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The Awkward Adventures of Jane Nash #2
Happily Ever After Is So Once Upon A Time
Sexless nights, hot rock stars, and sexy social media queens...
And everything in between.
Jane Nash has her "Happy For Now." And Dex Vanstone gives her everything she wants. But when they are sent to opposite sides of the globe for work, their fairy tale is threatened by temptation on every corner. Struggling to make it work, they fumble through the obstacles of a long--and lonely--long distance relationship. And just when they think it can't get any worse--the wicked villain shows up to destroy everything.
But wait, this isn't a fairy tale. It's Jane's life. Can she fight the evil witch and keep her prince or is Jane only destined for "Happily For Now?"
And everything in between.
Jane Nash has her "Happy For Now." And Dex Vanstone gives her everything she wants. But when they are sent to opposite sides of the globe for work, their fairy tale is threatened by temptation on every corner. Struggling to make it work, they fumble through the obstacles of a long--and lonely--long distance relationship. And just when they think it can't get any worse--the wicked villain shows up to destroy everything.
But wait, this isn't a fairy tale. It's Jane's life. Can she fight the evil witch and keep her prince or is Jane only destined for "Happily For Now?"
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2019
12 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Christine Zolendz
43 books2,688 followersUSA Today bestselling romance author. Mother. Coffee drinker. Unicorn believer. New Yorker.
Books and writing are my escape from reality.
Read Me Free Here:
bit.ly/ChrisZo
Books and writing are my escape from reality.
Read Me Free Here:
bit.ly/ChrisZo
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 11, 2019
Check it out and have your own conclusions: (Nash/Jane is the h and Dex/Declan the poor excuse for a "H")
“Don’t say it. It’s not like that with us,” he growls.
“Not yet,” I snap. “If the paternity test comes back positive, you want to be a family, right? That’s what you keep saying she wants. What do you think a family consists of?” My voice is becoming shrill the more I talk. “You have to know what she’s asking for! Mommy and Daddy together with baby. Me and you Dex, we won’t be together. You do understand this, right?”
“Fuck, Nash. What choice do I have?” he shouts.
..........
“I’m Megan. Declan’s sister. I, um, I answered the door that day when you came over.”
“He sees me being a single mom. Heck, I had to move in with him, because my husband was a two-timing piece of—” she darts her eyes to Sean and pinches her lips. “I’m sure you understand. But now she’s staying there too.”
“Stephanie is staying there? At his apartment?”
“Yeah, she’s been there since coming out of the hospital. She’s been sitting on her ass while Dex runs around like crazy.”
..........
“You don’t want to be with me?” he whispers.
“I just don’t want to be with you and then lose you when the test results come in. I’m not a yo-yo, Dex. You can’t push me away and pull me back whenever you want to play with me.”
“This is hard for me! Family is very important to me. I don’t want Olivia to not be my daughter but—”
“No,” I say, straightening my clothes. “I’m not doing this. What world do you live in? This is the 21st century. You can be her father and live somewhere else, or you could fight for custody. You don’t have to be in a relationship with Stephanie. We could stay together and that thought never ever occurred to you.”
“I didn’t think you would ever—"
“What? That I didn’t love you enough to love a child you created? Are you serious?”
“She would never let me see Olivia again.”
“Yeah, Dex and if you let me, I’d be right by your side to help you fight for whatever relationship you wanted with her. But right now, I’m still wondering if you still have feelings for her. You must still have feelings for her, to be putting yourself through this.”
He doesn’t correct me.
He doesn’t say a fucking thing.
..............
"I find my way to the bathroom and shoulder-open the door. Inside a pretty woman walks out of a stall, leaning her phone between her cheek and shoulder. She meets my gaze, but doesn’t return the friendly smile I offer. I sigh to myself and open an empty stall."
“Yeah, I know. You were right. He makes me feel like true love and fairytales do exist,” the girl says to someone on the other end of the phone conversation. “I’ve never been happier.”
"Karma was just sharpening her claws and finishing her drink, but she’s back now, leading me right out of the bathroom to find Dex and the woman from the bathroom living her own fairy tale having a romantic fake-candlelit dinner. I’m paralyzed.
"fairy princess leans over the table and whispers something into Dex’s ear, and he tilts his head closer to her and smiles, cheeks darkening. Is it me or is there an intensity to his eyes when he looks at her? Is he diving into her gaze, like a blind man’s searching for the sun? "
“Dex?”
"He bolts up, eyes wide, slamming his hip into the table, and splashing whatever he was drinking all over the white lacy linen. "
“Yes, please. Go ahead and tell me whatever you think will get me to understand this situation.”
“What am I supposed to do? She just had a baby, and maybe it’s mine. She needed a little time out and she’s a little depressed, so I just took her out to dinner. That’s it.”
“Jane, I know you don’t want to hear this but I had a relationship once with her. We were serious and—"
“And you forgot how it ended?” She cheated on you!
“I didn’t forget. I don’t have those feelings for her, I just thinks she deserves to be treated like someone who might be the mother of my child. It’s you I love. I swear to God, Jane.”
“Declan? Is everything okay?” Stephanie walks out onto the landing and smiles at me.
“How do you both know each other?” She reaches out and touches my arm like we’ve been friends for years. “You know men, they don’t talk about work, and he’s never mentioned a Jane.”
"I look at Dex and his face is stark white and I know, I know, she’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know anything about me. In her mind we have no relationship."
“Jane, no wait. Hold on—"
.........
“When…when we got back, the mail came.”
“She’s not mine, Jane. Olivia’s not mine. My heart is fucking…”
“How do you feel, better?” Julia asks me.
“Jesus,” he spits, incoherently. “Don’t tell me you’re going to say you’re pregnant too.” The way he says it kills me. I know he’s hurting and very intoxicated."
“Why are you taking the paternity results out on me?”
“Because you’re the one that questioned it all, and now, she took Olivia away for good. You wanted her to not be my daughter. Well, I hope you’re fucking happy. You’re such a selfish bitch.”
.........
Oh And this shit gets worse! She was really pregnant, but she didn't know, and that same night she loses the baby (this happens at the beginning of book 3) And where was he while she was having a miscarriage at the hopital ?? Let's see:
“He had an early flight this morning to tie up some loose ends for the Pippa Grace memoir. Neither of us mentioned your emergency room visit at all when we spoke earlier, so I’m doubtful he has any knowledge of it.”
“He’s in California? With Pippa Grace? For how long?”
“We didn’t book his return flight yet.”
........
"Focusing my attention back to my phone, I press the FaceTime icon at the top of his texts. I’m breathing too hard, listening to it ring."
"There’s an explosion of voices and laughter, the camera faces the sky again, then a hand and the screen darkens, but the party still blares out."
“Dex?” My voice cracks.
"Pippa’s face suddenly takes up the view. She bursts into a fit of giggles and waves, but she’s not looking at me, she’s making duck lips and looking at the small video window of herself on the bottom. “Who dis?” she laughs, asking someone next to her. She pushes out her arm and rotates the phone to landscape mode and the screen fills with her and Dex sitting on white cushions with a crowd of people talking and drinking behind them"
.“Is that her? The ex or the other ex?” Her words are garbled with a fit of inebriated giggles. She’s wearing a stringy bikini and her skin looks unblemished and beautifully bronzed and glossy. It’s like someone dipped her in sex-oil."
"Dex is dressed in a button-up shirt that’s pulled wide open, the ends fluttering softly in the breeze behind him. His chest and stomach, an expanse of muscles and tattooed skin, tighten and twist as he tips his head back to laugh."
"Pippa leans closer to him and giggles into his chest, her hand falling on the corded skin of his stomach."
"Neither of them notices my eyes, as they well with tears."
“So why are you calling now?” Dex slurs. “Huh?” His eyes are heavy lidded, bruised purple underneath. “It’s been,” he drunkenly looks at his watch. “I dunno, days? Weeks. Years. What do you want from me? I’m getting over you.”
"Pippa and another half-naked girl fall to the floor laughing. They can’t catch their breath, and they crawl around shrieking about peeing themselves."
“Listen, I have something important to tell you. Please!”
“No. You didn’t want to hear me out. You’re always blaming Karma for shit, right? Well, now she’s on my side. You need to think of someone other than yourself for a minute. Stephanie took Olivia and now she’s gone. I’m never going to see my daugh—" he chokes on the word.
“Hang up. Hang up the phone. Forget about her. Here,” there’s a blur of string and flesh and then Pippa is kissing him. Her tongue is in his mouth and her hands are on his skin and I’m instantly sick, vomiting into the wastebasket I keep near my dresser."
"In my shaking hands, Pippa’s face fills up the screen of the phone and her middle finger lifts up. “Fuck you,” she slurs into the phone and the call ends."
..............
And after all this the author still wants to convince the reader that this is the kind of attitude of a man in love with "his woman"?? That if the ex's daughter were his, would the h be his first choice? And do you think there was any excuse about the scenes above? NOP! Yes, the authors are capable of writing pathetic characters like that. If this is not ridiculous then I definitely don't know what it is anymore.
“Don’t say it. It’s not like that with us,” he growls.
“Not yet,” I snap. “If the paternity test comes back positive, you want to be a family, right? That’s what you keep saying she wants. What do you think a family consists of?” My voice is becoming shrill the more I talk. “You have to know what she’s asking for! Mommy and Daddy together with baby. Me and you Dex, we won’t be together. You do understand this, right?”
“Fuck, Nash. What choice do I have?” he shouts.
..........
“I’m Megan. Declan’s sister. I, um, I answered the door that day when you came over.”
“He sees me being a single mom. Heck, I had to move in with him, because my husband was a two-timing piece of—” she darts her eyes to Sean and pinches her lips. “I’m sure you understand. But now she’s staying there too.”
“Stephanie is staying there? At his apartment?”
“Yeah, she’s been there since coming out of the hospital. She’s been sitting on her ass while Dex runs around like crazy.”
..........
“You don’t want to be with me?” he whispers.
“I just don’t want to be with you and then lose you when the test results come in. I’m not a yo-yo, Dex. You can’t push me away and pull me back whenever you want to play with me.”
“This is hard for me! Family is very important to me. I don’t want Olivia to not be my daughter but—”
“No,” I say, straightening my clothes. “I’m not doing this. What world do you live in? This is the 21st century. You can be her father and live somewhere else, or you could fight for custody. You don’t have to be in a relationship with Stephanie. We could stay together and that thought never ever occurred to you.”
“I didn’t think you would ever—"
“What? That I didn’t love you enough to love a child you created? Are you serious?”
“She would never let me see Olivia again.”
“Yeah, Dex and if you let me, I’d be right by your side to help you fight for whatever relationship you wanted with her. But right now, I’m still wondering if you still have feelings for her. You must still have feelings for her, to be putting yourself through this.”
He doesn’t correct me.
He doesn’t say a fucking thing.
..............
"I find my way to the bathroom and shoulder-open the door. Inside a pretty woman walks out of a stall, leaning her phone between her cheek and shoulder. She meets my gaze, but doesn’t return the friendly smile I offer. I sigh to myself and open an empty stall."
“Yeah, I know. You were right. He makes me feel like true love and fairytales do exist,” the girl says to someone on the other end of the phone conversation. “I’ve never been happier.”
"Karma was just sharpening her claws and finishing her drink, but she’s back now, leading me right out of the bathroom to find Dex and the woman from the bathroom living her own fairy tale having a romantic fake-candlelit dinner. I’m paralyzed.
"fairy princess leans over the table and whispers something into Dex’s ear, and he tilts his head closer to her and smiles, cheeks darkening. Is it me or is there an intensity to his eyes when he looks at her? Is he diving into her gaze, like a blind man’s searching for the sun? "
“Dex?”
"He bolts up, eyes wide, slamming his hip into the table, and splashing whatever he was drinking all over the white lacy linen. "
“Yes, please. Go ahead and tell me whatever you think will get me to understand this situation.”
“What am I supposed to do? She just had a baby, and maybe it’s mine. She needed a little time out and she’s a little depressed, so I just took her out to dinner. That’s it.”
“Jane, I know you don’t want to hear this but I had a relationship once with her. We were serious and—"
“And you forgot how it ended?” She cheated on you!
“I didn’t forget. I don’t have those feelings for her, I just thinks she deserves to be treated like someone who might be the mother of my child. It’s you I love. I swear to God, Jane.”
“Declan? Is everything okay?” Stephanie walks out onto the landing and smiles at me.
“How do you both know each other?” She reaches out and touches my arm like we’ve been friends for years. “You know men, they don’t talk about work, and he’s never mentioned a Jane.”
"I look at Dex and his face is stark white and I know, I know, she’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know anything about me. In her mind we have no relationship."
“Jane, no wait. Hold on—"
.........
“When…when we got back, the mail came.”
“She’s not mine, Jane. Olivia’s not mine. My heart is fucking…”
“How do you feel, better?” Julia asks me.
“Jesus,” he spits, incoherently. “Don’t tell me you’re going to say you’re pregnant too.” The way he says it kills me. I know he’s hurting and very intoxicated."
“Why are you taking the paternity results out on me?”
“Because you’re the one that questioned it all, and now, she took Olivia away for good. You wanted her to not be my daughter. Well, I hope you’re fucking happy. You’re such a selfish bitch.”
.........
Oh And this shit gets worse! She was really pregnant, but she didn't know, and that same night she loses the baby (this happens at the beginning of book 3) And where was he while she was having a miscarriage at the hopital ?? Let's see:
“He had an early flight this morning to tie up some loose ends for the Pippa Grace memoir. Neither of us mentioned your emergency room visit at all when we spoke earlier, so I’m doubtful he has any knowledge of it.”
“He’s in California? With Pippa Grace? For how long?”
“We didn’t book his return flight yet.”
........
"Focusing my attention back to my phone, I press the FaceTime icon at the top of his texts. I’m breathing too hard, listening to it ring."
"There’s an explosion of voices and laughter, the camera faces the sky again, then a hand and the screen darkens, but the party still blares out."
“Dex?” My voice cracks.
"Pippa’s face suddenly takes up the view. She bursts into a fit of giggles and waves, but she’s not looking at me, she’s making duck lips and looking at the small video window of herself on the bottom. “Who dis?” she laughs, asking someone next to her. She pushes out her arm and rotates the phone to landscape mode and the screen fills with her and Dex sitting on white cushions with a crowd of people talking and drinking behind them"
.“Is that her? The ex or the other ex?” Her words are garbled with a fit of inebriated giggles. She’s wearing a stringy bikini and her skin looks unblemished and beautifully bronzed and glossy. It’s like someone dipped her in sex-oil."
"Dex is dressed in a button-up shirt that’s pulled wide open, the ends fluttering softly in the breeze behind him. His chest and stomach, an expanse of muscles and tattooed skin, tighten and twist as he tips his head back to laugh."
"Pippa leans closer to him and giggles into his chest, her hand falling on the corded skin of his stomach."
"Neither of them notices my eyes, as they well with tears."
“So why are you calling now?” Dex slurs. “Huh?” His eyes are heavy lidded, bruised purple underneath. “It’s been,” he drunkenly looks at his watch. “I dunno, days? Weeks. Years. What do you want from me? I’m getting over you.”
"Pippa and another half-naked girl fall to the floor laughing. They can’t catch their breath, and they crawl around shrieking about peeing themselves."
“Listen, I have something important to tell you. Please!”
“No. You didn’t want to hear me out. You’re always blaming Karma for shit, right? Well, now she’s on my side. You need to think of someone other than yourself for a minute. Stephanie took Olivia and now she’s gone. I’m never going to see my daugh—" he chokes on the word.
“Hang up. Hang up the phone. Forget about her. Here,” there’s a blur of string and flesh and then Pippa is kissing him. Her tongue is in his mouth and her hands are on his skin and I’m instantly sick, vomiting into the wastebasket I keep near my dresser."
"In my shaking hands, Pippa’s face fills up the screen of the phone and her middle finger lifts up. “Fuck you,” she slurs into the phone and the call ends."
..............
And after all this the author still wants to convince the reader that this is the kind of attitude of a man in love with "his woman"?? That if the ex's daughter were his, would the h be his first choice? And do you think there was any excuse about the scenes above? NOP! Yes, the authors are capable of writing pathetic characters like that. If this is not ridiculous then I definitely don't know what it is anymore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 11, 2019Happily Ever After is so Once Upon a Time is Here!
What's going to happen to Jane Nash?
*Insert evil laugh here*
Just about everything.
Dex Vanstone.
Rock Stars.
Ex-cons.
Long-distance relationships.
A crazy boss that makes her go through it all.
And don't forget Nate, the guy who kissed her at a baseball game when the kiss cam landed on both of them. You know, the one who ended up being her...
Nope, I can't tell ya.
You just gotta read the books and find out for yourself.
START THE SERIES TODAY! Read Now!
What's going to happen to Jane Nash?
*Insert evil laugh here*
Just about everything.
Dex Vanstone.
Rock Stars.
Ex-cons.
Long-distance relationships.
A crazy boss that makes her go through it all.
And don't forget Nate, the guy who kissed her at a baseball game when the kiss cam landed on both of them. You know, the one who ended up being her...
Nope, I can't tell ya.
You just gotta read the books and find out for yourself.
START THE SERIES TODAY! Read Now!
November 12, 2019
I pre ordered this and woke up to my day off with a new book on my kindle. Hooray for me! I loved the first book in this series, it made me laugh so hard. This one made me laugh and route for the couple even more. I really like Jane's character and dex is swoony (most of the time.) I can't wait for the next book. This had a cliff hanger but the next book comes out in the beginning of December so it's not too long of a wait.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2020
3.7 stars
April 27, 2021
This book gave me whiplash. I need to read the next one ASAP.
December 27, 2019
The second in this series continues with Jane and Dex, workplace enemies turned lovers.
This one takes their relationship through several challenges - Jane is sent to Europe to provide a play-by-play of the band Simply Sinister and their lead singer Damien's sexcapades, drugs, and rock 'n roll lifestyle. Dex is sent to Los Angeles to interview a Hollywood starlet, after her release from prison where she served a 5-year sentence for killing the costar of her last film. While they're apart, their editor, hilariously named by Jane as "Gail the Tyrant Talbert", requires them to document their long-distance relationship via social media.
There are a few things going on here: While they're doing their jobs and interviewing celebrities, they're documenting their relationship on social media, dealing with friends and family interactions, learning about the other's past (and how it's impacting the present), and trying to deal with the explosions that have been thrown into their respective lives. This one absolutely ends on a cliffhanger, and you'll want to immediately download book 3 to find out what happens.
This one takes their relationship through several challenges - Jane is sent to Europe to provide a play-by-play of the band Simply Sinister and their lead singer Damien's sexcapades, drugs, and rock 'n roll lifestyle. Dex is sent to Los Angeles to interview a Hollywood starlet, after her release from prison where she served a 5-year sentence for killing the costar of her last film. While they're apart, their editor, hilariously named by Jane as "Gail the Tyrant Talbert", requires them to document their long-distance relationship via social media.
There are a few things going on here: While they're doing their jobs and interviewing celebrities, they're documenting their relationship on social media, dealing with friends and family interactions, learning about the other's past (and how it's impacting the present), and trying to deal with the explosions that have been thrown into their respective lives. This one absolutely ends on a cliffhanger, and you'll want to immediately download book 3 to find out what happens.
December 2, 2019
Series rating of 4, pending the final book.
Zolendz never fails me. She is one author I can pick up a book for and just know I am going to get a great story line with likable characters.
I know this is classified as Rom Com, and it is funny, but do know it can get emotional. Well for me anyway. Also, know that at some point or another you will want to slap all of the characters. Yes, all of them. But even with that I still loved them, well Janie and Dex any ways...the others are still up for question...
Dex will have you falling head over heels. If you can't tell, I'm TEAM DEX. All. The. Way. Janie will make you want to hug the shit out of her, while screaming at her to wake the fuck up. Nate will leave you wanting to give him a sharp, hard kick to the balls. He's a PRICK. And Julia...well let me just say I don't have a single nice thing to say about that bitch. Jealousy isn't becoming, sweets.
The ups and downs will resemble a thrilling roller coaster ride, one you'll want to be on forever.
I can't wait for book 3 to release. I NEED that baby NOW. The wait is killing me.
Zolendz never fails me. She is one author I can pick up a book for and just know I am going to get a great story line with likable characters.
I know this is classified as Rom Com, and it is funny, but do know it can get emotional. Well for me anyway. Also, know that at some point or another you will want to slap all of the characters. Yes, all of them. But even with that I still loved them, well Janie and Dex any ways...the others are still up for question...
Dex will have you falling head over heels. If you can't tell, I'm TEAM DEX. All. The. Way. Janie will make you want to hug the shit out of her, while screaming at her to wake the fuck up. Nate will leave you wanting to give him a sharp, hard kick to the balls. He's a PRICK. And Julia...well let me just say I don't have a single nice thing to say about that bitch. Jealousy isn't becoming, sweets.
The ups and downs will resemble a thrilling roller coaster ride, one you'll want to be on forever.
I can't wait for book 3 to release. I NEED that baby NOW. The wait is killing me.
January 21, 2020
I had to see what happened to Jane and if the crazy train took a vacation. Although, this book was easier to read than the first, Jane has a lot of growing up to do. I'm actually pulling for Jane and Dex, but once again their boss is weirdly cruel and seems to purposely stick them in situations that don't quite seem legit. Another 3 stars.
February 10, 2023
Seguimos con las aventuras de Jane y su feliz por el momento, todo le pasa a la pobre de Jane, ama a Dex pero por trabajo tienen que separarse. ¿Podrán seguir juntos a pesar de todo lo que se les presenta? Esta segunda parte aunque me gusto siento que fueron muchas cosas en tan poco tiempo, aun así necesito empezar el tercer libro y saber en que acaba la historia de Jane.
---------
We continue with the adventures of Jane and her happy for the moment, everything happens to poor Jane, she loves Dex but because of work they have to separate. Will they be able to stay together despite everything that is presented to them? This second part, although I liked it, I feel that there were many things in such a short time, even so I need to start the third book and know where Jane's story ends.
---------
We continue with the adventures of Jane and her happy for the moment, everything happens to poor Jane, she loves Dex but because of work they have to separate. Will they be able to stay together despite everything that is presented to them? This second part, although I liked it, I feel that there were many things in such a short time, even so I need to start the third book and know where Jane's story ends.
January 20, 2020
OMG this was absolutely hysterical!!
November 12, 2019
This author is really funny. I read this book in one day. Wish I had the next one allready.
November 13, 2019
Man, the ups and the downs. My stomach is in knots!
December 29, 2019
Wow. Intense.
I read this late but I liked it. It's a tad raunchy to put it nicely. Good enough for a single night read. Good story getting better.
I read this late but I liked it. It's a tad raunchy to put it nicely. Good enough for a single night read. Good story getting better.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews