Overachiever River Purcell was never supposed to be a struggling single mom working double shifts just to make ends meet. Nor was she supposed to be abandoned by her high school sweetheart. Now, Vaughn De Matteo is back in town, with his sights set on her…and River is in danger of drowning a second time.No one believed Hook’s resident bad boy was good enough for River. Not even Vaughn himself. … Vaughn himself. But he’ll fight like hell to win back the woman he never stopped loving, to keep the daughter he never expected, and convince himself he’s worth their love in the process––even if he has to rely on the fierce and undeniable sexual chemistry between him and River.
But even as River’s body arches under his hungered touch, the demons of the past lurk in the shadows. Waiting for Vaughn to repeat his mistakes one last time…
Each book in the Made in Jersey series is STANDALONE:
* Crashed Out
* Thrown Down
* Worked Up
* Wound Tight
more
Second chance at romance story. River was left to raise their daughter on her own. Vaughn had secrets. Once those two got passed all the past issues and drama – they were able to just be together and get their HEA.
I love Tessa Bailey books. That being said this one was just good to me. Normally I’m blown away by her books but this one I couldn’t connect with.
Thrown Down by Tessa Bailey is the second book in the Made in Jersey series, but the first one I read and did not feel lost. Here we have a second chance romance that was full of the feels and steamy. River and Vaughn were both heartbroken when he walked away from her, but he had his reasons. But when he learns what he left behind, he comes back determined to win them back. I absolutely loved Vaughn. He was strong, determined and protective. River wanted to protect her heart, could she trust him again? Their story was sweet and charming.
Happy reading!
It is tedious to get through, and so much angst. Definitely not my style.
I love this author. She is queen of “dirty talk”. Uses secret baby trope. That said, while good , this is my least favorite of her books. The self loathing of the hero was too much for me.
It started off slow but it got better and bettet
Wow- I really liked the Vuaghn’s dirty talk during the erotic scenes and the connection between the 2 characters was intense. My only problem was River abstained while they were apart-really. Do all woman have to be ‘virginal’ Madonnas? Once they have had sex and a baby with their true love, they abstain until their true love comes back?
5 stars
River is a single mother working two jobs to help ends meet. Vaughn is the towns bad boy, coming back after over four years being gone. He gets a letter telling him he’s a dad and comes rushing back to the woman he left. River thinks she doesn’t need Vaughn and sets out to prove she’s not the girl he left behind. Can they make a go of it or will the past rise up and stop them again?
The chemistry between these two is smoking. Honestly you may need a cold shower and cigarette after this story. Two people with insecurities and a love that will burn them up.
Vaughn and River were high school sweethearts. They were the opposite in many ways – she was the class president and he was the tough kid always getting into trouble. But their love for one another always brought them together. Until one night Vaughn left town and never came back.
Fast forward to four years later and River is a single mom, raising her daughter alone. It isn’t until Vaughn catches wind of the fact that he’s a dad, does he decide to come back to Hook and seek out River.
I enjoyed the dynamic between River and Vaughn. These two have such a history and shared passion for one another, but they have so much distance between them. I loved how much Vaughn cared for and truly cherished River. And although River is upset with Vaughn, the love she has for him never wavered.
I’ve read this series out of order having read Worked Up prior to reading Thrown Down, but I still enjoyed the cast of characters. I love that Thrown Down discusses real issues between couples. You have this single mom, working two jobs to try to keep her family afloat. And even though Vaughn enters the picture, he still wants so badly to bring something to the table for his daughter as well as the love of his life. I enjoyed Thrown Down and look forward to reading the rest of the books in Made in Jersey series!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher
So I never realized that this was a book written years ago, not that it really mattered I was just shocked, and I was also a little upset with myself to find out that this was the second book in this series, but I will rectify that. Now I notice that I am hit or miss with Tessa’s books, some I love some I am like, huh what happened there. So we have this second chance roman between River the town good girl, and Vaughn the bad boy, the one who wont amount to anything. So of course Vaughn is going to be a little self conscious about that. However he left her and that was a no, but he didn’t stay on my bad side long, because when he came back after finding out that she had his kid he was gun-ho on correcting his mistakes. I liked the town, I liked everyone except the dad, he was just a miserable person..What I didn’t like was the corny/sleazy sex talk, yeah so did not work for me. romance 🙂
rcvd an ARC at no cost to author…(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions
I went on an emotional roller coaster with this book. Vaughn and River have an explosive chemistry but there are hurts that prevent them from moving forward. It’s a story about second chances but also of redeeming yourself and believing that you are worthy of love. Vaughn is the typical bad boy with a troubled past that has a hard time believing he is worthy but I loved River and the way she tore down his walls, even it took them a while to get to the finale.
Thrown Down is the 2nd book in the Made in Jersey Series by Tessa Bailey. I didn’t read the first book and I had no problem following so this book can be read as a stand alone. I really liked this book. It was a super sweet second chance romance. I loved both River and Vaughn. I thought Vaughn was a sweet, sexy reformed bad boy. River was loyal, smart, and loving. I loved them together and really enjoyed their love story. I was over the moon that when they were broken up neither dated or touched another. They were faithful to their love for each other. I liked all the side characters. Well not all the side characters I hated her dad he was a jerk. I loved their daughter, Marcy. I am a sucker for babies and children in books. I would have loved to seen a little more of Marcy in this book. A little more interaction between Marcy and Vaughn. The only thing I didn’t care for with this book was the dialogue seemed awkward at times. They would talk and it didn’t feel natural. The dirty talk was weird and cheesy at times and at other times instead of being sexy it gave me icky mental pictures I could have lived my life happily without having. I was able to over look that though and still really enjoyed this book, just not so much the love scenes. I love Tessa Bailey’s books and will for sure read more in this series.