Book Review: Partner Games by Jessica Clare

It took me way too long to get to this book, especially because this is one of the series I auto-buy. I was hooked on the Games series from the beginning. There’s something awesome about steamy romance happening during a reality game show.

One-Sentence Synopsis
Sisters compete in reality TV game show and ally themselves with biker guys who they find different types of chemistry with. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

Sisterly Love
I’ve been reading  a lot of books with less than likeable family members lately, so it was nice to read one about sisters who actually get along and love each other. They’ve decided to go on the World Race together, but from the beginning, nerdy Clementine knows something isn’t quite right with her normally confident model sister Georgie. Clem’s stress is only compounded by the strange chemistry she has with one of the guys from another team.

Teaming Up
Swift and Plate (biker names…no joke) are drawn to the sisters from the start. Swift has a thing for nerdy girls and finds Clementine adorable. Plate recognizes Georgie from her modeling work and has a huge crush on her, even though he’s not her type (he’s a big teddy bear of a guy and she’s used to dating male models).

Nerdy Girl Gets the Guy
The dynamics between the two couples were different but still sweet. The romance and heat comes from Swift and Clementine. Clementine still has her v-card and it takes her awhile to believe that Swift genuinely likes her. It doesn’t help that they’re trying to win a million dollars, so  besides her lack of confidence, Clemmy is also dealing with being unsure of how much she can trust her allies.

Georgie and Plate are the friends of the story, but they’re super close and their relationship is adorable. Georgie is struggling with a traumatic thing that happened to her when she was modeling, and Plate has the knack for keeping her calm when she has a meltdown. They’re flirty, but Plate is the perfect gentleman, never taking advantage of Georgie and doing what he can to be supportive and kind to her.

Just Friends?
Major props to the author for being able to the tell the story of two different couples using a first person point of view from one character (Clementine) the whole time. She does add little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter which are segments of interviews the contestants gave for the show. Considering these are just short blurbs among a longer story, it was impressive that I still felt a whole range of emotion from all the characters.

The Romance Factor
I’m a sucker for a nerdy heroine, and Clementine is perfect. She and Swift have good chemistry, and there is a ton of foreplay between them. On the other side of the story, Plate is the kind of guy who’s rough around the edges but he’s the perfect match for Georgie. And while a later romance between Plate and Georgie is only hinted at, the development of their relationship and their strong friendship is genuine. Luckily, the author released a holiday short story about those two on her blog, so I was able to get a little more bliss after I finished this book. 5/5

The Steam Factor
There’s a lot of stolen kisses between Clem and Swift throughout the book, and though there seemed to be a much lower level of sex in this one than in the previous Games books, when the hotel room started rocking, it was worth the wait. Probably for the characters too. 5/5

Final Thoughts
I really can’t get enough of this series, and I’m always a little bummed when I have to wait for another one to come out. The premise is simple, so you’d think eventually they’d start to get boring, but not yet and maybe not for me. I find the whole romance/reality TV combo thing to be quite pleasing.

Book Review: The Billionaire Takes a Bride by Jessica Clare

Even in the most lighthearted series, you can get a story that manages to maintain the fun while still introducing a pretty dark and/or serious theme. This is one of those. Trigger warning for themes of rape.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A marriage of convenience seems like the perfect solution for two people who need an “other” to help them out, but it gets more difficult when they start to have real feelings for each other. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

Crazy Families & Messed Up Pasts
It’s not often you find a modern day marriage of convenience story, but this one nails it and does it in a way that’s fairly realistic. Well, in the world of a billionaire anyway. Sebastian’s horrible mother is involved in a reality TV series about their family and being that the woman is completely insane, she wants Sebastian to get back with his ex as part of the season’s storyline. Chelsea is a bad ass roller derby girl, but when the skates come off, she has a hard time dealing with crowds, the dark, and men hitting on her due to PTSD from being raped a few years before.

Beneficial Nuptials
When they meet at Gretchen and Hunter’s engagement dinner, Chelsea finds Sebastian to be “safe,” and they decide to be party Safety Buddies. After all, if they pretend to be together, men won’t hit on her and people won’t bother Sebastian about this family’s TV show. But then Sebastian decides to take it a step further, because if he marries Chelsea, then his mother and his ex (in theory) can’t bother him about the show’s storyline of getting back together. And since Chelsea’s roommate moved out and it scares her to be alone in an empty apartment, she jumps on the opportunity.

Taking Care of Business
It’s all fun and games and convenience until someone starts getting lusty after the other one, though. And it doesn’t take long for Sebastian to realize that he’s probably not going to be able to avoid all those feelings he said he wanted to avoid in the first place. Yet he doesn’t push Chelsea into anything, especially when he finds out what happened to her. Instead, they become good friends and he just takes care of “things” on his own.

Split Persona
I loved the whole roller derby thing and the fact that Chelsea is of two personalities. In her roller gear, she’s fierce, tough, and confident. Outside of it, she feels broken and scared, which is understandable. Her sex feels are pretty much non-existent, but when she realizes that Sebastian is turned on by her, she starts to feel that she’s ruining his life by not being a wife who can give him what he wants. Because by that time, they’ve started to like each other and the whole convenience/temporary nature of the marriage seems to have been forgotten.

Roller Girl
Sebastian never pressures Chelsea into anything. Instead, he lets her take control. He also makes it a point to let her know that no matter how much she’d been drinking the night of her rape, it wasn’t her fault. Chelsea slowly comes out of her shell, but it’s not until Sebastian suggests she integrate her roller derby persona into the bedroom that she starts to find her sexuality again.

Working Through Issues
I think thus far, this one is my favorite in the series, not only because it has some of my fave tropes (friends to lovers, marriage of convenience) but because the characters felt real and I loved that Chelsea was able to regain her identity and empower herself, even after a traumatic event. Of course, the big conflict of the story reopens some of those wounds, but Sebastian is great as the supportive husband who just wants Chelsea to feel safe.

The Romance Factor
Besides the above mentioned tropes, I also get a little mushy over the whole damsel in distress thing, and when Sebastian comforts Chelsea after the lights go out in their hotel in New Orleans, I melted. He’s so sweet and caring and careful of her feelings that I couldn’t help but love him. 4/5

The Steam Factor
Because of the nature of Chelsea’s PTSD, there isn’t a super high volume of sex in this story, but what there is manages to sizzle while still maintaining the respect and caution towards Chelsea’s past and the things that made her scared of it in the first place. And honestly, not everything is resolved by the end, but you’re still left with the feeling that things are going to be okay, both in and out of the bedroom. 4/5

Final Thoughts
I mentioned in the last B&B review I did that the stories were going to parallel and sure enough, this one seems to be happening right alongside Edie and Magnus’ story. I believe it parallels Asher and Greer’s story as well, which comes out later this year (and has already been preordered by yours truly). I also enjoyed the random reference to one of the reality shows in Clare’s Games series. The whole story left me with warm fuzzies, and I can’t wait for book 4 to come out.