“I’m not an arrogant ass. I’m just aware of how I look. And most women like how I look. Okay, ALL women like how I look. It’s the hair and tattoos. They like the bad boys, and I’m bad. What can I say?”
Teehee! I just love that quote and had to start the review off with it! Trouble was a fun New Adult romance with serious undertones, a reformed bad boy and a twist I didn’t see coming! Plus it’s a standalone with a fully resolved ending so you get the complete story in one fell swoop 😉
“You know the saying ‘from bad to worse’? Well, my situation is kind of like that, but more like ‘from worse, to a diluted version of worse, but still shit nonetheless.”
The story starts out a little bit on the darker side, showing Mia’s violently abusive home life. After she finally breaks free , she sets out alone on a road trip to find her birth mother. All she has to go on is a name and address and when she finally arrives in the right town, she checks into a hotel. This is where she meets Jordan, a gorgeous tattooed bad boy who’s never allowed himself to be tied to any woman before. Now, however, he can’t stop thinking about the beautiful blonde girl who just walked right into his life.
Ok, the first thing you should know is that the overall tone of this story is NOT dark. The majority of the book is actually just a whole lot of fun but the beginning sets up Mia’s backstory by quite literally showing us the brutality of her home life. And as much as I despised her ex-boyfriend, I really appreciated that the author included those scenes in because it gave us a much greater understanding of where Mia was coming from as well as, again, showing us how she found the will to stand up for herself and get away.
Mia was pretty awesome. It was hard to hold her to any of her faults because where she came from made her fears and insecurities justifiable and I especially liked that she was a strong girl at heart and really tried to just but on a brave face and deal with whatever life threw her way whether it be good or bad. That being said, her years of abuse had made her expect the worst from men so her trust was nearly non existent.
Now, Jordan was a bad boy who was flat-out determined never to fall in love with a woman. He’d seen the damage his father had gone through when his mom died and he was determined never to put himself through that kind of pain so he just liked his women easy, uncomplicated and temporary. No relationships and certainly no “stage five clingers” 😉
“When it comes to women, I put my dick in and keep my heart out. It’s the easiest way… Why do all women think they can change me? I’m unchangeable. When will they get this?”
I really liked the flow of how this book began. The beginning really set Mia’s character up perfectly and then at exactly the right time, it switched over to Jordan’s POV and let us into the head of this gorgeous tattooed guy. And oh wow was it ever fun in there!!
Jordan’s POV was honestly the highlight of this book for me. It was certainly one of the best male POV’s I’ve read. I was laughing and smiling the whole way through and it genuinely felt like I was reading a guy’s thoughts. Everything about it was just pure awesome!! GOLD!! His thoughts were so direct but he kept wondering off on the most amusing tangents and was somehow also always hilariously focused on sex (even in the background) but he clearly also had a strong protective (and possessive!) side to him and just ahhhhhh the balance was perfect!! He was just impossible not to love!
“I need this hard on to disappear.
I can do this. My dick does not rule me. I’m in control here…
She smell good… I want to lean in close and inhale.
And possibly lick her.”
Lol! Oh, and this…
“Mia, I just want you to know that not all men are assholes.”
What. The. Fuck.
Not all men are assholes? Jesus Christ… Yes, we are. There are just varying degrees of male assholeness.
His thoughts were just priceless!! I have nearly all of his POV scenes highlighted in my book. Here’s a snippet from one of those scenes after they’re taking his dog home from the vet:
“Should I sit in the back with him again?” she asks, biting her bottom lip.
Jesus, I want to bite that lip. Lick it. Suck it. Fuck it.
I see Dozer’s head lift, and his ears prick up. “Nah, he’ll be fine. You’ll have more room up from here next to me.”
“Okay … if you’re sure.”
I see Dozer’s head drop on a grunt.
I hold back a smile as I watch Mia walk around the car and climb in the passenger seat. But as I’m getting in the car, I can’t resist giving Dozer a smug grim. Honestly, the look he’s giving me right now… I think if he could flip me off, he would.
Yep, you lose that round, Dozer.
I turn the ignition, feeling pretty satisfied with myself that I’ve got Mia sitting up front with me…
Then it hits me.
I was just in a pissing contest with my dog.
There are no words.
No. Fucking. Words.
I just loooooved the scenes with Dozer! What an awesome dog! His “rivalry” with Jordan was too funny!!
I also really appreciated that this book had a balance of both lightheartedness and also more serious undertones because, as fun as it was, the book had a slightly darker side to it as well. For Mia, her past had made it hard for her to trust men and Jordan was the first guy who ever made her feel safe and showed her what it was like to be a man who respected her. Underneath his cocky bad boy exterior, Jordan was hiding a world of pain and just the hugest heart ever. I mean, what a SWEET guy!!
“I’m here… I’ve got you… always. I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again, Mia. I swear.”
There’s a cool twist to the story too. I don’t want to say anything about it but I’ll admit it wasn’t something I’d considered until the very last minute and I really like twists that surprise me.
Overall, this was just a really great standalone New Adult romance. It had a fully resolved with no loose ends and a wonderful epilogue 🙂
Rating: 4 – 4.5 stars (leaning more towards 4.5)
