level. Saying that, the ending killed me. There’s a bit of a sinister undertone to this plot, which makes it a little more serious than the first book in the series. I really wanted Ms Kenner to explore that dark element to the plot a bit more, but the way in which it was tapered off at the end felt rushed and I felt that it really did that part of the story a bit of injustice. It kind of felt like the author wanted to keep it light, and so she just skipped through it. That’s the only part of this book that was lacking.
So, characters. When it came to these characters I loved that they were strong and grounded. Spencer is the bad boy form the wrong side of the tracks and Brooke is the wealthy girl whose family hold great expectations for. Can I just say that the push and pull between these two is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. It’s so intense and volatile that it’s enough to give you whiplash! Neither of them can let go of what they had, but at the same time the fear dredging up the past makes them lash out at one another. At first I felt a little at odds with Spencer, he is actually quite brutish with Brooke and it made me categorise him as a douche. Not to say that she can’t take it, because even though she affected by it, she still kicks back just as hard. She is such a tough cookie, and as the story unfolds and you get to know them and their demons, you realise just how vulnerable they both are. If that makes sense? I’m really trying not to give anything away here!
All in all Hold On Tight is brilliantly written book, even if certain parts felt rushed towards the end. Had that not been the case it would have been verging on flawless. I really enjoyed the plot and I felt that at no point did the story feel too big for the characters and vice versa. Julie has really achieved a harmonious balance between the characters and the plot, but that isn’t really surprising with her writing. I really cannot wait for the next book in the Man of the Month series, Need You Now. Just a little side note here—each book is an interconnected standalone and the story behind the contest is briefly explained, however, for you to REALLY enjoy the series I recommend you read them in order. Look, once you read one, you’re going to want to read all the others anyway, so you may as well start at the beginning with Down On Me. Also, Reece and Jenna are hot…like REALLY hot, so it’s a win-win!
J Kenner has released another story that instantly captures my attention with two characters that I absolutely enjoy reading about. The storyline of this story is one of my favourites being second chance romances, I love the way that the characters connect with each other and how they uncover secrets. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series and more form this author.
When Brooke’s proposal gets approved she is so excited but when she finds out the man she left at the alter five years ago is her co-star, she thinks this is going to be a disaster, especially when he wants nothing but revenge. When Brooke broke Spencer’s heart five years ago he knew he would never be the same so now that fate has put her in his path again he will do everything to make her pay for her deceit, even if it breaks him. Years of lies and secrets are revealed but will them change the path Spencer has started down with Brooke? Such a great book, loved all the twists and turns. Brooke and Spencer past and present is so full of love. They are both complex and strong characters. Excellent story and series. I can’t wait for Mr. March.
Meet Mr February: Spencer Dean. Spencer and Brooke are a second chance romance. Both still nursing their broken hearts for one another, are thrown together for a reality show to spruce up our beloved Fix on Sixth. Family tore them apart before and continues to threatens them again. Read to find out if our couple survive!