By: Lauren Layne
Releasing May 17, 2016
Loveswept
Blurb
In this steamy novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Blurred Lines, country music’s favorite good girl hides away from the world—and finds herself bunking with a guy who makes her want to be a little bad.
Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.
Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.
Review:
I’m going backwoods country! Somebody get me some boots and a porch swing. Throw in a guitar if you’re feeling really generous! That’s my downhome, biscuit-eating, tea-sipping, alligator-dodging way of saying “I LOVE THIS BOOK!”
The wondferfulness (yeah, that’s right) of this book didn’t surprise me at all. It’s Layne for goodness sakes!
Noah wants a simple life. No drama, no bickering, no whining and nagging, no trying to impress. So why in the heck did he fall for a Grammy award- winning country singer with more baggage than Louis Vuitton? Because he can, dagnabbit! We’re not the boss of him!
And Jenny has had enough bad publicity to keep the Enquirer in stories for a year. All she wants is some peace and quiet -oh, and guacamole. So she retreats to Louisiana (they have guacamole, too) to give the lies time to die down, and to write her next album. So what if they each think the other is sexy as hell? That doesn’t mean anything physical has to happen, does it?
Oh now it’s no doubt that someone did need to grab the nearest switch and give Noah a good whipping, but that’s ok. I still love him and all his wrongness. He’s been hurt, and he’s confused, and well, he didn’t mean it. And he did apologize (many times). Jenny is as sweet as they come, and she tried to be patient with him (and it had nothing to do with his occasionally niceness and all-the-time handsomeness). She’s just a good person, which is why he couldn’t resist her.
I’m not sure what I can say about Rangers and Dolly except if I didn’t have allergies, I’d have 2 dogs just like them. They are awesome, and demanded just as much attention as their parents. I did expect the confrontation eventually, but it still wasn’t predictable (if that makes sense). I couldn’t tell how things would go down, and although I did know they were going to get together (that’s the rule), I couldn’t wait to see how it would all play out. I totally love Amber, Jenny’s best friend, and as far as Vaughn and Finn goes- well, let’s just say I’m waiting to see them meet their women.
As usual, Layne has outdone herself, and I was thrilled!
Put the dog out, swat the flies, and grab a cool glass of lemonade. This is a must-one-sitting-read!
Rating system: Cups of Coffee (the less the better)
0: You won’t need any coffee to stay up for this one. It’s intriguing enough all on its own.
1: You’ll stay up late, but not all night. Brew one cup.
2: You’ll read as long as you’re not tired. If you are, two cups should do the trick.
3: I hope you got plenty of rest; you’ll need it, or at least 3 cups.
4: If the cable goes out, read the book. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Oh, don’t forget your brew!
5: Find anything else to do- it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t waste your coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you.
My rating: 0 cups of coffee
Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than a dozen contemporary romance novels.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. A year after moving from Seattle to NYC to pursue a writing career, she had a fabulous agent and multiple New York publishing deals.
Lauren currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian. When not writing, you’ll likely find her running (rarely), reading (sometimes), or at happy hour (often).
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Excerpt
Noah
“What time did you say this chick was arriving?” Finn asks around his cigarette.
“Tomorrow morning,” I say, rapping my toe against a funny-looking floorboard and wincing when it buckles.
“Huh.” Finn exhales and looks out the window.
I know that tone. “What?”
“Seems she might have gotten here early,” he says, a second before the quiet afternoon erupts with the sound of my dog losing his mind, mingled with the shrill piercing yap of a much smaller dog.
“Seriously?”
Finn shrugs and nods. “There’s a girl outside.”
“Shit,” I mutter as I head toward the stairs, dodging the two broken ones.
Ranger’s about as good a dog as they come, wouldn’t hurt a fly. But he’s a big dog with a big bark, and one serious weakness: gleefully humping smaller dogs. He’s a rescue, and though he was fixed after they brought him in, he’d already gone through canine puberty, or whatever. He’s still got the fierce urge to hump, although it’s more habit than hormones.
I exit out the front door just in time to see my big brown Lab leap forward, his clumsy paws finding the shoulders of a blond girl who lets out a shriek, holding a cat above her head like that scene from The Lion King.
“Ranger, no! Down.”
I run forward, my hand finding the collar of my dog and yanking him backward as I search the ground to find the source of the small-dog barks still piercing the air.
Then I register that the sound is coming from above, and realize . . .
The cotton ball isn’t a cat.
That orange piece of fluff is a dog, and Ranger is apparently in love.
“What the heck is wrong with your dog?” the girl says as she slowly lowers the puffball from over her head, cradling the hideous little monster against her chest as it continues its high-pitched bloody-murder yips.
“At least my dog is actually a dog,” I say, staring in horror at the pointy face of a canine that could fit in one of my hands. “I’ve seen dust bunnies bigger than that thing.”
“Dolly’s a Pomeranian,” she says, setting a hand on top of the monster’s head. “She’s supposed to be this tiny.”
“Well, Ranger’s a Lab. He’s supposed to be this normal.”
“He attacked me,” she says, giving Ranger a wary look as his tongue hangs out the side of his mouth, his eyes locked lovingly on Dolly.
“He didn’t want you, he wanted the . . . dog,” I say, forcing myself to acknowledge that the creature in her hands might be part of the canine family.
“For what, dinner?”
I don’t respond, because now that the crisis is averted, I’ve managed to shift my attention from the dogs to the girl, and . . .
Holy shit.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been sucker-punched by equal waves of lust and disdain before.
Jenny Dawson is hot as hell.
I knew that going in, but up close she’s even more mouthwatering. Her white skirt is short and tight, her legs long and toned.
She’s wearing some billowing pink top, so I can’t get a good look at what’s happening there, but it doesn’t really matter. I’ve always been a legs man, and I can’t stop looking.
The legs are a 10.
The face is a 10.
And the long blond hair spilling over one shoulder definitely begs to be spread over a man’s pillow. My pillow.
And yet even as my cock says yes, my brain is saying hell no.
Gorgeous as she is, she screams diva from the pink toenails to the sky-high stiletto sandals and all the way up to the carefully made-up face.
I just turned my entire life upside down trying to get away from a woman exactly like this one, so this is definitely a look, don’t touch situation.
But I’m looking. I’m definitely looking.
Thank you for writing a wonderful review for GOOD GIRL!
Crystal, Tasty Book Tours
You’re welcome! 🙂 I really enjoyed it!