by LESLEY JONES
When all that you want, is all that’s forbidden...
I’ve known him my entire life.
Before marriage.
Before fatherhood.
Before betrayal.
Now, he’s one of rock’s bad-boys trying to be good.
Trying to be the best father he can for his daughter.
He’s my brother’s best friend.
He’s my boss.
He has a wife.
Max isn’t mine to have, but I want him all the same.
And I haven’t survived all that I have to not go after what I want.
Her story is a tragedy, mine’s a publicity disaster.
Just when I needed her most, she walked back into my life, and the timing couldn’t be worse.
With a newborn baby, a divorce, an album to record, and a world tour to plan, I don’t need the distraction.
She’s off limits.
She’s my best friend’s little sister.
She’s my nanny.
Billie’s a golden drop of sexy sun on a grey autumn day, tempting me into the light and a life full of possibilities.
A life not meant for us.
"This man. He's been so very badly broken, and yet, still, he has so much love to give."
So in the beginning, I struggled with this one in more than one way and that didn't bode well for my first experience with Miss Jones' writing style. This review also started out on a whole other foot. I ended up putting it down and walking away because I was thisclose to DNF'ing it. I loved the actual storyline and I knew there was more to it, so I knew I needed to step away for a minute and come back to it. I am SO glad I did. Because, let's be honest, the general storyline? I really liked the idea of it. I liked that it was a best friends younger sister trope as that is one of my favorites and I gravitate towards them. Forbidden with reality is one of my favorites...it just is. And so, here I stand corrected and happy that I gave it another go. I really am so happy.
I did have a laugh at myself with myself in the beginning. All the different words, the phrasings, the sayings they use over there - the variables between our languages made me double take at some of the words and it gave me pause and a chuckle and put a smile on my face. Some I didn't even know what was being said, but it still made me giggle.
While it took me a bit to actually warm up to the story, the voice, the style, once it picked up, I was golden. Because when Billie and Max see each other again after all those years....that's when the sparks flew and that's when the story took a turn and I became glued to my kindle. The story became one that I couldn't put down. I love when artistic types of men are portrayed as strong but very in-tune with their feelings - and I feel like Jones nailed Max's character. His visual, his actions - they all worked so well for me and I was able to connect with him and Billie quite easily. It's not always an alpha, growling man taking charge - but sometimes it's the more possessive type with the moody, broody eyes and the heart of gold that pull at your heartstrings. I'm good with both. And the cover most definitely lent a 'picture' as she described everything Max was doing within the book....and it was a nice visual, I won't lie.
Billie went through.....some sh!t. Legit, life changing drama that did pull at my heartstrings a bit. There was some honest emotion within the pages of this book, and her strength shined for me. So, between Max and Billie and their own craziness that they dealt with, their coupledom was a great one to watch unfold.
MY TRUTH: it truly frustrates me when I'm not loving a book or an author's voice as much as others are. When they're raving about how much they loved it, or how it affected them and I'm just not feeling it - that's really hard to swallow sometimes. I know we all love to 'feel' our books, and we love the journey they put us on....but sometimes that journey gets muddied for me by other mitigating factors. It's never generally my mood because I am not a mood reader, but I would be a liar if I said that didn't influence how I perceived a book every once in a while. Usually it's the style of writing, or the way the author inflects the tone with her words. So, for me, this one started out okay, but about one third of the way through, it picked up exponentially and I couldn't put it down after that. The most frustrating parts for me were when I would get repetitive passages. I didn't need a memory from one character and a then a full recount from another - about the same memory. So that made this book seem a whole lot longer than it should have in some spots, and for that I was really bummed. Thankfully, it was short lived because it seemed to stop and the story had a better flow once we got into the crux of the storyline.
I AM VERY ON BOARD NOW. I cannot wait for more books in this world, and I am looking forward to the next book that has been hinted at because, again - #FORBIDDEN.
"Our us involves all of the forbidden things."
~BEE
~MEET LESLEY JONES~
Lesley was born and raised in a small working-class town in Essex, just outside of East London. She’s married with three sons and in 2006 they all moved to the other side of the world, settling on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, about fifty kilometres outside of Melbourne, Australia.
Lesley is currently ‘a stay at home mum’, but in the past, she has worked at ‘good old Mark & Spencer’ for thirteen years and as a teacher’s assistant.As well as writing, Lesley loves to read and has been known to get through four or five books a week, when she’s not writing that is.
Her other interests are watching her boys play football… the round ball version. She’s happy to admit to being an addict of social media and owes a lot to her Facebook and Twitter family in promoting her book. Lesley is also rather partial to a glass or bottle of wine, a nicely chilled Marlborough Sav Blanc being her favourite.
Being a born and raised Essex girl, she will happily admit being a big fan of spray tans, manis, pedis, and is regularly, waxed, tinted and sculpted, although she doesn’t own a pair of white stilettos.
~CONNECT WITH LESLEY~
ARC REVIEW
AFFILIATE LINKS USED
COPY PURCHASED FOR GIVEAWAY
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