Reviewer: Holly The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild by Jessica Clare
Series: Bluebonnet #3
Also in this series: The Virgin's Guide to Misbehaving
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 320
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
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…
From the Paperback edition.
The Expert’s Guide to Driving a Man Wild is the first Bluebonnet book I’ve read. I don’t feel like I missed much by having skipped the first two.
Brenna is Grant’s assistant. She does her best to drive him crazy and get under his skin, mostly because she likes messing up his orderly life. But when Grant’s family comes to town and she feels like they’re pressuring him, she can’t stand by and let it happen. She decides to intervene…by pretending to be his girlfriend.
The last person Grant expected to come to his defense when his family started pressuring him to date again was Brenna. For months they’ve barely been able to stand each other, but he can’t deny her quick defense of him makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And speaking of warm and fuzzy…the chemistry between them is off the charts.
Neither Grant nor Brenna is looking for something permanent when they begin their charade, but when things heat up in the bedroom Grant wants Brenna to make a commitment – something she isn’t able to do.
This book is refreshing in that the hero is the one who has sex once and decides he’s in love with the girl. That doesn’t happen very often in romance. Usually it’s the woman who decides she’s in lurrve after once between the sheets. I thought that aspect of the book was well done.
I really enjoyed both Brenna and Grant. Brenna is bright and upbeat, which countered Grant’s uptight, almost stuffy air very well. She’s all about taking life one day at a time and looking for the best in each moment. But she’s hiding some deep secrets, ones that make her pull away from anyone getting too close. Grant suffered his own hardships in the past and has a hard time accepting Brenna as she is. I thought both of their issues were deep ones and were dealt with well. Neither were brushed aside or not dealt with in the end.
Unfortunately I did struggle with how long it took to get to the bottom of their issues. I don’t say this often, but there was almost too much sex. The story only took up about 1/3 of the book. The rest was all sex. That isn’t always a bad thing, but in this case it seriously detracted from the major issues of both main characters.
There was also a few chapters from the point-of-view of Grant’s sister, Elise, whose book will be released next. Those had no bearing on the current story and served only to set up the next book. Had there been a secondary plot featuring Elise running concurrent to the main story, I wouldn’t have been bothered. As it stands, I just got irritated when the chapters from Elise popped up.
This was a good story with fun characters that had surprising depth. Had the book focused more on their romance and less on their sex life, I would have enjoyed it more.
3.5 out of 5
This book is available from Berkley Heat. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided from the publisher for an honest review.
I saw this book reviewed over at Tracy’s blog and was interested in it then but now? I want to read it. This sounds like something I’d enjoy. I didn’t know that Brenna was Grant’s assistant…now I want to read this one even more.
Her antics are hilarious. I love how she riles him up. You’ll love it.
Alrighty, on my list it’s going. Thanks for the review!