“We have to act like a real couple…”The solution? Mind-blowingly real pleasure Dane “Smoke” Kingsolver and Cat Livingston need to fake a relationship to get her abusive ex off her back. Convincing people their friendship has heated up to scorching levels is unexpectedly easy But when their red-hot chemistry threatens to ruin everything they’ve ever known can they go back to what they had … back to what they had before? And do they even want to?”Dare is Harlequin’s hottest line yet. Every book should come with a free fan. I dare you to try them ” –Tiffany Reisz, international bestselling author
more
This is such a sexy read. A friends to lovers story with a biker club twist. The heroine is a single mom willing to do anything to protect her daughter, including pretending to be her hot best friend’s old lady to get protection from the club.
This book kind of surprised me. I’ve come to really look forward to any book I can get my hands on by Jackie Ashenden. I’ve read her Tate Brothers series and her Motor City Royals series and enjoyed both immensely. I really liked this story and the characters. There was a lot of heat and love in these pages. But I actually thought this had to be an older book of hers because the editing was terrible.
Let’s start with the positives. This story really starts off with a bang. Cat is in need of her best friend Smoke’s help so goes to find him at his motor cycle club. Let’s just say she finds him in a compromising position. Even though Smoke’s introduction isn’t in the best light, I instantly loved the guy. He dropped everything (right in the middle!) to help his friend out. No giving her a hard time and no questions asked. Cat needed him and he was there.
The chemistry between Smoke and Cat is off the charts. I don’t know how either could deny their feelings. The heat is undeniable. But there’s also tenderness between the two. They’ve known each other most of their lives and have been through a lot together.
Although this is a shorter book, the author still finds a way to pack a lot onto the pages. There are some issues it would have been nice to get a more in-depth look at, but I understood the constraints because of the number of pages. Honestly, it was still an amazing story without those extra pages.
Now the problem. I tried to ignore it. I really did. But there were extra words in some sentences and missing words in others. The reason things like that bother me is it takes me out of the story if I have to go back and reread a sentence to make sure I didn’t read it incorrectly. Then, when I realize it wasn’t me but the actual sentence I have to make sure I’m interpreting the sentence correctly…adding or subtracting the proper word or words. This is not a writing issue, it’s an editing issue. I generally try hard not to rate the books I read on those issues unless it’s chronic in a book. Well, it was an issue in this one. I’m still giving it a pretty high rating. It just would have been even higher without the editing errors.
That being said, I’m still looking forward to the next book in this series. I only hope it was looked at a bit more closely. And, quite frankly, it’s very disappointing there is even an issue since I expect better from Harlequin.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/ruined-book-review/
A new series from Jackie Ashenden featuring a Motorcycle Club. Oh heck yeah! I have to say she did not disappoint. Even if you’re not a fan of MC reads I think you’ll still enjoy this book since the focus of the story is the romance between Smoke and Cat rather than the Club. The core of the story is a friends to lovers romance that made me swoon!
Smoke and Cat have been friends for years. They’ve been through everything together from awful childhoods, an even worse marriage and smoke joining a motorcycle club even though Cat hates them with a passion. When a situation arises where Cat and her daughter Annie need protection Smoke steps up with a solution. If he claims her as his ol’ lady and the club will protect them. They have to make it look real though and this could cause real problems. Will this be the end of their friendship or the beginning of something even better?
I highly recommend this one.