#BookReview – Jackson (Wild Boys After Dark #3) by Melissa Foster

The blurb reads,

“Receiving a marriage proposal is supposed to make a women happy, but when Erica Lane receives a beautiful marriage proposal from her perfect boyfriend on the eve of her annual camping trip with her best friend, Jackson Wild, the first thing she does is jump into bed with Jackson.

Jackson’s all too happy to screw the annoyance out of Erica. After all, they’ve always screwed the hell out of each other when they were bored or angry, lonely, or too damn drunk to see straight.

But the marriage proposal changes everything, and their annual camping trip takes unexpected turns. Will a few nights in the wilderness set these friends with benefits free, or lead them on a path of destruction?”

So right, I did sign up to receive Jackson’s ARC after I read Heath and Logan.

Read my review of Heath and Logan here!

After a very disappointing read in Heath, I still dug into Jackson thinking it would be something different as compared to the others.

And to an extent I wasn’t disappointed. Jackson did have a different story, just not unique enough. I mean reading about a guy realising his love for his best friend after she is proposed to is oft repeated in both film and book. Made of Honor, Patrick Dempsey anyone?

And this book here is nothing NEW. It is the same old formula, wrapped in oodles of sex. And I mean oodles. Erica and Jackson have sex. All the time. Whenever they are angry, whenever they are frustrated.

But somehow they never realised how much they needed each other before Erica was proposed to by her boyfriend.

I’m a little unsure of how I would take this, a boyfriend being comfortable with his girlfriend having open sexual relations with another guy. Most guys I know would not be comfortable with it, but then if a guy is, however unbelievable it may be, it does show that he is mature enough to let the lady go, only to have her come back.

Jackson and Erica realise their love for each other when they go camping and are caught in a storm. And that tragedy striking is enough to make Jackson realise that he has always wanted his Laney. And for Erica to realise that she looked for Jackson in every man she dated.

And while that realisation is sweet, and touching, the book sort of distracts you with all the sex that is in it.

 

I read this book a while back and what I do remember from it is just the sex. And the very little recollection they have of how their lives are incomplete without each other.

I think I’m going to stay off these books which prefer to make it Dark at the cost of the series. I don’t remember why I gave this book a 4 star on Goodreads but I’ve downgraded it to a 3 since then.

And a 3 star simply because the sex was great! Much as I didn’t like it taking the place of a good story, it did have some sense to it. And I did like Jackson being told off by his brothers and Jackson’s personal story.

Atleast this book told me about the characters. It told me little about their dependencies on each other. About their history with each other. And while I may be miffed about their story being too sex oriented, I can’t discount that their angst was real. That there was so much hesitation at this feeling of letting go and committing.

I hope Cooper’s story is a good one. I missed out on the ARC, but let’s hope I can get to it sometime in the future.

My Rating: 3/5

#Brilliantly Funny: The Ugly Stepsister by Aya Ling

The blurb reads,

“When Kat accidentally rips apart an old picture book, she’s magically transported into the world of Cinderella–as Katriona, one of the ugly stepsisters! Life turns upside down now that she’s a highborn lady and must learn how to survive the social season, including how to get through the door in a huge metal hoop skirt. To get back, she’ll have to complete the story, right to the end of happily ever after. But the odds are huge: the other stepsister is drop-dead gorgeous, the fairy godmother is nowhere to be found, and the prince, despite being insanely hot, openly dislikes balls. Can she ever return to the modern world?”

 

So I requested this one on NetGalley at some point of time without even realising it. And then finally, one evening in Goa, when I was on holiday, I clicked this one on my Kindle and started reading it.

The blurb was immediately catchy and I dove straight into the story. AND I LOVED IT!~

I love stories from the Regency period and this re-telling of Cinderella was so very well written. I absolutely loved Kat and I was rooting for her every step of the way.

Of course, Murphy interfered here and what had to go wrong did go wrong everywhere in the book. But Kat’s personality shone through every dealing she had with the Prince or with her mother.

Reading through this book did make me feel so grateful that we lived in the times we did. Living in those ages with whatever Kat had to go through was definitely not easy.

It did make me wonder and think, that with all the media attention calling India a sexist country, it wasn’t really any much different in UK where this story is based. They were equally sexist and treated women as dirt probably a lot more than in our own society. Talk about not hearing anything bad about your ex-rulers. (Britain did rule India for over 2 centuries)

I sooo loved Prince Edward. And all that sparring that Kat and Edward had. I just wished the book would continue and that their fairytale would continue. I loved reading how hard Kat tried to fight her rising chemistry with Edward.

This book made me realise how wonderful the Romance genre can be. Light and meant to give you a break from the vagaries of life, it is books like these which make me want to stick to this genre and this blog and write more about Romances!

It has made me realise my love for Regency Romances and now I’m busy hunting for more of those online.

If you’re an author who has written a Regency romance, please contact me so I can review your book!

 

My Rating: 5/5 stars