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Review

5 stars!

Appealed is the third book in The Legal Briefs series by Emma Chase, who has once again nailed writing a story from a male’s POV. It is a fun, sexy, sweet, romantic story with a beautiful second chance at love and a tiny bit of angst thrown into the mix.

Brent Mason is a successful defense attorney and a partner with the Law Offices of Becker, Mason, Santos & Shaw. Though he grew up with more than enough money and a family name that is everywhere, he has worked his ass off to get where he is and damn proud of it. He has a great relationship with his family and his law partners are his best friends but he avoids committed relationships with women. A tragedy in Brent’s childhood changed his view on life. He lives for today and sees serious relationships as an obligation.

“Life is short-I want to live it. And I really like living it free.”

Brent is content with his lifestyle even as he sees his best friend’s lives changing with marriages and babies. That is until he sees Kennedy Randolph again. She is a strong, confident woman now, and so unlike her younger self. Brent can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that this is his childhood friend.

I can’t stop staring. Once upon a time she was my best friend. For a hot minute she was more. After that, she hated me. And then she was just…gone.
I haven’t seen her for fourteen years, and the last time I did, she sure as shit didn’t look like this.
“Kennedy…?” I whisper, still not entirely convinced it’s her.
She regards me with a tilted her, a cocked hip, and a disdainful smile. “Hello, Dickhead.”
Okay, Now I’m convinced. 

Years ago, just as Brent and Kennedy started to become something more, Kennedy up and left. She just disappeared. Brent has no idea where she went, why she left, or why she hates him so much. He just knows that he needs to get the answers.

I want to figure her out, to learn every part of her—the soft curves, the sharp edges, the dark, shadowy corners she tries so hard to hide. I want to break down her doors, climb her ivory tower. I want to slay all her fucking dragons.

Both Brent and Kennedy are closed off when it comes to relationships. He has his reasons and she has hers. When we find out what happened to Kennedy in high school and college it is easy to understand why she acts the way she does.

“All these years, Kennedy’s never let anyone else in. She has her reasons, but the bottom line is, there hasn’t been any guy who’s gotten past her fire-breathing dragon. And what if . . . what if the reason I’ve never let myself fall in love with a woman is because I didn’t have anything to give? Because I’d already given my heart to her when we were seventeen years old? And all these years . . . I’ve just been waiting for her to come back to me with it.”

Brent and Kennedy’s reunion is not what Brent had imagined.

Over the last fourteen years I’ve thought a lot about what it’d be like to see Kennedy Randolph again-but I never thought it’d be on the opposite side of a courtroom.

Still, the sexual tension and chemistry are apparent. And the sexy times-HOT! They have a hate to love relationship that is so funny you can’t help but laugh out loud at their hilarious banter.

“What’d you do to your eyes?” I lean in, frowning.
“They’re called contact lenses.”
“Well, take them out. I don’t like them. Your real eyes are incredible…”
“What’d you do to your face?” she asks, folding her arms.
I touch my chin. “I grew a beard.”
“Well ungrow it. It looks like a vagina from a 1970s porn film.”

Of course there are plenty of sweet and swoony moments between Brent and Kennedy as well.

Her eyes meet mine. “I said . . . the ride was the only thing that made falling worth it.”
I nod tenderly.
“I’m not going to let us fall this time, Kennedy.”

“Do you know what I think of when I look at you, Brent?”
“What?”
“I don’t think, ‘Oh, Brent is so strong,’ even though you are. I don’t think, ‘He’s survived so much,’ even though you have.” She looks into my eyes. “I just think—perfect. You’re . . . perfect.”

I loved Brent and Kennedy together and their relationship in and out of the courtroom. They are full of passion and incredibly sweet towards each other when they aren’t in a heated debate, and even then you can’t help but love their humor.

“I am in love with you. When I look at you, think about you, I can’t decide if I want to fuck you, strangle you, or just hold you in my arms. Usually all three. And if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
“You’re everything I’ve been searching for, before I even knew I was looking.

I still want to live my life free-but I want to live it free with her.

Appealed is a fantastic book and I could not put it down. I loved every bit of it. The whole Legal Briefs crew was there too and they only added to the book. And that extended epilogue! It was so sweet! If you have not read The Legal Briefs Series, do it! You won’t be disappointed.

 

The Legal Briefs series