The Good Girl's Second Chance – A Bravos of Justice Creek novel- by Christine Rimmer is a 2015 Harlequin Special Edition publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, Christine really added some red hot spices to the recipe in this one!
Quinn Bravo was the guy with a 'bad boy' reputation and Chloe was burdened with the 'good girl' image. Because of these perceptions and the expectations from others, Chloe kept her attraction to Quinn a secret while they were teenagers.
Now both Quinn and Chloe have returned home, Quinn as a single father, and Chloe is trying to put her life back in order after escaping an abusive marriage. One evening, they discovered they were neighbors and the sparks flew, leading to a heated night of passion. However, Chloe is determined to leave it as a one and done situation, but Quinn would like nothing more than to date Chloe properly and would not object to a long term relationship with her. But, even if he can talk Chloe into giving him a chance, outside forces seem determined to drive a wedge between them.
The chemistry between Chloe and Quinn is never in doubt. They went from zero to a hundred in no time flat! Usually, when this happens in a romance novel I'm a little let down. I'm one of those slow burn types who enjoy a titillating build up. It's part of what keeps me turning the pages, so when Chloe and Quinn hit the sheets in record time, I wondered what the author was thinking.
As it turns out, most of this story is centered around Chloe and her struggle to snatch control of her life away from her domineering and manipulative mother and ex-husband. On the surface, it would appear Chloe has everything a woman could want, but nothing could be further from the truth. Her mother likes to gloat and brag about how her daughter turned out, how well she had married, and what a charmed life she led. She was so entrenched in this make believe world, she couldn't accept that it wasn't the fairytale she made it out to be.
Now, Chloe is dating Quinn, a man who doesn't measure up to her mother's high standards. To complicate matters more, Chloe'e ex-husband, now re-married, has suddenly decided he wants to make contact with Chloe again. Obviously, the man is dangerous, so Quinn wants to step in and protect Chloe. This is the only real conflict between the couple, since Chloe would rather handle the situation with her ex on her own terms.
Quinn's character isn't as fleshed out and the back story with his daughter is glossed over a great deal. Still, it would seem Quinn's role here is to be a stable influence while Chloe's life is in all this turmoil. The couple is already committed to one another by the half way mark in the book, but they still have lots of sexy time moments, this being one of the steamiest novels from the author I have read in a while.
The author took a bit of an unconventional approach with this one, and I will admit to being a little taken aback by it initially. But, now that I've mulled it over a while, I think I understand what the author was trying to achieve. This book could very easily fall into the chick-lit or women's fiction genre, despite the explicit sex.
Although Chloe and her mother have a good long heart to heart, I think some real professional help would be in order, and that situation will not be an easy fix, even if some progress is made.
The most important thing, in the end ,though, was that Quinn and Chloe are together and will finally have their HEA.
Overall 3.5 rounded to 4