Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Review: The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild

The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild (Bluebonnet - Book 3) by Jessica Clare

Publication Date: 01/07/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
ISBN-10: 0425262367
ISBN-13: 978-0425262368

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Sensation)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Jessica Clare (aka. Jill Myles) on the WEB: website, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series

The Girls Guide to (Man) Hunting (2012), The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male (2012), The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild (2013)

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.




WARNING: The material in this book and excerpt may be graphic in nature and is only appropriate for readers 18 years and old. 

Excerpt from, The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

Being out of control…
 
The product of a rigid upbringing, Brenna has grown into a sexy free spirit who does things her way. No possessions, no debt, no man, and no rules to tie her down. And if she has to work, what better way than as assistant in a wilderness expedition team? So many opportunities to go wild.
 
…can be risky when you’re falling in love.
 
One person who doesn’t “get” Brenna is her boss, Grant. He prefers order and emotions kept in check, which means Brenna loves to push his boundaries. He’d be impossible to work for if he wasn’t so infuriatingly hot. But when his overbearing, matchmaking mother arrives in town, Brenna volunteers to be Grant’s pretend girlfriend. After all, it’s the perfect opportunity to drive Grant crazy at every turn.
 
Brenna’s just a little surprised when Grant agrees to her wild, impulsive schemes. And she’s more than a little surprised when their games take them to the bedroom…


Thoughts:

What happens when you put together a free spirited woman and a control oriented businessman? Sparks! Jessica Clare brings readers the third book in her Bluebonnet series, featuring a group of friends who started their own wilderness survival school. The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild is a adventurous romp that will have readers turning up the air-conditioning. Clare has a knack for writing sizzling love scenes and she doesn't disappoint in this book. Clare takes the opposites attract rule to new heights and brings her readers along for the ride!

What I liked: 

Many authors have used the time worn theme of opposites attracting to bring about the necessary conflict in their books. Jessica Clare puts a new spin an old stand-by theme in The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild. She takes two people who are not only opposites, but antagonistic towards each other and gives them no choice but to interact. I liked the way Clare choose to make these two characters so different from each other. Both have some secrets and issues from their past that makes them who they are. Brenna's traumatic childhood and Grant's hidden guilt over the death of this wife, make them damaged but not un-repairable.

I loved Grant. He was a buttoned up kind of guy. He was all business and supposedly that's how he liked it. But I knew there was a bit of wildness in their somewhere. You don't go an start a wilderness survival school without some innate passion for adventure. He just needed the right woman to bring out his passionate side. I was a bit of tormented hero because of his wife's death, but once he started to see the light where Brenna was concerned it was on.

Brenna got on my nerves a little bit at times but she had a zest for life that was unquenchable, even by the uptight boss. She had her reasons for not allowing any kind of rules in her own life. She learned to survive in a whole different environment than the wilderness, but one no less dangerous. I loved the way she was always baiting Grant. Playing pranks on him, just getting on his last nerve. That aspect of their relationship was hilarious and very fitting. I think we have all probably had a friend who was like Brenna. Not afraid to push convention, but more vulnerable than we ever expected.

When Grant's parents and sister come to town, it doesn't take long for Brenna to realize that they are after him to start dating again and she blurts out to Grant's horror that she is his girlfriend. I loved his reaction. He might have been flabbergasted, but he takes it in stride and lets Brenna run with it and what happens next is history. The sparks start flying. The sex scenes between these two are both sultry and spicy. Not appropriate for young readers, but certainly tantalizing to those of us who are old enough to know better. Clare can write a love scene, there's no doubt. If readers are looking for a very hot read, this book and the others in the Bluebonnet series are just what the doctor ordered.

What I didn't like:

As I said, Brenna kind of got on my nerves at times. There is something to be said for some decorum and this chick didn't have it. LOL. But that was certainly not a deal breaker in whether or not I liked the book.

Bottom Line:

If you are looking for a hot and spicy read, with a great riff on an old theme, The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild is probably right up your alley. I thought Clare did a great job of putting two characters together that were completely opposite. I liked the way Clare brought them together and brought out every thing that made them perfect for each other. A great addition to the series.

The Experts Guide to Driving a Man Wild is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!




About the Author:


Jessica Clare also writes as Jill Myles and Jessica Sims. As Jessica Clare she writes sexy contemporary romances including the Bluebonnet series and the Billionaire Boys Club series. 



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