Reviewer: Rowena
Arm Candy by Jessica Lemmon
Series: Real Love #2
Also in this series: Eye Candy, Eye Candy (Real Love, #1), Man Candy (Real Love, #3), Rumor Has It (Real Love, #4), America's Sweetheart (Real Love, #5)
Publisher: Loveswept
Publication Date: September 5th, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 220
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

Last call! At the end of the night, a clean-cut hunk and a rebellious bartender act on their unlikely chemistry in this frisky standalone novel from the author of Eye Candy.

Davis:

I’ve had my eye on Grace Buchanan for a while now. Unlike the bubbly blondes I usually date, the feisty, flame-haired bartender both intrigues and bewilders me. Something about Grace—the tattoos? the nose ring?—makes every part of me sit up and beg. There’s only one problem: She hates me. Trading insults and one-liners has become our M.O. But when Grace bets me that I can’t get a date with a non-blonde if my life depends on it, I’m determined to prove her wrong by landing the ultimate non-blonde: her.

Grace:

I’m used to regulars hitting on me, and I’ve turned them all down, except for one: Davis Price. I like giving him a hard time, and he’s kind of cute in his suit and tie—if you’re into that kind of thing. Anyway, I don’t care how many blondes he takes home . . . until one of them sidles up to him in my bar. Nuh-uh. But after my little bet with Davis backfires, our first date lands us in the sack. So does the second. And the third. Neither of us wants more than the best sex of our lives. The trouble is, it’s not a question of what I want. It’s what I need. And what I need is Davis.

Arm Candy is the second book in the Real Love series by Jessica Lemmon. It’s also Davis’ book. Davis Price, the best friend of the hero from Book 1. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book because I enjoyed the little bits we got from Davis in Eye Candy. He was a good friend to both Vince and Jackie and I was looking forward to getting to know him better. There were little nuggets that we learn about Davis in the first book and I was looking forward to delving into all of that stuff and I’m happy to say that Jessica Lemmon did a fabulous job of writing Davis’ story, IMO.

Davis works from home so he likes to unwind at his favorite neighborhood bar and he really likes exchanging barbs with his favorite bartender, Grace. The attraction between the two of them is strong but neither of them act on it until Grace throws down the gauntlet in the form of a wager and Davis jumps on it. The bet? That Davis will ask the first non-blonde out that he sees and he jumps in and asks her out. Grace is a redhead and though she wasn’t talking about herself when she placed the bet, she’s not one to walk away from a dare so she agrees to go out with him.

One date ends up in bed and they keep ending up in bed so they spend some time together. They get to know each other outside of the bar and the more they get to know, the more they like each other. I really enjoyed seeing them fall in love with each other because they’re both flawed characters who have been burned by one thing or another and don’t have that much faith in relationships but seeing them take a chance on each other warmed my heart. Sure, things weren’t perfect and they fumbled their way to get to that happy ending but I really enjoyed their emotional ride.

Davis was just as great as I hoped he’d be. He did a lot of growing throughout the book and I really connected with his character. He learned a great deal about himself, about love and about what he wanted out of life. He was a grown man who handled his business and did whatever he felt needed to be done and I loved how honest he was. With Grace. With himself. With everyone. He wasn’t the most perfect of characters but he was real. He was a good person who realized his worth and loved with all he had. I appreciated that and I adored him. He was such a good character.

Gracie Lou was a great match for Davis. She came with her own baggage and she was dealing with them as best as she could. She fumbled a lot and there were times when I wanted to smack some sense into her but she doesn’t stay down for long. She was adult enough to acknowledge when she was wrong and in the end, all was well.

This was a great read from beginning to end. I loved the romance that blossomed between Davis and Grace and I adored seeing Vince and Jackie again, all loved up and happy. I’m looking forward to getting to know Dax, though it would have been nice to get a little more of him in this book so that I could have an idea of what’s to come in his book but that’s a really minor gripe. I enjoyed this one and can’t wait for more.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5