A Bad Boy for Christmas by Jessica Lemmon Series: Second Chance #3
Series Rating:
Published by Forever on September 29th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 369
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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'Tis the Season to Be Naughty
Connor McClain knows what he wants. And after four harrowing years in Afghanistan, that's a quiet life in the lakeside town of Evergreen Cove. But coming home has land mines of its own-the most dangerous of them being long-legged bombshell Faith Garrett. Now getting her into his arms this holiday is going to require more than mistletoe . . .
With a cheating ex behind her, all Faith wants is a relaxing holiday free from man drama. And even though every moment with gorgeous Connor is a sweet temptation, Faith is determined not to give in. But Jack Frost has other plans, and soon Faith and Connor are snowbound in a winter wonderland with only the sparks flying between them to keep them warm. As one hot kiss leads to another, they'll have to decide if they're ready to give each other the best gift of all-love.
"Everything I love in a romance."--- Lori Foster, 2014
Overall I loved this book. But something was a little off for me. I love sexy banter, which this book had in spades. I love a snowbound in a cabin story. I loved getting glimpses of Evan & Charlie and Sophie & Donovan. I loved Connor. I liked Faith. Maybe that’s what was off. I liked Faith, but I didn’t love her. Connor was amazing. A crappy situation with his only real ex made him gun-shy about relationships, but he was finally in a place in his life where he was ready to find something real, something solid. And he really wanted it to be with Faith. At first he considered her off limits because she’s his best friend’s fiancee’s best friend (I had to read that 3 times to make sure I had it right). But once he decided to get over that, he was all in. I don’t know if I would actually consider Connor to be much of a bad boy, though. He was ex-military and suffered from a little PTSD, and he had some tattoos, but it takes more than that to actually be a bad boy. He was a great guy, though. To be honest, sometimes I thought he might be a little too great for Faith and the enormous number of hang-ups she had.
And there were So. Many. Hangups. I get where most of them came from. Her hangup about her breasts being too small, for example, came from not only growing up with a mother who made sure Faith knew that her figure was inadequate, but also from her piece of shit ex who was so grossed out by her boyishness in that area that he requested she keep her bra on during sex. She had hang-ups about the age difference between her and Connor, hang-ups about her independence, hang-ups about getting involved in another relationship, hang-ups about a family curse preventing anyone from getting married…. Frankly it was exhausting after a while.
But through it all, there was Connor. No matter what she did to push him away, and believe me, she tried to push him away, he was right there, telling her that he wasn’t going anywhere. I think Faith’s pain was more recent, more raw so she wasn’t as ready to move on. None of this made me dislike Faith exactly, but it seemed like she and Connor were just in much different places regarding in this area. None of the things Faith was looking for are unreasonable, she just needed to decide if it was more important to her to keep Connor in her life, or to live on her own independently and make being on her own a priority. Neither answer is right or wrong, but she was really hot and cold on Connor.
This was a slow burn of a book, taking place over the course of several months, which sort of played into my dissatisfaction with Faith. She had so much time to come around on Connor, and she just kept going back and forth on him. He was so loyal to her, so patient, giving her everything she needed, even when it hurt him, and she just kept pushing him away and pulling him back.
Even thought Faith drove me nuts at times, I was glad to see Connor get the happily ever after he wanted. Overall, this was a great entry in Lemmon’s Evergreen Cove series. The next book in the series is Gloria and Asher’s and I can’t wait. I’ve been waiting for this book since book 1. Definitely check this series out if you haven’t yet.
About Jessica Lemmon
A former job-hopper, Jessica Lemmon resides in Ohio with her husband and rescue dog. She holds a degree in graphic design currently gathering dust in an impressive frame. When she’s not writing super-sexy heroes, she can be found cooking, drawing, drinking coffee (okay, wine), and eating potato chips. She firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you can create the life you want.
Aw bummer this one wasn’t a total win for ya. I really enjoyed it even with some of her issues. Hope the next one in the series clicks just a bit better for ya!
I can’t wait for the next one – I’m really excited for Gloria and Asher.