I’ve spent my whole life guarding the family’s biggest secrets. Too bad this one won’t leave my guest room. Let’s blame that inconvenient distraction for the questionable choices I make at my brother’s wedding. Thank God for Lily Archer, who saves my rep and melts my heart in one fell swoop. It’s damn humbling for a controlling jerk like me accustomed to being in charge of everything. But … in charge of everything.
But something about Lily has me unraveling like the cuffs on a cheap suit. She’s sexy and smart as hell, and makes no secret she wants me for a no-strings fling. What guy in his right mind would say no?
I’m clearly not in my right mind because I suddenly can’t stop thinking about long-term with Lily. It’s not ideal, since the family’s worst skeleton is ready to tumble from the closet in a big, dusty heap. Who the hell is in charge around here?
It’s me. And before this is over, I’ll have some explaining to do.
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I never imagined that James “Iceman” would be my favorite Bracelyn, but he totally is. Lily is absolutely his perfect match and this is such a fantastic portrait of the whole family. Another absolute winner! Two thumbs up and a double squee cannon salute!
I love this wacky family! James meets the woman who helps him take the stick out! Lily is smart, sexy, and amazing! Independent, confident, brilliant, beautiful! She is a breath of fresh air in James’ stuffy world. We learn that being the keeper of his father’s secrets has weighed heavily on James his entire life. And things are coming to a head in this one. Floved it! I received a review copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I loved the whole Ponderosa Resort series by Tawna Fenske! She is one of my favorite authors right now. I’ve read every one of her books!
This next installment in the Ponderosa Resort series has Lily Archer helping Iceman James Bracelyn shake off his icy demeanor with some hilarious pranks. Lily’s frank and direct approach to life shows James the meaning of “joie de vive” (the joy of life for you non-cajuns). There’s plenty of laughs and hot sexy times in this stand alone contemporary romance (although I prefer to read in order, it helps put backgrounds to the secondary characters) and fans of this series will love the surprise characters in Stiff Suit.
I enjoyed all the books in this series but especially this one.
Great series good fun reads
This entire series was oh so fun!
Love this series!
The book was great fun to read. The characters were well developed. The story was very interesting.
Love the book
Nice story . It is advertised as a romantic comedy but I did not feel it was a comedy. Definitely a romance though.
3.75 stars–STIFF SUIT is the fifth instalment in Tawna Fenske’s contemporary, adult PONDEROSA RESORT ROMANTIC COMEDIES romance series. This is thirty-four year old, attorney and eldest sibling James ‘Iceman’ Bracelyn, and geologist Dr. Lily Archer’s story line. STIFF SUIT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.
SOME BACKGROUND: A few years earlier the Bracelyn patriarch, Cort Bracelyn, died leaving his eldest son James to pick up the pieces of his billion dollar estate, an estate to be divided between his five children (Bree, Sean, James, Mark, Jonathan )all born of different mothers. The Ponderosa Resort is the family lodge where each of the now adult children lives and works.
Told from dual first person perspectives (James and Lily) STIFF SUIT follows in the aftermath of Sean Bracelyn’s marriage to Amber King. Having had too much to drink at his brother’s wedding James Bracelyn wakes up next to one of the bridesmaids, having no memory of what happened the night before. Enter geologist Dr. Lily Archer, the woman with whom James will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between James and Lily, and the potential fall-out as the Bracelyn siblings are once again stunned and angered by their father’s past.
Lily Archer doesn’t do relationships, in fact, our heroine has a reputation as a man-eater. Meeting James Bracelyn stirs something deep within our heroine’s heart something that will shatter when James is unable to let go of the past. James Bracelyn has no time for romance or love but waking next to Lily Archer gave our hero something to think about, something that looks a lot like a possible happily ever after. Our hero is a bit of a stuffed shirt, always working with no time to enjoy the lighter side of life.
The relationship between Lily and James is a ‘friends with benefits’ of a sorts, that turns into something more. Neither one is prepared to fall in love but the heart wants forever even though the mind says something else. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
Most of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting characters. There is a struggling family dynamic between siblings who were aware of one another but never had the chance to bond until adulthood.
STIFF SUIT is a story of family, friendship, secrets and lies. The premise is emotional and engaging; the romance is captivating and seductive; the characters are energetic and colorful but I struggled to find the humor throughout the story line.
There are moments of fun and adventure but the overall premise is a little heart breaking and sad. James Bracelyn is the keeper of the family secrets, so much so, that is eats away at his emotions and pride. The family patriarch has done a real number on his numerous progeny, such that family counselling is the only way to understand and survive. When even more secrets are revealed James becomes the punching bag for their father’s sins and lies.
This series is lots of fun. The Bracelyn family have so many secrets but the kids are building the Ponderosa Resort and working out how to be a family. James is the oldest and he has been keeping his father’s secrets his whole life, he is uptight and keeps to himself. He meets Lily at his brother’s wedding and she manages to change his life.
Loved the zebra. And I have enjoyed the series so much so far.
Such a great story. Wow didn’t see that coming wi Rn all the truth bombs going off everywhere. Loved James you really feel for him and all that has been dumped on his plate to shoulder and take care of. And he feels like he is letting his siblings down by hiding all the things his father had him do. Loved Lilly she is a breath of fresh air and it was cool to watch them balance one another. She helped him relax and have fun and he helped her realize love isn’t the end all. Can’t wait for next story.
I love this series!
Decent story about the oldest son who is charged with the family secrets until he can’t take it anymore. In comes his sisters friend who changes his view on life and opens his heart. It was a decent book. I found the dialogue a little stilted but a quick easy read
I’m enjoying this whole series. I like the interweaving of the characters from one book to another.
This was a cute story in the Ponderosa Ranch series. Lily and James are interesting characters even if he seems a bit neurotic. I found the nuances of James’s character interesting, but he is so opposite of me that it was a little difficult to get behind him at some points. I liked that Lily was really open about her sexuality and came from a family of women who felt the same way.
There were some twists I really didn’t expect but that seemed to make sense after everything we know about all of the characters and backstory. I thought the big plot was entertaining- Two people who DO NOT want to fall in love and end up falling in love. The background plot was also interesting and played out kind of funnily in some ways. I’m not going to spoil it here but I did like the twists and I’m curious about how it will play out in later books.
My only complaint was that the first half had a lot of sex. Way too much and so detailed that I felt it wasn’t necessary for the story.
There’s so much more to James than anyone expects – except maybe Lily who has hidden depths of her own. A great addition to the series – lots of fun and tons of chemistry and twists to keep you reading past your bedtime! A great read!