Fact is, just about every single female in Possum Hollow, Alabama—along with most of the attached ones—has enjoyed my services. And not just as an auto mechanic, if you know what I mean. With me, women know exactly what to expect. A sweet ride, and no promises.
But even a manwhore has rules. Like stayin’ away from Baylee Jean Brown. As teenagers, Baylee Jean and I were hot and heavy. Then her Aunt Callie Rae warned me off, sayin’ I’d never be good enough. Seeing as the women in Baylee Jean’s family all have witch blood, and I figured Callie Rae was fixin’ to do something unmentionable to my man parts, I agreed. But now suddenly, Baylee Jean—smart, sexy, wild—is all over me. She wants me bad—hell, who doesn’t? But, if there’s one woman who could bring a hound dog to heel, it might be her…
Baylee Jean had pined for Jimmie Joe since she was 16. Now that she’s 26 and just found out that threats from her aunt Callie Rae had driven Jimmie Joe away she’ ready to get her man back. But life doesn’t always go as planned and Baylee Jean has a bit more work ahead of her than she thought.
In order to get her man back Baylee Jean takes it upon herself to take advice from the book that Jimmie Joe had given her for her 16th birthday that had to do with training hound dogs. Well, Jimmie Joe was the biggest hound dog that she knew so she thought she could use the training tips on him. It actually seemed to work but Baylee Jean’s aunt just kept getting in the way of her progress.
Jimmie Joe for all his swagger and conceit really seemed to be a sweet guy. He had had a thing for Baylee Jean all those years ago and when she went from avoiding him at every turn to being nice and trying to cozy up to him he was confused. He really did want her but her aunt – who was a witch – had threatened his balls and frankly for a manwhore that just didn’t set well. He finally decides that he can’t resist Baylee Jean any longer and takes her home to do the dirty deed. He’s quite happy and satisfied until he finds out that the pet aunt Callie Rae had been keeping was actually his cousin Lyle turned into a possum and he hightails it out of there. He wants to be with Baylee Jean but not enough to be turned into something that could quite easily become road kill. But Baylee Jean for all Jimmie Joe’s pushing away doesn’t give up and soon Jimmie Joe realizes that he can’t avoid his fate and that fate lies with Baylee Jean.
This was a fun and funny book. When I read the title of the book I just laughed. When I read the blurb I had another good chuckle. I kind of thought that I would get tired of Jimmie Joe quite quickly because of the conceit but for all his talk about diddlin’ all those women, once Baylee Jean comes back on the scene he doesn’t do much diddlin’. Of course the curse that he put on his cock-a doodle-doo (as he calls it) doesn’t help either.
The story moves back and forth in the first person between Jimmie Joe and Baylee Jean. While it was a bit hard to get used to at first I quickly got into the swing of the story and really enjoyed it. It truly is, as the author’s website states, “hick lit”. These people are hicks down to the bone from their names (Hit Man, Bo, T-Bone, just to name a few), to their double wides, to their jacked up trucks, to their beer guzzlin habits. They talk and act like rednecks and they are damned proud of it. The author really presented it in a way that wasn’t in the least annoying and was quite funny without the people themselves being laughed at. There was family love, loyal friendship, fun bantering back and forth and it made me laugh more than a few times. I loved that Baylee Jean and Jimmie Joe were quite happy to stay in Possum Hollow because they loved it there. It was a nice change from couples trying to get out of their hick town.
This is more of a fun ‘getting back your man’ book because there wasn’t a huge romance. Baylee Jean and Jimmie Joe, even though they love each other, spend most of the time apart even if they are constantly thinking of the other. I did have to wonder what would have happened if Jimmie Joe hadn’t been threatened all those years ago by Callie Rae. Would he have been a manwhore if he’d stuck with Baylee Jean? Who’s to know? Despite the slight lack of romance it was quite an entertaining read and frankly I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
