Taming the Bad Boy
Jolie Moore
Publication date: April 30th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Told in the first person. Alternating persons.
Told in the first person. Alternating persons.
#50firstdates #joliemoore #crazybeautifullove
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this
book for review from Xpresso Book Tours and the author. I was not
compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The
opinions I have expressed are my own. I am posting this in
accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part
255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and
Testimonials in Advertising".
From up here on stage, I can see her. Even with her First Lady hair and Sunday school shoes, I can’t take my eyes off of her.
The music starts. I swing my hips to the thumping bass. Oh-so-slowly I slip one button through a hole, then another, then another. I ease the black silk from my shoulders and toss it right toward her.
I watch her pale glossy lips form a big ‘O’ before she catches it like a major league baller. The flashing lights blind me. Between beats I can see her blue eyes zeroed in below my waist.
I know what she wants. I give it to her. With a zip and a tug, the leather pants join the rest of my clothes. In my skin tight briefs, I dance just for her. With the last chord of the song the stage goes dark.
I know when the lights come up, another guy will be dancing in my place because this is my last time. I’m not doing this ever again. It’s too bad I didn’t get her name. I really liked that shirt. But not enough to go back and claim it.
If she wants me bad enough, she’ll have to find me.
My Thoughts:
I’ve come to like reading a story that’s being told in the first person. But there was one scene where Daisy got a little too descriptive about her friend. It was a case of TMI. I also didn’t need a constant reminder of Daisy’s friend and family’s ethnic background. We’re informed at the beginning of the book but the constant reminders are a little off-putting. It got to the point where I wanted to say, “I’ve got it, I’ve got it!”
The author has to give her readers some credit that they’ll remember something like a person’s ethnicity – especially when their language appears as part of a scene. It makes it difficult to want to continue because you start looking for the next time that word is going to appear. Plus your focus is taken off the main characters and looking for the next time Nari and her family appear.
There was so much going on here that I felt like I was going in circles trying to keep up with what was going on. We see a lot of world building for our main characters but seeing them try to build a relationship seemed to get a little lost. I never felt like they had any type of connection. Maybe you will see a connection that I never did. The connection I did see was that they are both in the entertainment business. It was more like reading two separate books at the same time. This is one book where it’s slow building and it made it hard to concentrate and wanting to turn the page.
In the end, no two people are going to see this book the same way. A lot of it is what your mind picks up on. You may find Raphael funny. You may find a young woman trying to find her way in a world where it’s constantly changing. In reading the title, I may have just set my expectations too high and that could be where my disappointment kicked in. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t give the author another try.
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EXCERPT:
Lyrics got suggestive. The tight ribbed black tank Rafe was wearing close to his skin, came off as well. I didn’t try to grab for it this time. I was already in for a stiff lecture.
Bumping and grinding, Rafe was butt down on the platform undulating to the beat, the tight leather pants obscuring nothing. The names of movie and sports stars blasted from the speakers. The top two buttons of his pants came undone. Hollywood’s female icons thumped with the bass. The zipper came down.
I knew what was coming. How could I not? I couldn’t look away. I could look all day. Looking was okay. Like the black and white video of the song, lights pulsed, throwing the club into black and white relief.
A quick black out, and the pants were gone. I must have missed the shoes and socks, because Rafe was gyrating on the platform almost as naked as the day he was born, save for some black boxer briefs shot through with silver threads.
Those threads were only on the front center, and back of the shorts, highlighting what was underneath. Before I knew it, he was letting his body go with the flow. It was a nice flow. His skin was golden, and bathed in a sheen of sweat. The lights cast blue, red, and ended in gold on him. Silence. A single beat. And it went dark again.
I didn’t care if Nari thought I was crazy. I clapped and hooted as loudly as his friends and those around me. The lights and music started again, but Rafe was gone.”
Author Bio:
I write crazy, beautiful love stories because I believe storytelling is magic. I love complicated heroines with secrets, strong heroes who fall hard, and a long winding road to happily ever after. When I'm not writing, I love to travel to witness the diverse tapestry of humanity, photograph the beauty of the world, visit museums, and watch live theater. I live in West Hollywood, California ten miles from the nearest airport.
I haven't found my own happily ever after, but I'm not done trying. This year I'm going to go on fifty first dates. Join me as I try to find my Mr. Right or maybe Mr. Right Now.
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