Book Review — Appealed by Emma Chase

“Let me make sure I have this right. You’re banging the prosecutor on your case?” 

I swallow a mouthful of turkey club. “Yep. Well, sometimes we bang — sometimes we just hang out… Sometimes we talk… And sometimes we make sweet, sweet love.”

Stanton clarified. “And it doesn’t affect how you’re trying the case?”

“Nope. We go at each other hard all day in court, then we go at it harder all night in bed. And nothing about it isn’t awesome.”

“And the prosecutor is your childhood friend, who you pretty much fell in love with when you were seventeen but didn’t see again for fourteen years?” …

“That’s right.”

• Buy APPEALED (Kindle)
• Buy APPEALED (Paperback)

WOW!!! This book was fantastic!!! Emma Chase is one of the leading authors in contemporary romance and she consistently delivers a delightful balance of hilarious laugh-out-loud comedy mixed with hot, sexy, heart-warming romance that’s guaranteed to make you swoon! I read this book in one sitting and loved everything about it!! A new top favorite recommendation!!

The story starts off with a hilarious bang — pun intended — and seriously, the first chapter alone sells the book better than anything I can ever tell you. If you love the first chapter, you’ll love the whole book. In true Emma Chase form, this book is told entirely from the male POV and let me tell you: IT. IS. PURE. GOLD!!!!! Ohhh, the win!! It’s funny, witty, sarcastic, adorable, sexy, everything you could possibly want! This author’s comedic timing is absolutely flawless, and her ability to bring emotional depth to light-hearted romance is exactly what makes so many readers fall in love with her books.

Insults are our flirting. Arguing is our foreplay.
One time, she was so worked up she hauled off and took a swing at me — and my reaction was a boner that couldn’t be denied. It’s not as twisted as it sounds.
It works for us.

This is actually a second chance romance. Over a decade ago, Brent and Kennedy were best friends. Then one amazing night brought them together… and then she was gone. Both of them nursing broken hearts. He never knew what happened to the girl he’d fallen for, and she spend years toughening her heart — knowing that she’d never let anyone trample over it again.

Once upon a time she was my best friend. For a hot minute, she was more. After that, she hated me. And then she was just… gone.

I haven’t seen her for fourteen years, and the last time I did, she sure as shit didn’t look like this.

“Kennedy…” I whisper, still not entirely convinced it’s her.

She regards me with a tilted her, a cocked hip, and a disdainful smile.

“Hello, Dickhead.”

Okay. Now I’m convinced.

When they finally meet again, it’s on opposite ends of the courtroom — as opposing lawyers on the same case. She’s harboring years of anger towards him, and he doesn’t haven’t have the slightest clue why. But one thing he knows is that he’s going to get to the bottom of it and win back the only girl he ever fell for.

I look into the gorgeous eyes of the girl I’ve known my whole life, and my only thought is, what the hell took me so long to do this?

I know that some people might consider Kennedy a little bit prickly but I actually adored her. Seriously. This girl had so much sass and fire. She was awesome! Even though she did sometimes take it a little far — I still loved how feisty she was. To be honest, given what she thought happened so many years ago, I could really see where she was coming from. That level of hurt is bound to make a person a little cold and distant. But it was so clear to me that what she had was hurt, and nothing more. And who she really was underneath it was was genuinely wonderful and I loved her character. Luckily, so did Brent….

“What are you doing?”

She turns sharply, like she wasn’t expecting me to wake up. “I have to get home. I have to shower and get ready for court.”

With a yawn, I say, “Okay, I’ll drive you.”

“Don’t bother. A cab will be faster.”

Ahhhhh. Sweet, cuddly, open Kennedy has left the building.

Defensive, jumpy, prickly-like-a-cactus Kennedy is in the house.

Now Brent was an awesome hero. He was wealthy, but uninterested in living the pompus lifestyle his family indulged in. Rather, he worked hard every day and loved every minute. Incidentally, I know many of you like to read about wounded heroes — and he only has one leg (childhood accident), but that’s more of a side note, not really relevant to his personality. This guy had spend over a decade moving from one meaningless fling to another never understanding the real reason why he never wanted to give his heart away — until Kennedy came back into his life and he realized that she still had it. She always had had it.

“All these years, she’s never let anyone else in. She’s had her reasons, but the bottom line is, there hasn’t been any guy who’s gotten past her fire-breathing dragon. And what if… what if the reason I’ve never let myself fall in love with anyone is because I didn’t have anything to give? Because I’d already given my heart to her when we were seventeen years old? And all these years… I’ve just been waiting for her to come back to me with it.”

This was such a fun, thrilling, sexy story as fifteen years of broken hearts, resentment, unresolved feelings, unrequited love, and sizzling chemistry came flooding back into their lives. Seriously, this is one of the few stories that actually managed to twang my heart strings and make me almost tear up in the same paragraph that just made me literally laugh out loud. Brilliant writing!

“I don’t know why I’m here.” And she sounds genuinely bewildered — even a little panicked.

“Obviously because I’m irresistible.” The wind blows, spraying ice cold drops across my bare skin where my shirt hangs open. “You’re shivering, honey, come inside.”

She stares at me, so many emotions swirling in her expression. She’s like a skittish kitten who can’t decide if she should let the stranger pat her head or haul ass up the nearest tree.

And it breaks my heart.

Another thing I loved was that the sex and heat in this book was very well ‘built up to’ rather than just throwing it right in. It was sexy and intense because the story first developed their characters and relationship to a point where, once it was time for them to get together, it just felt right.

When her eyes dip, I lift her chin. “If I could go back and change all of that, I would. But this is where we are now. We have to move forward. I’m in love with you. And if it takes a while for you to wrap your head around that — to wrap your heart around it — then I’ll wait. Because you’re worth waiting for. You always were.”

Not to mention that all the romance is heavily laced with hilarious moments…

“What’s your nickname”?”

“BC.”

She frowns, trying to figure it out. “Because your middle name is Charles?”

I shake my head and tell her with the straightest face, “Big Cock.”

The awesome thing about it is that it can easily be read as a standalone. It honestly doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve read any other standalones in this series (Overruled – which I haven’t read, or Sustained – which I have reviewed), you can just jump right into this one and be fine! Ohhh, there’s this double epilogue at the end and the very last page seriously made me shed a happy tear — just gorgeous!!!

I LOVED THIS BOOK and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light-hearted feel-good romance that’ll just make you genuinely HAPPY!! This is definitely going to be a Top Favorite of 2016!!

Rating: 4.5 — 5 stars! Contemporary romantic comedy.

• Buy APPEALED (Kindle)
• Buy APPEALED (Paperback)