I thought I had it all. I lived in the perfect small town in Alabama. I married my high school sweetheart. We were expecting our first child together. Everything was falling into place. Until it wasn’t.Life gets complicated sometimes. You can be happily married one minute and divorced the next. You can become a single father to a newborn baby when that was never in your plans. You can fall for …
You can fall for your ex-wife’s best friend.
Yes, life gets complicated. Sometimes it takes something complicated to make everything else fall into place again.
Something Complicated is book one in the Dirty Southern Secrets series. It is a standalone, full-length novel. It contains adult content, adult language, and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers only.
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I truly love the real life feel with this book!!!! It’s original, Sweet, loving, and complicated… Just like life!!!!! J.L. Leslie really has written a brilliantly beautiful book!!!!
I don’t even know where to start with this review.
This book gave me all the feels, I absolutely loved every page. It also made me sooo mad! The way ppl can treat someone cause they are different, this book was so true to reality.
Kaler and jenna, how could u not love these two? The single dad, who would do anything for his little girl. And Jenna the sweet school teacher. From friends to lovers to so much more . This is a defs must read!
I loved Kaler and Jenna. These characters are so relatable. Heed the title because this couple as the mother of all complications of a relationship. I fell completely in love with Little Willow.
I absolutely adore watching J.L. Leslie grow as an author. You can tell with each book she evolves into a better author.
I read an advanced copy.
Ms Leslie as done a great job of giving the reader a real sense of small town life with Something Complicated. Engaging characters with relatable dilemmas make for a charming, heartfelt storyline.
As Kaler knows all too well, trying to do right by your daughter, a little girl with Down’s Syndrome, as a single dad, whilst also holding down a full time job, is not easy. Add to that the realisation that you’re hopelessly attracted to your ex-wife’s best friend, and suddenly life becomes very complicated indeed. Mindful of his responsibilities, Kaler is determined to resist his attraction until it becomes impossible for him to ignore his feelings any longer.
Knowing the judgement they’ll receive from the local townsfolk and curtain twitchers if they act on those feelings, Kaler and Jenna decide that keeping their relationship under wraps, whilst letting everyone believe they’re just friends, is the way to go. Of course they’re not fooling anyone and I was just waiting for it to all blow up in their faces. The chemistry between these two as they fought their feelings for one another is strong. You get a real sense of them trying to do the right thing, whilst not really being honest to themselves, or anyone else for that matter. Their longing, the strain of trying to hide their feelings, and the guilt is a heavy burden. Whilst I didn’t always agree with their actions, I loved Kaler and Jenna together. There are certainly many ups and downs, judgmental attitudes and obstacles for this couple to overcome but I was rooting for them and for their love initially born from friendship. Willow too is a little sweetheart, a gorgeous little scene stealer, with her funny little habits, her love of her ipad, and her enthusiasm for fishing and pink tutu skirts!
The author also touches on certain mental health issues and these are dealt with in a sensitive not sensational way. Whilst some of the angst and situations felt slightly over the top on occasions, nevertheless I really enjoyed this steamy, witty, love story. There are many poignant moments too, which definitely brought tears to my eyes, adding another layer to this emotional whirlwind of a book.
This book has the most fabulous ending – I just wanted to put that out there! You don’t see it coming, and it brings tears. But back to the book itself! Kaler is a single dad to a Down syndrome toddler Willow, and Jenna is his ex-wife’s best friend who’s just back in town. They both fight a relationship that feels “wrong,” and along with that, we see Kaler’s battles on his own, get insight into the reason his wife left – I just want to say that J.L. Leslie doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff. This is a great book; it takes you from fury, to joy, to lust – it has it all.
This is the first book in the series, but can be read as a standalone. This was a beautifully written story about unconditional love for your child. Plus, a combustible, sexy, romance between a single parent and a schoolteacher. Kaler and Jenna have an instant attraction to each other, but fight it until they can’t anymore. Once they can’t resist each other, they try so hard to make it work. I was really routing for them. Willow is one lucky little girl. I could relate to this story, my daughter is 29 and I still fight for her. I highly recommend you read this book.