WhiskeyintheJar Romance

The strength of this story is in Pepper and Jack's relationship, which this being romance, is a good thing. The surrounding story arc of Pepper's stalker and Jack's business is overdone and weak. This imbalance left me having mixed emotions about the story.
 
Pepper has been surrounded by her caring but overbearing family all her life and has a full of friction relationship with her brother's friend, Jack. Jack, on the other hand, has been fighting a strong attraction to his friend's little sister and when Pepper needs a place to stay for a while, he happily begrudgingly lets her stay with him. Having her in his space, a dropped towel, and a reflected desire in Pepper's eyes has Jack finally snapping the chain that has held him back.
 
Pepper and Jack had a nice repertoire that was fun to read; they played off each other nicely. Jack was a solid character with a good hidden pain back story. Pepper almost shifted into bratty territory sometimes but overall was amusing to read about. This story also slides into the erotica category with some dirty talk and holy guacamole sex scenes. There were two scenes in particular, office spanking session and threesome scene (this one felt kind of cut short but maybe I'm just a greedy pervert), that I would recommend not reading in public and suggest have a cold glass of water nearby. The romance and sex scenes are why you're going to want to read this book.
 
What I struggled with was, what I felt, the overdone and forced parts of this story. First off, Jack's business called DreamMakers. This business is run by Jack, Parker (Pepper's brother and star of book one in the series), and Dean. They are all former Rangers, this is brought up a lot, and made to explain why all three are such dominant alpha males. Their business, DreamMakers, involves setting up elaborate parties, not security for parties but catering, music, slideshows, and etc. I had a serious "wait a second their business is what?" moment but only because nothing about their past or personalities leads you to believe this. I didn't read book one, so maybe this is explained better and maybe there is suppose to be a funny wink wink to go along with this that I just didn't get. Secondly, I had a problem with the forcedness surrounding the characters in Pepper's life. The character Billy, psycho guy who only wants in Pepper’s pants, could have been cut out completely. He was way over the top, unnecessary, and gave the story a cheesy feel; the authors could have a found a better way to get Pepper and Jack together. Adam, the guy Pepper thinks is stalking her also felt very over the top, along with Charlene, the scorned woman, and Kendra whose character ended up feeling untrue. We get it, all men lust after her and all women are jealous of her.
 
This is a quick read and the pace is pretty steady and like I said, the main characters of Pepper and Jack have good chemistry. If you're not looking for much story, quick read, and a couple hot and steamy sex scenes, give this one a go.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.