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The Wright Brothers #3
Bending The Rules
Justin and Toni were friends.
Besties, with a whole list of life rules developed over a friendship that started when they were kids. As long as they stuck to the rules, even when they blended a business relationship into the friendship, things went off without a hitch.
But then one of them broke the rules - It was Justin. Justin broke the rules- and Toni has been mad about it ever since.
She’s spent the last several years traveling the globe to cultivate her business, but now she’s back in town. Her only goals? Help her parents with “Mr. Bestseller’s” signing at the store, help them pack up their house to sell, and get out of town without too much interaction with her former best friend.
Mr. Bestseller has different goals.
He broke the rules - no getting around that, and he’s not trying to. His main goal now that Toni is finally home is to get her to hear him out… and get his friend back.
Neither of them anticipated that the rift in their relationship would be the catalyst for seeing each other in a whole different light. But now that they do, they’re wondering if it may be time to make some amendments to those rules.
Or at the very least… bend a few.
Besties, with a whole list of life rules developed over a friendship that started when they were kids. As long as they stuck to the rules, even when they blended a business relationship into the friendship, things went off without a hitch.
But then one of them broke the rules - It was Justin. Justin broke the rules- and Toni has been mad about it ever since.
She’s spent the last several years traveling the globe to cultivate her business, but now she’s back in town. Her only goals? Help her parents with “Mr. Bestseller’s” signing at the store, help them pack up their house to sell, and get out of town without too much interaction with her former best friend.
Mr. Bestseller has different goals.
He broke the rules - no getting around that, and he’s not trying to. His main goal now that Toni is finally home is to get her to hear him out… and get his friend back.
Neither of them anticipated that the rift in their relationship would be the catalyst for seeing each other in a whole different light. But now that they do, they’re wondering if it may be time to make some amendments to those rules.
Or at the very least… bend a few.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 11, 2016
309 people are currently reading
1047 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 337 reviews
November 13, 2020
Out of the three books in this series, this was my least favorite. This was a friends to lovers romance and Toni and Justin haven't spoken in 7 years after Justin betrayed Toni. I really liked Justin, but there was so much miscommunication on Toni's part. She would try to drop "hints" to Justin and then get super frustrated with him for not picking up on them. Ummm, JUST TALK TO HIM. This happened quite a bit in this book and I was annoyed by the end. I really did love Justin's daughter, though, and Toni's mom.
Trigger warning for infertility.
Trigger warning for infertility.
February 17, 2024
Pretty sure this might be my favourite in the series! Mainly because it has one huge thing going for it: it’s a book about books.
Our heroine works with authors and the hero is an actual author. There were also some scenes that took place at a bookstore which I just loved. 🥰
They were childhood friends that turned into enemies, who then became friends again after clearing up what happened between them.
Till they decided they wanted more.
Yeah, it’s a little messy. In a very human and realistic way though.
I also love that the heroine was someone who was adopted and that had an incredible relationship with her adoptive parents.
But she was dealing with some heavy abandonment issues.
I absolutely loved the ride this series took me on. The brothers were amazing! As were their women and I love how they all found love in such different ways.
Once again, I gotta give massive credits to the audiobook narrators. I loved them! They were too good!
Trigger warnings for infertility and a child with a heart condition.
Our heroine works with authors and the hero is an actual author. There were also some scenes that took place at a bookstore which I just loved. 🥰
They were childhood friends that turned into enemies, who then became friends again after clearing up what happened between them.
Till they decided they wanted more.
Yeah, it’s a little messy. In a very human and realistic way though.
I also love that the heroine was someone who was adopted and that had an incredible relationship with her adoptive parents.
But she was dealing with some heavy abandonment issues.
I absolutely loved the ride this series took me on. The brothers were amazing! As were their women and I love how they all found love in such different ways.
Once again, I gotta give massive credits to the audiobook narrators. I loved them! They were too good!
Trigger warnings for infertility and a child with a heart condition.
May 3, 2021
3 stars
I've enjoyed reading about the Wright Brother's, but this book was sadly my least favorite of the three. There was so much miscommunication and secrets it just didn't work for me. I didn't love the 7 year gap they didn't speak or the fact that . I did love Justin's daughter, getting to see some of the other Wright couples, and some sweet moments between this couple. Overall, it was just okay for me.
I've enjoyed reading about the Wright Brother's, but this book was sadly my least favorite of the three. There was so much miscommunication and secrets it just didn't work for me. I didn't love the 7 year gap they didn't speak or the fact that . I did love Justin's daughter, getting to see some of the other Wright couples, and some sweet moments between this couple. Overall, it was just okay for me.
Audio book source: Hoopla (library borrow)
Story Rating: 3 stars
Narrators: Sean Crisden and Adenrele Ojo
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 6 hours and 55 minutes
July 8, 2020
Bending The Rules was my least favorite book in The Wright Brothers series. This book was so frustrating! Toni and Justin worked my last nerve! You have two grown azz adults who, for some unknown reason, refused to communicate their feeling to one another. And, this went on just about the entire book. I don't like story lines where the characters are this silly. Also, it was kind of hard for me to buy into the romantic aspect because, they'd fallen out with each other and hadn't spoken in seven years. Now, all of sudden, y'all are hot for one another?!!! I guess..... Then you had Toni not tellin' her mama her fiancee broke up with her because she couldn't have kids. I though that was a little ridiculous too but, I guess I can understand why she did it. The constant lack of communication and the secret holding made it hard to enjoy this book. I'm just glad Toni and Justin finally got their shyt together even if it took damn near the entire book to do it.
October 5, 2020
I really enjoyed first & second book in this series..this one was just fine I guess..but not as enjoyable like the rest of the series...
it has one of my pet peeves in books it doesn't affect my rating here is just something that is annoying to me...
2,5 stars
it has one of my pet peeves in books it doesn't affect my rating here is just something that is annoying to me...
2,5 stars
August 11, 2021
My least favorite from the series... the lack of communication and the secret holding are not my favored tropes.
May 10, 2021
Bending the Rules is probably the weakest in the trilogy, but it still showcases Jones' excellent writing skills. 3.5 Stars
Second chance romances can be tricky depending on the reason that the couple didn't work the first time. Bending the Rules isn't exactly a second chance romance since the characters were just friends, but it has that feel to it and the reason why they stopped communicating/being friends is absolutely ridiculous. Toni and Justin were the most frustrating couple to deal with in this series. It wasn't that their romance wasn't enjoyable or that they didn't have chemistry. I simply couldn't deal with how indecisive Toni was when it came to Justin. The cause behind the grudge wasn't worth the seven years that these two lost. And while I am completely aware that most grudges do not make sense, I think that it added a layer of character development for Toni that made her slightly unlikeable in some sections of the book. In my personal life, I'm a huge huge advocate for communication in any interpersonal relationship. It doesn't just have to be romantic and it's hard for me to adjust to romance books where the central conflict revolves around miscommunication. There were moments when a simple conversation could have patched up the issues between Toni and Justin so as a reader it was frustrating when they wouldn't just talk. This is why the miscommunication trope is probably one of the trickiest tropes for me to enjoy as a romance reader.
Other than that, I enjoyed other elements of the book including Jones' writing and the chemistry between Toni and Justin. While they are determined to deny any feelings that they have for each other, it is clear to other characters as well as readers that they work well together. I loved that this particular book was centered on the literary world. I love books that are about people who love books especially when it deals with romance. The pacing was great and Jones has the ability to build empathy and room to have tough discussions about the experiences of others. This book in particular has a content warning for infertility. There were also moments for readers to get updates on the other characters from previous books which, for me, is a must when specifically creating family saga romances. Overall, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to reading more about the Wright extended family members.
Second chance romances can be tricky depending on the reason that the couple didn't work the first time. Bending the Rules isn't exactly a second chance romance since the characters were just friends, but it has that feel to it and the reason why they stopped communicating/being friends is absolutely ridiculous. Toni and Justin were the most frustrating couple to deal with in this series. It wasn't that their romance wasn't enjoyable or that they didn't have chemistry. I simply couldn't deal with how indecisive Toni was when it came to Justin. The cause behind the grudge wasn't worth the seven years that these two lost. And while I am completely aware that most grudges do not make sense, I think that it added a layer of character development for Toni that made her slightly unlikeable in some sections of the book. In my personal life, I'm a huge huge advocate for communication in any interpersonal relationship. It doesn't just have to be romantic and it's hard for me to adjust to romance books where the central conflict revolves around miscommunication. There were moments when a simple conversation could have patched up the issues between Toni and Justin so as a reader it was frustrating when they wouldn't just talk. This is why the miscommunication trope is probably one of the trickiest tropes for me to enjoy as a romance reader.
Other than that, I enjoyed other elements of the book including Jones' writing and the chemistry between Toni and Justin. While they are determined to deny any feelings that they have for each other, it is clear to other characters as well as readers that they work well together. I loved that this particular book was centered on the literary world. I love books that are about people who love books especially when it deals with romance. The pacing was great and Jones has the ability to build empathy and room to have tough discussions about the experiences of others. This book in particular has a content warning for infertility. There were also moments for readers to get updates on the other characters from previous books which, for me, is a must when specifically creating family saga romances. Overall, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to reading more about the Wright extended family members.
February 27, 2023
3.5 stars
This was an okay read and my least favorite book of the series. There was so much miscommunication and secrets that lasted for like 90% of the book. And that 7 year separation really just bothered me.
This was an okay read and my least favorite book of the series. There was so much miscommunication and secrets that lasted for like 90% of the book. And that 7 year separation really just bothered me.
July 7, 2022
just a friend
I started this on audiobook and I loved it but didn’t finish before the library snatched it back, so I have to wonder would it have been more enjoyable if I hadn’t took so long. Cause it felt drawn out but again that could have just been because of my reading pace. Anyway this had a lot of ups and downs for me but the downs never lasted long before something was said or done to turn my frown into a smile. No matter what CCJ is always going to give you moments. As far as an overall series I think the avg would be a 4. Book 2 was my favorite then this one and lastly book 1. But I am happily moving on to the Christmas novella for my Christmas in July read.
I started this on audiobook and I loved it but didn’t finish before the library snatched it back, so I have to wonder would it have been more enjoyable if I hadn’t took so long. Cause it felt drawn out but again that could have just been because of my reading pace. Anyway this had a lot of ups and downs for me but the downs never lasted long before something was said or done to turn my frown into a smile. No matter what CCJ is always going to give you moments. As far as an overall series I think the avg would be a 4. Book 2 was my favorite then this one and lastly book 1. But I am happily moving on to the Christmas novella for my Christmas in July read.
September 8, 2021
Favorite one in the series!
I love all the Wright brothers! I love that they are all successful, sexy as hell, and definitely imperfect. I laughed throughout because their friendship was everything. The clapping with the talking took me over the edge and had this story feeling authentically black. Jus was so irritating while Toni was so open. It took a moment but I love how it came together. Sn: I really wanted to know what his story was about...
I love all the Wright brothers! I love that they are all successful, sexy as hell, and definitely imperfect. I laughed throughout because their friendship was everything. The clapping with the talking took me over the edge and had this story feeling authentically black. Jus was so irritating while Toni was so open. It took a moment but I love how it came together. Sn: I really wanted to know what his story was about...
May 3, 2021
Toni and Justin have been best friends for 17 years. Except for the last 7 years when one of their rules was broken which caused Toni to cut off communication with Justin. During those 7 years, Justin had gotten married and divorced, and became a dad. Now, it's time for these two to bury the hatchet.
This is their time to try and make a relationship work because in the past they've never been single at the same time. It seems like everywhere they look there are roadblocks keeping them apart because of their miscommunications.
BENDING THE RULES
♦ best seller author / business owner
♦ single dad
♦ friends to lovers
♦ miscommunication
♦ Dual pov
♦ standalone
A continuing story where secondary characters from the first book become the main focus in subsequent books.
This is their time to try and make a relationship work because in the past they've never been single at the same time. It seems like everywhere they look there are roadblocks keeping them apart because of their miscommunications.
BENDING THE RULES
♦ best seller author / business owner
♦ single dad
♦ friends to lovers
♦ miscommunication
♦ Dual pov
♦ standalone
A continuing story where secondary characters from the first book become the main focus in subsequent books.
Audiobook source: Hoopla
Narrator: Sean Crisden & Adenrele Ojo
Length: 6H 55M
March 9, 2024
I just like this series. They're little stories with witty characters whose love language is making fun of each other. Justin and Toni were a little softer and sadder than the others. They had some damage to repair, best friends to not to lovers. I want more chapters of all the Wright men just chilling because I love them together. Tbh I would've read Joseph Sr. and Imara if they had a separate book too.
3.5★
3.5★
September 3, 2019
3 Stars / 1 Steam Fan
Ugh, urban contemporary obviously is not a subgenre that I can get behind. I have major issues with the use of the N-word in casual conversation and this author does that. Justin and Toni are childhood best friends that have a falling out over business choices then are put back together after years of not speaking. Both of them have life changes during their silent years but they decide to cross the friendship line. Once again the end was abrupt and I didn't really feel like there was resolution for the issues that were thrown into the storyline.
This specific video review will be included in the September 2019 wrap-up.
For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.
Ugh, urban contemporary obviously is not a subgenre that I can get behind. I have major issues with the use of the N-word in casual conversation and this author does that. Justin and Toni are childhood best friends that have a falling out over business choices then are put back together after years of not speaking. Both of them have life changes during their silent years but they decide to cross the friendship line. Once again the end was abrupt and I didn't really feel like there was resolution for the issues that were thrown into the storyline.
This specific video review will be included in the September 2019 wrap-up.
For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.
January 2, 2021
Beautifully done. Christina has a knack for writing realistic characters and the sex is 😍 I loved the banter... the build up and the relationships between characters. Her work is a great palate cleanse between heavy reads.
September 23, 2020
3.5 stars! There's some miscommunication here but otherwise this was a good friends to lovers romance with lots of steam.
February 6, 2022
5 "Back in the day." Stars!
I absolutely loved this story! I wanted Justin and Toni to get their acts together and be together forever soo bad. But what really took this one up a notch for me was the nostalgia this book brought on with the music references. Pick a late 90s or early 2000s R&B jam it may have been referenced in this book. I was singing and dancing all the way through
The story and the characters really were super good. Justin and Toni were childhood and into adulthood best friends, but they had a big falling out and haven't seen or spoken to each other in sven years. They'd never even thought of crossing that friendship line in the past, but after being away from each other for so long, now spending time together again, that line was getting awfully blurry. But what would crossing that line do to their very resently renewed friendship? Justin also had a sweet little girl and Toni had an issue that was weighing on her heart.
These Wright brothers had my number. Start at the beginning with Getting Schooled and enjoy the journey. Happy reading!
I absolutely loved this story! I wanted Justin and Toni to get their acts together and be together forever soo bad. But what really took this one up a notch for me was the nostalgia this book brought on with the music references. Pick a late 90s or early 2000s R&B jam it may have been referenced in this book. I was singing and dancing all the way through
The story and the characters really were super good. Justin and Toni were childhood and into adulthood best friends, but they had a big falling out and haven't seen or spoken to each other in sven years. They'd never even thought of crossing that friendship line in the past, but after being away from each other for so long, now spending time together again, that line was getting awfully blurry. But what would crossing that line do to their very resently renewed friendship? Justin also had a sweet little girl and Toni had an issue that was weighing on her heart.
These Wright brothers had my number. Start at the beginning with Getting Schooled and enjoy the journey. Happy reading!
July 23, 2024
JUSTINNNNNNNNNN!
This is the first book where the MMC pissed me off so bad. When I tell you he is the definition of follow his first mind. Justin did not go down the rabbit holes of should’ve, could’ve , would’ve it was always black and white with him and that pissed me off so bad about. But Toni never said what she meant and expected him to read her mind although she was confused as well. I love towards the end when EVERYBODY was getting Justin together. Cause sir “Are you stupid?”…. Also Joseph Sr. stealing the mom from a DeBarge brother had me howling lmaooooo…. And Aviava trying to pimp Toni out to the pastor…. I love her so much lol
This is the first book where the MMC pissed me off so bad. When I tell you he is the definition of follow his first mind. Justin did not go down the rabbit holes of should’ve, could’ve , would’ve it was always black and white with him and that pissed me off so bad about. But Toni never said what she meant and expected him to read her mind although she was confused as well. I love towards the end when EVERYBODY was getting Justin together. Cause sir “Are you stupid?”…. Also Joseph Sr. stealing the mom from a DeBarge brother had me howling lmaooooo…. And Aviava trying to pimp Toni out to the pastor…. I love her so much lol
February 17, 2023
3 stars ~ [5.19/10]
I love a good friends to lovers story and I think this one was entertaining but didn't blow my socks off. The previous two books in this series really played on the banter between the main characters and because Justin and Toni had a bit of a history, their interactions were a bit more on the emotional side. I also wasn't fully sold on the reasons they had had near misses in the past. However, they still had great chemistry and I adore how Christina C. Jones writes dialogue and characters that feel like real people.
I love a good friends to lovers story and I think this one was entertaining but didn't blow my socks off. The previous two books in this series really played on the banter between the main characters and because Justin and Toni had a bit of a history, their interactions were a bit more on the emotional side. I also wasn't fully sold on the reasons they had had near misses in the past. However, they still had great chemistry and I adore how Christina C. Jones writes dialogue and characters that feel like real people.
January 29, 2025
It is always a pleasure to be back in The CCJ catalog! This series was so funny. The Wright men always gets da gurl and comes through. I felt like I got to kick it with old friends. This is truly a highly recommended friends to lovers read! 💜💚💛
March 13, 2021
CW: infertility
Not my favorite CCJ but it started out promising and it’s to her credit as a writer that I still gave this 3 stars. There were just too many things that didn’t make sense or that weren’t fully accounted for. For instance, much of the bookstore/publishing stuff was wrong. Publishers don’t pay bookstores to host author signings. Bookstores generally don’t cater the event and serve alcohol out of their own expense. There aren’t event planning meetings—the idea that Toni’s parents needed her to plan Justin’s signing and that they’d need to meet multiple times to discuss it…that just does not happen! If there’s a bookstore out there that does this, I want to know who they are because they’re a unicorn. I say this as someone who used to work at a bookstore and who works for authors now. Beyond that, I could not understand what Toni did for her job as the owner of a publishing company or why that entailed traveling around the world to meet with authors. Pretty much everything related to Justin’s book signing or Toni talking about how she had to travel annoyed me.
But I had two main issues beyond that. Toni and Justin were best friends up until 7 years ago, when he left her publishing company for a bigger one and didn’t tell her. He has Reasons and they were okay but that didn’t justify him not telling her. Personally, I thought she forgave him too quickly once she found out the reasons because she was justified in cutting him out of her life. This is her MO though: she doesn’t deal with things. She doesn’t ever want to talk about painful situations.
Case in point: she broke off her engagement a couple of months ago but she hasn’t told anyone because she doesn’t want to answer their questions about why. She ended the engagement because her fiancé wants to have kids and she had recently found out she would not be able to have them. Her fiancé was not great about her diagnosis. And then her mom keeps pressuring her for grandchildren and she doesn’t want to disappoint her so Toni just keeps quiet. (General PSA for people to knock this off! Don't ask people about if or when they're going to have children. It’s so hurtful and aggravating.) And then she stays quiet when she realizes she’s attracted to her ex-best friend and needs some kind of guardrail against him. Only that doesn’t work. When they have sex, Justin believes she is still engaged and it doesn’t seem to really bother him. Afterward, she does tell him she’s been single the whole time. This is infidelity-adjacent. She might not be cheating but he doesn’t know that! Infidelity is one of my dealbreakers so my estimation of Justin went down quite a bit.
Toward the end, it becomes clear Toni still hasn’t told her mom that she broke off the engagement or why. To be clear, Toni doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for why she’s no longer engaged and she certainly doesn’t need to tell everyone about her infertility. But her pattern of not dealing with things was super frustrating, especially so close to the end. Her mom thinks she’s engaged and catches Toni and Justin messing around and thinks Toni’s cheating. Frankly, I was relieved someone in this book was bothered by it! Then Toni has a breakthrough about her past that came out of nowhere, even if it made complete sense. It just wasn’t integrated into the plot at all.
I also thought there were some consent issues, like
I find it interesting that so many of CCJ’s books, at least of the ones that I’ve read, deal with pregnancy and infertility. I generally prefer not to read those stories but since those storylines weren’t indicated in the blurbs, I’m not able to avoid them and the ones that I do read don’t always land with me. But in defense of this one, at least there wasn’t a miracle baby. In the epilogue, Toni and Justin are planning to adopt and he does have a daughter from his previous marriage.
Character notes: Toni is the 31 year old Black owner of publishing company Scattered Seeds. Justin is a 31 year old Black author. His daughter Bri is 6.
CW: infertility , heroine has internalized ableism over her infertility, hero’s daughter has a congenital heart defect , hero is divorced, pressure for grandchildren, unprotected sex, infidelity adjacent , alcohol, inebriation, heroine’s parents adopted her when she was 7 , past underage drinking, pregnant secondary character, secondary character with prosthetic leg, hero’s mother died 5 years ago, ableist language
Not my favorite CCJ but it started out promising and it’s to her credit as a writer that I still gave this 3 stars. There were just too many things that didn’t make sense or that weren’t fully accounted for. For instance, much of the bookstore/publishing stuff was wrong. Publishers don’t pay bookstores to host author signings. Bookstores generally don’t cater the event and serve alcohol out of their own expense. There aren’t event planning meetings—the idea that Toni’s parents needed her to plan Justin’s signing and that they’d need to meet multiple times to discuss it…that just does not happen! If there’s a bookstore out there that does this, I want to know who they are because they’re a unicorn. I say this as someone who used to work at a bookstore and who works for authors now. Beyond that, I could not understand what Toni did for her job as the owner of a publishing company or why that entailed traveling around the world to meet with authors. Pretty much everything related to Justin’s book signing or Toni talking about how she had to travel annoyed me.
But I had two main issues beyond that. Toni and Justin were best friends up until 7 years ago, when he left her publishing company for a bigger one and didn’t tell her. He has Reasons and they were okay but that didn’t justify him not telling her. Personally, I thought she forgave him too quickly once she found out the reasons because she was justified in cutting him out of her life. This is her MO though: she doesn’t deal with things. She doesn’t ever want to talk about painful situations.
Case in point: she broke off her engagement a couple of months ago but she hasn’t told anyone because she doesn’t want to answer their questions about why. She ended the engagement because her fiancé wants to have kids and she had recently found out she would not be able to have them. Her fiancé was not great about her diagnosis. And then her mom keeps pressuring her for grandchildren and she doesn’t want to disappoint her so Toni just keeps quiet. (General PSA for people to knock this off! Don't ask people about if or when they're going to have children. It’s so hurtful and aggravating.) And then she stays quiet when she realizes she’s attracted to her ex-best friend and needs some kind of guardrail against him. Only that doesn’t work. When they have sex, Justin believes she is still engaged and it doesn’t seem to really bother him. Afterward, she does tell him she’s been single the whole time. This is infidelity-adjacent. She might not be cheating but he doesn’t know that! Infidelity is one of my dealbreakers so my estimation of Justin went down quite a bit.
Toward the end, it becomes clear Toni still hasn’t told her mom that she broke off the engagement or why. To be clear, Toni doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for why she’s no longer engaged and she certainly doesn’t need to tell everyone about her infertility. But her pattern of not dealing with things was super frustrating, especially so close to the end. Her mom thinks she’s engaged and catches Toni and Justin messing around and thinks Toni’s cheating. Frankly, I was relieved someone in this book was bothered by it! Then Toni has a breakthrough about her past that came out of nowhere, even if it made complete sense. It just wasn’t integrated into the plot at all.
I also thought there were some consent issues, like
I find it interesting that so many of CCJ’s books, at least of the ones that I’ve read, deal with pregnancy and infertility. I generally prefer not to read those stories but since those storylines weren’t indicated in the blurbs, I’m not able to avoid them and the ones that I do read don’t always land with me. But in defense of this one, at least there wasn’t a miracle baby. In the epilogue, Toni and Justin are planning to adopt and he does have a daughter from his previous marriage.
Character notes: Toni is the 31 year old Black owner of publishing company Scattered Seeds. Justin is a 31 year old Black author. His daughter Bri is 6.
CW: infertility , heroine has internalized ableism over her infertility, hero’s daughter has a congenital heart defect , hero is divorced, pressure for grandchildren, unprotected sex, infidelity adjacent , alcohol, inebriation, heroine’s parents adopted her when she was 7 , past underage drinking, pregnant secondary character, secondary character with prosthetic leg, hero’s mother died 5 years ago, ableist language
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February 18, 2021
#1 Getting Schooled: ★★★★☆ | 4 stars
#2 Pulling Doubles: ★★★★★ | 5 stars
*
Mini-review time! Bending the Rules didn't really work for me. I was really excited about reading Toni and Justin story and finally! seeing how they got together, but the story started and went into a direction that I personally didn't enjoy. The writing was still great and I loved how Jones developed the different POVs. There were also quite a few steamy scenes, if that's your thing!
Sadly, I had issues with Toni keeping relevant information to herself and refusing to discuss things with others and how, because of that, she ended up creating situations that made herself and other people feel bad. I also did not enjoy at all the context surrounding the first time Toni and Justin had sex since That was cleared up right away, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and soured my reading experience.
#2 Pulling Doubles: ★★★★★ | 5 stars
*
Mini-review time! Bending the Rules didn't really work for me. I was really excited about reading Toni and Justin story and finally! seeing how they got together, but the story started and went into a direction that I personally didn't enjoy. The writing was still great and I loved how Jones developed the different POVs. There were also quite a few steamy scenes, if that's your thing!
Sadly, I had issues with Toni keeping relevant information to herself and refusing to discuss things with others and how, because of that, she ended up creating situations that made herself and other people feel bad. I also did not enjoy at all the context surrounding the first time Toni and Justin had sex since That was cleared up right away, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and soured my reading experience.
dnf
January 22, 2024DNF at 73%
Yeah, no. I usually don't mind reasonable amounts of miscommunication...in fact, I think it's often one of the most realistic things in romances. But this was egregious. Second chance or "childhood friends to enemies to lovers" are tough tropes to execute well, but I like CCJ's writing so I thought this would be a winner. Theeen the lack of communication hit and...nah. Particularly from Toni, she avoided speaking up and then would proceed to make the worst assumptions possible about a conversation that didn't even really happen. I rarely take a man's side on anything but sis...you didn't even give Justin a chance to mess up! The final straw for me was when Toni literally expected Justin to read her mind about something she didn't clearly hint to at all. And then she went crying to her friend about it?!?? It just felt like angst for the sake of angst and I couldn't do it anymore.
Don't get me wrong, Christina C. Jones' quality humor and dialogue were as present as ever. But the fact that this book took me so long to read should've been my first clue. Thankfully CCJ has a huge backlist, so there's much more of her work for me to explore! On to the next
Yeah, no. I usually don't mind reasonable amounts of miscommunication...in fact, I think it's often one of the most realistic things in romances. But this was egregious. Second chance or "childhood friends to enemies to lovers" are tough tropes to execute well, but I like CCJ's writing so I thought this would be a winner. Theeen the lack of communication hit and...nah. Particularly from Toni, she avoided speaking up and then would proceed to make the worst assumptions possible about a conversation that didn't even really happen. I rarely take a man's side on anything but sis...you didn't even give Justin a chance to mess up! The final straw for me was when Toni literally expected Justin to read her mind about something she didn't clearly hint to at all. And then she went crying to her friend about it?!?? It just felt like angst for the sake of angst and I couldn't do it anymore.
Don't get me wrong, Christina C. Jones' quality humor and dialogue were as present as ever. But the fact that this book took me so long to read should've been my first clue. Thankfully CCJ has a huge backlist, so there's much more of her work for me to explore! On to the next
February 26, 2021
This was nice but there were quite a few problems again. Both MCs were thinking in circles and not making decision so the relationship was delayed artificially and characterization suffered. The reason they stopped being friends all those years ago was hidden from the reader for too long. Her relationship with her "ex" (yes another one...) was dragged out as well. The ending was nice but a few storylines felt unfinished again. She was presented as an independent woman again but she kept crying for no real reasons. He was emotionally stunted and I wanted him to get a grip. They were basically both acting childishly when they are supposed to be 30... I'll still read the wrap up book because this world is nice and feels unfinished.
November 16, 2016
Great Finish To The Series
I loved Justin and Toni's story, even though Justin was a little slow to get with the program. This was a great wrap up to the series. Hopefully we will get to keep tabs on them in other stories.
I love positive stories about black love that I can relate to. Mrs. Jones, keep doing you. I'm a fan for life!
I loved Justin and Toni's story, even though Justin was a little slow to get with the program. This was a great wrap up to the series. Hopefully we will get to keep tabs on them in other stories.
I love positive stories about black love that I can relate to. Mrs. Jones, keep doing you. I'm a fan for life!
April 12, 2020
I finished all 3. Who would have thunk it.
This is my least favorite of the series. I do like how CJC develops characters, scenes and of course the erotica is well done but her endings are thee worst. Best ending of the series. Overall they are fun, short, hot reads.
This is my least favorite of the series. I do like how CJC develops characters, scenes and of course the erotica is well done but her endings are thee worst. Best ending of the series. Overall they are fun, short, hot reads.
August 24, 2023
3/5 stars--It was cute..I definitely liked the second book in the trilogy best but this one did keep me laughing. Toni's expectation of Justin reading her mind was annoying, but all in all it was a quick and entertaining read.
February 4, 2020
I really enjoy being with this family, and it was great to see everyone either settling into or getting their HEA. Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and I like it even more when the characters have an abundance of history like Justin and Toni did. My heart broke, when I found out why Toni was no longer engaged, but I was happy, because she and Justin belonged together. Their story was hot and heartwarming and made me laugh quite a bit too.
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April 20, 2024
3/5 ⭐️
Simple, predictable, and straightforward. Which isn’t bad, it just makes it okay. Friends to lovers and miscommunication troupe 🥱 definitely not my favorites. And Justin is my least favorite of the 3 brothers unfortunately. Overall a decent series but the 1st book is in a league of its own in comparison.
Simple, predictable, and straightforward. Which isn’t bad, it just makes it okay. Friends to lovers and miscommunication troupe 🥱 definitely not my favorites. And Justin is my least favorite of the 3 brothers unfortunately. Overall a decent series but the 1st book is in a league of its own in comparison.
February 16, 2025
2.5 Stars
March 3, 2022
I tried so hard to like this book but I just couldn't. DNF at 47%
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