Musings and Ramblings

Return of the Bad Boy

Second Chance, #4

Jessica Lemmon

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Forever
Date of Publication: April 26, 2016
Number of pages: 416

He's a mess...

Asher Knight has three constants in his life: music, beautiful women, and a bottle of Jack. He lives for the next gig, the next city, and dreams only of a life spent in front of an arena full of screaming fans. But Asher's nomad ways come to a sudden stop when he learns he's the father of a three-year-old from a past relationship and suddenly this rock star bad boy is forced to put down roots.

Only she can clean up

Gloria Shields is no one's fool. Sure, the sexual chemistry between her and Asher has always been intense, but she'd never risk giving her heart to a man who has a perfect record for breaking them. Except the man desperate to make things right with his newfound son is nothing like the rock god she's guarded her heart against for years. And it isn't long before she starts to wonder if life with this bad boy might be the best thing that's ever happened to her.

This has been a fabulous series thus far. Discovering a new author who totally gets how to write realistic characters that I can actually like and whole heartedly root for, is the absolute bestest. And yet...

And yet I have been ever so slightly dreading this book.  Wait you say?  The last 2 books got 5 stars, why dread this one?  Well, to be honest, I didn't really connect with Gloria when we first met her.  It wasn't that I disliked her... she just wasn't someone I thought I wanted to focus on. Then there's Asher. Manwhore rock star? Meh. As the childhood best bud, sure, okay. But as the hero? No, just no. I tend to pass on the whole 'rockstar billionaire' craze that so many adore. Sorry, whether it is the boorish billionaire, the rebellious rockstar or the voyeuristic vampire, I pass right over the guys who don't just have a few issues to deal with, but have full on life time subscriptions to the craycray.

But you know what? We only got to see a small portion of Gloria and her over-sized personality. I would be honored to call Gloria a friend. She's got a big heart that she hides behind a smart mouth. She's the one that you could totally call at 3am to help you hide the body... And we all need one of those.

As for Asher, it still took me a bit to warm up to him, but seeing him with his son and watching the route he chose to win Gloria's heart made me take a closer look at him. He's not so bad. He just wears that Rock God persona so well, that you can forgot that he is a real person underneath it all. In the dedication the author talks about hearing Sam Hunt's album Montevallo in the background of her head during this book.  After listening to some of it, I completely get it. Plus, it has given me a better perspective on Asher and Gloria, looking back... and that's just from 4 songs.

In the end, the characters won me over. The author completely changed my mind about both of them and by the end of the book I was cheering them on and thrilled for their happy ending.  I had a great time with this read, and hated putting it down. Totally 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.