Chasing Trouble by Joya Ryan

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy of Chasing Trouble by Entangled Publishing under the condition that I give a completely honest review of the book on my blog and Amazon.

 

Book Blurb 

Kindergarten teacher Jenna Justice has lived her life by the book—right school, right career, right image. Too bad the townsfolk of Diamond, Kansas, have a hard time forgetting that she wasn’t born on the right side of the tracks. The only way J.J. can land her dream job is to keep her wild side buried and her reputation clean. But when she finds herself in another town, one without prying eyes, she allows herself one fantasy-filled night with her best friend’s bad boy brother. 

Professional bull rider Colt McCade is grounded for the summer with an injury. After their sizzling night together, he finds himself wanting to pick up where he and the prim and not-so-proper Ms. Justice left off. Problem is, she isn’t interested in his idea of “healing,” which involves ice cubes and a whole lot of heavy breathing. But the closer he gets, the more he sees that his fast-and-loose reputation could cost her the job of her dreams. He wants to do the right thing, but walking away from her could cost him everything…

Review

Chasing Trouble is a super sexy. It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s sassy and it’s a fast, fun read! 

Cowboys have rarely been my go-to genre, but Colt McCade made Southern charm look good, in the most sinfully naughty ways possible! He’s a tease, he’s got all the right moves and a whole lot of Good ‘Ol Boy charm. I loved his interactions with his sister, there was a palpable love between the two. But the scenes between Colt and his five year old nephew, Alex,  were some of my favourite in the book. Alex’s clear admiration and devotion to Colt was all kinds of adorable and Joya really captured his enthusiastic spirit. Now, for Jenna. She clearly has wild passion buried deep inside but it’s so repressed and she’s so prim and uptight in so many ways, that it drove me a little nuts. However, watching her blossom and embrace her inner sassyiness was a delight and she really grew on me. The rest of the background characters are vivid, interesting and they all have a unique slant that makes you want to know a little, or a lot, more about them. 

The dialogue is snappy, sassy and fun. It’s realistic and each character has a very clear voice and point of view. I liked the Southerny charm sprinkled throughout the book, that managed to be just on the border of being fun and cute instead of silly and hokey.

The sex scenes were delicious and the chemistry between Colt and Jenna is undeniable. There’s a whole lot of teasing going on this book and it’s fantastic!

Now, the one complaint I have is this…It’s a great book and I loved it. But I had trouble with the idea of a young woman, who is clearly devoted and talented in her career, and clearly a very passionate woman, feeling like she needs to repress her sexuality, and hide who she is, because of her family’s past and some stodgey grant board.  It came good in the end but I feel like that’s a really negative statement to be putting out there. Having said that, it’s a fabulous book filled with strong female characters, incredible sex scenes, a whole lot of teasing and one very sexy alpha cowboy. I can't recommend it enough.