Tag: Lindsey Brookes

DFRAT Review: Jimmie Joe Johnson: Manwhore by Lindsey Brookes

Posted July 1, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

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


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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 25, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 5 Comments

I’m gonna start off by saying…how the HELL did it get to be the last week in June already? Seriously – this month has flown by and I didn’t get half done what I wanted to. I just need another week, please? No? Damn.
Well it was a pretty quiet week at the old homestead. The girls went for their annual dental appts. and my oldest had a couple of cavities. Boo. Luckily the teeth were baby teeth (yes, she’s 14 and still has baby teeth!) so he pulled them out as they were about to fall out anyway. Now she’s got 6 teeth (on the top) and then nothing on either side as they haven’t grown in yet. She was calling herself Bucky Beaver – thank God she’s got a sense of humor about it! lol
DFRAT 2012 – This is the last week of the Digital First Read-A-Thon and we still have lots of great authors and giveaways on all the blogs. I personally read 6 digital first books last week – how many did you read? Tell all!
Current giveaways still open (on Tracy’s Place) as of today:
(open til 7:00pm on 6/25)
(open til 7:00pm on 6/26)
(open til 7:00pm on 6/27)
(open til 7:00pm on 6/28)
(open til 7:00pm 6/29)
(All giveaway times are Pacific)
This weeks DFRAT Schedule:
Monday, June 25th
Elizabeth Hoyt and Larissa Ione Book Binge
Alice Gaines RR@H Novel Thoughts
Tuesday, June 26th
Kaylea Cross Book Binge
Janis Susan May Patterson RR@H Novel Thoughts
Lindsay Townsend The Book Reading Gals
Lynda Bailey Tracy’s Place
Wednesday, June 27th
Elisabeth Barrett Book Binge
Wendy Soliman RR@H Novel Thoughts
John R. Lindermuth The Book Reading Gals
Cathryn Cade Tracy’s Place
Thursday, June 28th
Lila DiPasqua Book Binge
Susan Schreyer RR@H Novel Thoughts
Heidi Cullinan The Book Reading Gals
Leslie Dicken Tracy’s Place
Friday, June 29th
Mk Chester Book Binge
Rhian Cahill Book Binge
Rebecca York (Ruth Glick) RR@H Novel Thoughts
Louise Cusack The Book Reading Gals
Nathan Farrugia Tracy’s Place
Saturday, June 30th
Kris Kennedy Book Binge
Yolanda Sfetsos Tracy’s Place
On to what I read last week:
I started off the week with…get this title…Jimmie Joe Johnson: Manwhore by Lindsey Brookes. I saw it on NetGalley and had to get it. It was a fun book that was definitely “hick lit” with rednecks abounding. I’ll post my review for this next Sunday. 3.75 out of 5
Next was Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase. Oh I like this Dressmakers series so very much. I loved Sophy and Longmore together. I’ll post my review for this one tomorrow.
Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey is a novella about high strung OCD Anna who lost her job and is at her grandparents’ camp trying to unwind and be calm while she looks for another job. The next door neighbor is Cam – a guy she used to hang with until she was 10 when she was visiting her grandparents. Anna annoys the crap outta Cam but he promised her grandparents he’d look after her. Anna may be annoying but that doesn’t stop Cam from lusting after her. This little love story was so very sweet and funny. I just love Stacey’s writing as it is so realistic and adds her great sense of humor in with it. Good stuff. 4.5 out of 5
Wolf Line by Vivian Arend (book 5 in the Granite Lake Wolves series) is the story of Jared who is running from the relatives of his current lover and ends up taking refuge on a cruise ship. The ship sets sail before he can get off and he ends up impersonating one of the maintenance guys. Keri is on board helping her friend whose family owns the ship and the minute she sees Jared she knows that he’s her mate – but Jared makes no indication that he’s figured that out. On top of the mate thing there are all the secrets that Jared is keeping and Keri and Jared solving crimes of theft on the ship. Good story – very sexy and fun. I do wish that the Big Mis wasn’t in there but I didn’t hate it too too much. 4 out of 5
Townie and the Twink by Daisy Harris was about Gabe who falls in love with Nick but Nick believes himself a straight arrow…even while he’s fooling around with Gabe. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5
Next up was The Incident by Xavier Axelson. This was a novella that I SO wish would have been a full length novel. The story is about Michael is a cop trying to deal with an incident that caused the death of a child. He is depressed and finding no relief in a bottle. His partner Bertram Angel aka Angel tries to help him both on the job and off by being there for him. Angel and Michael eventually get together which is wonderful. My issues dealt with the seemingly miraculous recovery Michael experienced once he was with Angel. Yes, having the love of a good man goes a long way but I wanted to delve further into Michael and his struggles after he and Angel got together. Still, a very well written story that at times just made my heart ache. 3.75/4 out of 5
Shane and Trey by Anyta Sunday was the story of Shane who just a few months before college realizes/comes to terms with the fact that he’s gay. Trey is Shane’s twin sisters boyfriend and he caused Shane some pain and humiliation some years before and Shane had always been a bit scared of the guy since then. They end up being roommates in college and Shane has a huge crush on Trey – despite his fear. Trey ends up coming out and Shane and Trey get together. The story was about the guys not only dealing with the sister, June, and her feelings about the relationship but also Trey’s past issues with his family and Shane’s relationship with his father. It was a really good story but I wish it would have been expanded in certain places. 4 out of 5
Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis is book 3 in the Lucky Harbor series. The story is about the last sister running the inn, Chloe, and her relationship with Sawyer, the town Sheriff. Sawyer has closed himself off and Chloe’s afraid that no one can love and appreciate her for herself – being the nut that she is. The story is really great and I loved seeing these two great characters come together. 4 out of 5
Last on the list for the week was The Tarnished Jewel of Jazaar by Susanna Carr. Not my usual read but a good one nonetheless. This one was about an American woman whose Jazaari relatives used her as a slave and then whose tribe used her a a bride for a Sheikh. I’ll post my review closer to the release date in August. 3.75 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!


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