Laura's Review of Inhibitions by Kimberly Bracco

Synopsis

In the last six months, Ashley’s life has been one disappointment after another. She walked in on her boyfriend with another woman, leaving her needing a new place to live and a mountain of debt. As if that wasn’t enough, her ex convinces her that his infidelity is her fault for being unadventurous in bed.

Deep down Ashley has always had the desire to be wild but has been held back by her own insecurities. She’s desperate to break free, but she's fearful of how people will judge her if they know her inner desires. She wants nothing more than to lose herself in sex that pushes her to the limit, but she hasn’t found anyone she trusts enough to take her there until she meets Tanner.

Tanner doesn’t trust anyone outside of his inner circle easily. The infamous, media proclaimed playboy, quarterback is tired of people using him for money, connections and to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Determined to protect his image and himself, he makes sure to keep most people at arm’s length until Ashley is thrown into his life. He’s inexplicably drawn to her, and she needs his help in more than ways than one. But to help her, he’ll need to let her in.

There’s an immediate attraction and connection that neither can deny, but can both of them get past their inhibitions and find what they are looking for in each other or will everything backfire in their faces? 

What I Loved

          First of all I love romances, second I love romances that take place in New Jersey, third I love football, and fourth I have been a diehard Jets for more than half of my life!  So this book had all the right ingredients for me to fall in love with it, which meant I had high expectations.  Most of the time this is not a good thing, because when you have high expectations they often don’t get met.  That definitely did NOT happen and this story met every single expectation I had. 

          There was the right amount of raunchiness, the right amount of love, the right amount of laughs and the right amount of heart break.  The story begins with a very frazzled Ashley meeting a very handsome Tanner and of course sparks fly, hearts skip a beat and the rest as they say is history.   It was easy to fall in love with Ashley, a vulnerable girl still getting over her a very shameful moment in her life, trying to get back on her feet again.  Ashley was definitely a very believable, relatable character which made it easy to become engrossed in the plot and become a member of her fan club.  All you want is for Ashley to find happiness and love again after everything she has been through, so it was fun to watch her fall in love with Tanner.

          Like I said before I am a diehard Jets fan, I worship the ground they walk on, so my face lit up when I realized that this football romance involved my boys in green! Tanner has the right mixture of sexy, sensitive, raunchy, and humor that every woman wants in a man.  He made it easy to fall for him from the very beginning, and even though he might make some silly or bad decisions along the way, I still want to forgive him. 
 

          The sexual chemistry was pouring off every page and it’s been so long since I read a book that has just the right amount of sex and love and vulgarity in it, which made this story very refreshing.  Tanner is one sexy man who knows his way around a female body and I enjoyed learning about his expertise on and off the field. I loved how much he supported Ashley and saw something beautiful inside all those walls she built around her heart and to me, that just made Tanner more irresistible.

Not So Much

          Since this is a 5 star rating, this will be a very short section. Like I mentioned before I loved Ashley from the very beginning and was someone I could to totally relate to.  But at a certain point her inner monologue of putting herself down constantly and questioning everything all the time got a little annoying.  I get that she has had bad experiences in the past, but I didn’t like how she fit every man into this box and made up her mind about all men, and was surprised to find out not every human being is the same.  But I get it, she’s been burned real bad and is still licking her wounds and then this hot famous quarterback comes along and changes everything. 

To Sum It All Up!

          If you’re looking for a book that will pull at your heartstrings and leave you wanting more, than this is the story for you! The plot was written really well, with great plot foundation and character development throughout the story.  The details not only about the characters were well written and established, but about the backgrounds and supporting characters as well.  For once I really liked the secondary characters, I felt like they didn’t take away from the story and actually added to the plot.  The ending is not an HEA but that is only because there is a second book coming soon so hopefully there eventually will be.  I did feel like Ashley grew at the end of the story, but her reactions felt a little too out of what I know of her from the very beginning.  I was surprised to see the turn around and maybe a little perplexed.  But I get it, I get why she decided all that and the circumstances so of course I am still team Ashley and Tanner all the way!  I loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a great romance with lots of laughs, sex, and tears.