Laura’s Review of The Lover’s Secret (No Exceptions, #1) by J.C. Reed

Synopsis

Brooke Stewart, a realtor in New York, is sure of one thing: she will never surrender her heart fully to the green-eyed, sexy as sin, six foot two sex god that she calls her boss.

Jett Mayfield is dangerously sexy, but more than that he attracts trouble. Avoiding him has never been an option. The night he hooks up with Brooke, he aims to keep her in his bed, but more than that, he aims to make her his.

When he sweeps her away for one weekend, she has no idea that some rules are bound to be broken, and that his dark secrets will impact her life in a way she never imagined. Too late she realizes that she has fallen for a man she should never have been involved with in the first place. And that one weekend will change everything. Will it be too late to run or will the truth allow them to heal?

A woman who can't trust easily
A man who has too many secrets
Two lives that are about to be destroyed

Book 1 in the No Exceptions series. Full length novel. This book contains adult themes. 18+
No Exceptions is a standalone series. 

What I Loved

          This story begins very seductively which I loved because it immediately sucks you in and makes it very easy to become engrossed in Jett and Brooke’s relationship.  The sexual tension between these two pours off the pages and almost instantly I can’t wait for them to tear each other’s clothes off.  Jett certainly knows how to seduce a lady and trust me he is one thorough man!

          The book begins with Jett and Brooke trying to spice up their sex life and decide to spend a romantic weekend with just the two of them and no distractions.  What starts off as a romantic weekend, where Jett declares his love for Brooke over and over again; turns into a twisted tale of secrets and betrayal.  Brooke is still trying to heal from the all the damage Nate, Jett’s brother has caused her and Jett just wants to protect Brooke ferociously.  I love that possessiveness that wafts off of Jett, it’s totally a major turn on and just makes him sexier. 

          The story definitely takes a crazy turn that raises more questions than answers, and there were times my heart was just pounding in my chest. I couldn’t put this story down, I swear I was up past midnight reading this, it was so good!  I love books that I can’t predict how all of this is going to end, and that have tons of twists and turns and this one completely fulfilled that for me!

Not So Much

          I get that this can somewhat be read as a standalone series, and I thought that I could read this as a standalone but I wouldn’t recommend it.  I felt like I was being dropped into the middle of a story, rather than the beginning which annoyed me a little.  After I finished this one I actually went backwards and began the Surrender Your Love series, which is where Jett and Brooke’s story begins and I strongly suggest doing that if you are interested in reading this book.  Plus there is a cliffhanger at the end of this one, so it’s going to make you want to read the next one.  That’s not a bad thing in my book, but if you want to read just this one you might be disappointed. 

          Also I felt like Brooke’s inner thoughts were just very long winded at times.  The book is from her point of view and at times her point of view felt like rambling and became kind of boring.  She seems to go off on these crazy tangents that just made no sense to me, or were just completely irrational and inconsistent.  Especially when those thoughts applied to Jett, once I went back and read the other series some of it made more sense still seemed silly at times.  I found myself skipping some paragraphs because it just kept going and going.

To Sum It All Up!

       

 This is a great book if you are looking for hot sexy and lots of questions and drama.  There are tons of twists and turns in this one and at the end I was left with NEEDING more Brooke and Jett.  I definitely feel this book and probably the rest of this series is better enjoyed if you have read the Surrender Your Love series prior to reading this one.  I do kind of feel like Brooke is immature and irrational at times and that made it hard to just completely fall in love with her character.  But I did fall madly in love with the dark and mysterious Jett Mayfield and I can’t wait to see he climbs out of the hole he has got himself in!