Book Review – Welcoming the Bad Boy | Romantic Reads and Such

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Annie Rains, Book Review, Hero's Welcome series, Welcoming the Bad Boy

Y’all, who doesn’t love a bad boy in uniform?!?!

*****

Welcoming the Bad Boy

Hero’s Welcome #3

by Annie Rains

Releasing August 2, 2016

Loveswept

Blurb:

From the bestselling author of Welcome to Forever (“Full of heart and emotion!”—Lori Wilde) comes a sweet, sexy novel about breaking all the rules. In Seaside, North Carolina, the boys on the base are heroes—but that doesn’t mean they’re always well-behaved.

As a preacher’s daughter, Valerie Hunt only dates the very respectable, very boring men who meet her father’s strict standards. In private, however, she leads a double life as a romance writer of steamy stories about the least respectable sorts of men. Valerie has always kept her hottest fantasies separate from her real life, but when she nearly runs a hot-blooded biker off the road, the lines begin to blur.

Even though Valerie almost killed him, Griffin Black can’t be angry after he learns the reason for her distracted driving: an unruly puppy belonging to her ailing friend. As a member of the military police K-9 unit, Griffin insists on training the dog himself. But he soon wonders how he’s ever going to stay disciplined around the most alluring, down-to-earth, and totally unattainable woman he’s ever met. Valerie is the ultimate good girl. And Griffin is going to need all his old tricks to unleash her wild side.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27774343-welcoming-the-bad-boy

Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/154832-hero-s-welcome

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*****

Excerpt:

“Damn.” He tipped her chin up with his index, looking at her with his dark molasses eyes. “I’m serious. I want to go out on a date tomorrow. No sex.”

“No sex?” she asked.

“Just flowers and chocolates. And lots of kissing. Say yes to me,” he said, kissing her mouth again, making it impossible for her to tell him no.

“But there is more sex tonight, right?” she asked, moaning as he lowered his mouth to cover one breast.

“Say yes, Val,” he said, as the rough, unshaven edge of his jaw scraped against her skin, feeding her arousal.

“Yes,” she said through shortened breaths. “I say yes.”

He emitted a low laugh that tickled against her skin. Then he thrust himself inside her again, making up for the arrangement they’d just made for tomorrow. Making up for all the lonely nights she’d endured until this one. Making up for all the lonely nights she would endure after he was gone.

*****

Review:

(This is the third book in this series – after Welcome to Forever and Welcome Home Cowboy – but it can be read on its own. Val and Griffin are friends with the couples from the first two books, and they make the occasional appearance, but their storylines don’t come into play here. Although it is nice to get an update on their relationships 🙂 )

I did find this one to be a little lighter of a read than the first two books. Griffin has issues with his mom and Val has a difficult relationship with her dad, but overall this came off as a little more of a traditional contemporary romance than what we’ve seen before.

Since they have friends that are in relationships together, Griffin and Val are aware of each other but they haven’t spent any time together. A freak meeting puts them on a collision course that quickly turns flirtatious. It’s a slow burn as they get to know each other and we get to know them a little better. Spending time together has them evaluating a few things and making some decisions about their lives & the relationships that they hold dear.

Val is keeping her career as an author secret from everyone and you know that some how that is going to bite her. I will say that I didn’t feel that part of the book was handled completely. And she also makes some decisions that doesn’t make that much sense if she wants to keep it a secret … although maybe she was just aching to get caught.

The parts with her relationship with Griffin and her time with the people at the retirement community, even the stuff with her dad that needed to be addressed before she could truly be free (and which needed about three more paragraphs to really satisfy me), are wonderful. But the author thing only worked for me in spots. It wasn’t enough to cause me trouble but it did make me shake my head here and there 🙂

With sexy and fun characters, entertaining and flirtatious interactions mixed with heart and emotion when it comes to those who mean the most to them, Rains delivers another heart warming love story. And you just know she’s got a couple more good ones up her sleeve.

*****

Author Info:

Annie Rains is a contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional towns on the coast of North Carolina.

Raised in one of America’s largest military communities, Annie often features heroes who fight for their countries, while also fighting for a place to call home and a good woman to love. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s spending time with her husband and 3 children, or reading a book by one of her favorite authors.

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