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Review

5 hilariously chaotic, sweet (and hot) romantic stars

I love this book! Romantic, steamy, and so freaking funny! Emma Chase has given us a great story – once again from the POV of a sensational hero who is a total ass, but who you can’t help but love. Add to that a smart and sensible heroine, and six feisty but adorable kids, and it’s a fantastically fun read.

This is book two in the Legal Briefs series – focussed around a group of friends who are all attorneys. The stories do tie in with the group firmly involved in each other’s lives, but this book can easily be read as a standalone.

Jake is a criminal defence attorney, he is firmly dedicated to his career and his life is all about order and control, and he makes an effort to keep his life as uncomplicated as possible. This includes women – he has never had a relationship, and sticks to frequent and non-emotional one-night stands.

And then Chelsea Quaid comes into his life. Chelsea has recently become the guardian to her six nieces and nephews (aged 6 months to 14 years) – the children of her recently deceased brother and his wife. Her life is everything that Jake has always avoided, but he finds himself getting sucked into the chaos that is their family.

The racket reverberates down the second staircase and spills out into the kitchen, and the two screeching, running kids who are making it do laps around the island like a fucked-up Hunger Games of ring-around-the-rosey.

“How many kids live in this house exactly?”
It’s starting to feel like they’re cockroaches – see one and you can bet there’s fifty more crawling around inside the walls.
I shiver.

Before he knows it, his life is overtaken by Chelsea and her kids, and he’s dealing with drunken teenagers, One Direction concerts, Mommy & Me classes, being called to the Principal’s office and copious amounts of vomit. And OMG, it’s hilarious! Jake doesn’t pull any punches with the kids. He’s practical and straight to the point and doesn’t take any shit from them, but he’s also fiercely protective, and he is there for them in every way that he can be.

“We need to add a piano teacher to the list.”…
“What do you mean? You have a piano teacher.”
“Not anymore.” The seven-year-old shrugs.
Chelsea turns suspicious eyes on me.
And I have no guilt at all. “That guy shouldn’t be teaching children. Sadistic son of a bitch.”
…
“He hit my knuckles with the ruler ‘cause I messed up.”
“Exhibit A,” I interrupt. “What kind of sick fuck could hit her?” I motion to Rosaleen’s joyously precious face. “Rory? He’s another story. Her? No way.”
Rosaleen continues. “So Jake went out to his car and came back in with baseball bat Monsier La Rue asked him what he was doing and Jake told him, “You hit that kid’s knuckles again, I’m gonna hit you with this.’”
Chelsea turns to me, her head tilted and jaw slack.
I admit nothing.
“So…he fired us,” Rosaleen concludes.
I nudge her with my elbow… “We fired him.”

And then there is Chelsea herself. Smart, beautiful and with a huge heart, she and Jake are immediately drawn to each other. Finding the time to actually do something about it is a challenge, but through the chaos of family life, they find their moments and their intense physical attraction becomes something so much more meaningful as they fall for each other.

Their relationship develops really naturally and Jake is seamlessly enfolded into the family, and his cold ruthlessness melts away as his heart softens for them.

I want her – this fearless, stunning woman. And I want the kids. Those perfect, awful, amazing children – whom she loves with every inch of her soul. I want them to be mine. Mine to hold, mine to protect and teach. Their joy, their laughter, their love. I want to come home to it, bask in it, be the reason for it.

But there are dramas that need to be dealt with and as much as I laughed at the antics of the group, there are also some really emotional scenes that are truly heart-clenching. And before they can claim their HEA, Jake is forced to reassess his life and figure out what it is he really wants.

“You deserve a man who knows what the right thing is, and who does it. I want…Christ I want to be that for you.”

Emma Chase’s fans know that she writes brilliantly from the male perspective, and she’s done an amazing job with Jake. Even though he’s a jerk, there’s something incredibly charming about him. I loved watching his pursuit of Chelsea, and the way that he allows her and the kids into his life and accepts the chaos that comes with it. He is their defender in every way he can be, and that was a beautiful thing to watch. As the story progresses he has some personal issues that he needs to deal with, and I thought his character development was absolutely fantastic!

“A knight in tarnished armor is still a knight.”

I loved this book. It’s such a fun read, and I laughed out loud so many times while reading. There’s a nice amount of drama to add depth, and the romance is fantastic – sweet and playful, but really freaking hot. Jake’s friends all form a part of the story, and I love their involvement, and there is some nice progression for Stanton and Sofia from Overruled. I’m really looking forward to more from this series, and can’t wait to get my hands on Brent’s story.

5 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Legal Briefs series