"I want the fairy tale ending I've never believed."—Jessica
Life of the party Jessica is ready for a makeover. She's got a new job in another country, and she's ready to be a hard-working good girl. No more screw-ups and needing others to bail her out. Her new plan means no men, and that includes her best friend's friend and new roommate's cousin, perfect gentleman Parker. But just like Jessica trying to hide her bad girl side, it turns out Parker is hiding his bad boy side, too. And when two matching souls don't need to hide the bad with each other, that's when the fun really starts…
"I'm not a gentleman. I'm just very good at pretending I am. Except when I'm around [Jessica]."—Parker
First off, if you haven't read the first book in the series, it's kinda a must to really appreciate Jessica and Parker's story (this one). Although they're secondary characters in the first book (which stars Jessica's best friend, Serena, and Parker's cousin, James), they are integral in getting Serena and James together and that's where I fell in love with these two. I was so excited for their story since I wanted to see how two awesome people could end up disliking each other in the first book. So, it that respect, if you fell in love with them in the first book, then you have to get this book to see how they get their happily ever after!
On the other hand, if I hadn't fallen in love with them in the first book, I doubt I would have liked this book as much. We're dropped in the middle of their story—they have shared history from the first book—and now a few months later, both Jessica and Parker are in London. Jess hopes they never cross paths with each other. Parker's not sure what he wants—well, except that he wants Jess and doesn't want that. They have soooooooo much unresolved sexual tension that gets tapped into fairly early in the book and in a surprising and unexpected way that I was taken aback. The book is filled with plenty of sizzling high heat scenes that was a bit too much for me.
This book was very different from the first book, which makes sense considering how different the two couples are. Although I wasn't a fan of the amount/settings of sex scenes in the book, it absolutely fit these two characters (while it wouldn't have made sense in the first book with the very different heroine). While Serena and James had to deal with trust and guilt issues and the death of loved ones, Jessica and Parker have to deal with trust issues and overcoming/accepting their pasts and who they are. While the first book dealt with a lot of whiplash hot and cold break-ups and plenty of angst, this book was more about a steadily growing romance (well, once they finally accepted their connection) while learning to trust, experiencing freedom with each other, and accepting who they are. While Serena could be pissed off like no other (which I totally understood and agreed with her!), Jessica is actually more quick to understand and forgive (which made me love her even more—she's an absolute optimist given any situation). As for Parker…come on, it's Parker! Although he did totally make me want to kick him at times. In this book, we're treated to alternating first person POV from both Jessica and Parker, which I absolutely LOVED (did I mention I love Parker?)!
We get to see some cameos of Serena and James (still love them!) and get treated to a teaser for Jessica's roommate (aka James's sister and Parker's cousin) Dani's upcoming story. I liked how while Jessica was a bad girl trying to be good, Dani's a good girl trying to be bad. We learn more about Jessica's family life (and why moving to London was a good idea) as well as Parker's past (which was a shocker but totally fits him). Jessica's and Parker's story had some really great romantic lines, which I attribute to the fact that both of them want a relationship with each other, they just don't know how to do it. They have to work on learning to trust each other, but while learning to do that, they're going to have fun doing so. I was curious about some other secondary characters and topics that didn't get explored more despite seeming important in each of their pasts, but I'm guessing that'll be for future books in the series. Overall, this is a 4 out of 5 for me!
I received a review copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.