Tuesday, November 28, 2017

3 stars-- Barking Up the Wrong Tree (Bluff Point #2) by Jenn McKinlay

These covers are just the cutest! I've enjoyed the first two books from McKinlay's series. They aren't prefect but oh my this group of friends. They're pretty damn hilarious.

This first quote I just enjoyed the banter and the clarification. lol
"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"Welllll," he said, drawing the word out and gazing at her from beneath his ridiculous long eyelashes. "I like the idea of you owing me a favor."

Carly crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him with one eyebrow raised higher than the other.

"Would you want a naked sweaty favor in return?" she asked. She narrowed her eyes as if she suspected he did.

"No!" he insisted. "I promise. Unless of course you're into that."

"I'm not," she said.

""Okay, then it's just a favor to be determined."

She stared at him.

"A clothed favor," he clarified.
 So cheesy! lol
"You are beautiful," he said. "No, wait, that's not the right word. Gorgeous, no, stunning, no, oh, I know... incandescent."

"Like a light bulb?" she asked.

"Well, you're turning me on," he said. 

Carly giggled. 
 And this one. Yall. lol So Carly inherited a bird. It's a pervy bird. The reaction by Zach and Sam made me laugh.
"This guy is going to think there's more going on than you do," he said. "That's what happens when you let a man sleep over."

Carly rolled her eyes. "No, he won't. Honestly, it wasn't even that good."

She crossed her fingers, feeling bad about fibbing but doing it anyway so Zach would stop bugging her. It was then that Ike decided to chime in and expose her for a liar.

"James, oh, James!" he squawked from his cage in the corner. He bobbed his head, his whole body bouncing up and down as if he was acting out what he had heard last night. "James, oh, James!"

Zach and Sam whipped their heads in the direction of the bird. Slack jawed, they swiveled back to Carly, who closed her eyes and prayed for a comet to hit the bakery right then and there. No such luck.

Ahhh the cute cover! I was loving Barking Up the Wrong Tree. The couple, the set up, the town, the pets! Oh the pets are adorable and hilarious. And I was having so much fun...until I wasn't. Yeah, sadly, there was a struggle before it ended.
The Gist: James and Carly have an instant connection when they spot each other across a bar and hook up. But Carly? She's a hit it and quit it kind of girl and she's not interested in a second night. James though? Oh, James is ready for something serious. He just has to convince his girl to give him another shot.
I liked these two quite a bit. James is just a good guy all the way down. He's solid, caring, loves his handicapped dog. Loves his family fiercely. Hands out killer orgasms. I mean. Good guy! And Carly. She's a bit broken. Lost her job, her apartment, moving home again. New pet mom to a troubled herd. She's in a bit of a tailspin but she's a trooper and keeps her head up which I can appreciate.

They were hot together! Yeah, they steamed things up real nice. *fans self* They were fun outside the bedroom, too. Watching them spend time together and him breaking down those commitment-phobe walls of hers. Plus they both had pets that were adorably! A foul mouthed bird, a senior pup and one in a wheelchair. I adored the pets and that James and Carly did, too. Pet people are good people.

So, yes. I was loving this one. Solid 4 stars.

And then the ending just kinda fizzled for me. Hit all my bleck buttons and by the last 5 pages I had to force myself to read them. And I skimmed. I really didn't care anymore about their HEA. It was such a bummer. But I hate heroines who overreact. I hate when violence towards men is normalized (aka her wishing she'd kneed the hero in the junk because he hurt her feelings on accident), hate when the hero has to do a huge gesture and apologize when what he did really wasn't all that big of a deal and wasn't meant to hurt his heroine. It just left me feeling meh and wishing he'd move on and find someone else. So, yeah. I had a hard bit there.

So this is a hard one to review because the first 290 pages were a make-me-laugh-until-I-cry blast that had me giddy for more from McKinlay and wanting to go you neeeeeed this book! But man those last 30ish pages really rough and left me growly. So I'm splitting the difference and handing out a 3.

Carly DeCusati returned home to Bluff Point, Maine, with her tail between her legs. But she’s determined to get her life back on track—and that means finding new homes for the elderly golden retriever and overly talkative parrot she inherited before her old life fell apart.

Enter physical therapist and hot one-night stand James Sinclair. James doesn’t care that Carly doesn’t do relationships. He is determined to win her heart, promising to help her with the pets if she’ll just give him the time of day.

Carly agrees to date the irresistible James, and, for the first time in years, she’s dreaming of a happily ever after. But James has secrets, and if he can’t open up to Carly, their future could go to the dogs...

Amazon | Goodreads | McKinlay on HCBS
  
*covers link to Amazon


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