If you enjoy romance your romance with little angst, hot sex, a couple who knows how to communicate, and isn’t afraid to put it all out there then Southern Gentleman is the book for you. ~ Slick – Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
Synopsis:
I know two things when I meet my new boss, Greyson Parker Montgomery III.
One, he’s an egomaniac. And two, we’re going to get naked.
Something I didn’t know? That I’d end up pregnant.
No one is more surprised by our off-the-charts chemistry than me. I’m a free spirit with a passion for design and a taste for the bohemian. Greyson is a cocky venture capitalist who’s as pretentious as his sharply cut power suits.
He owns half of Charleston, and has the other half at his beck and call. But the only place he owns me is in bed…or in the backseat of his car, boneless and begging for mercy.
We argue over contracts and costs all day long. Behind closed doors, however, we engage in a different kind of business. The kind that has me surrendering to his unique brand of dominance.
Our no-strings attached arrangement suits me just fine. Until I wake up one morning with what I think is a wicked hangover.
Only it’s not a hangover.
I thought Greyson was a typical “greed is good” grump. But when he demands to be involved in the life we accidentally created, I start to see a different side of him. One that’s more gentleman than jerk. Am I crazy to think we could be a family together? Or is making me fall for him just another one of his power plays?
Review copy provided from Kindle Unlimited
There was much I loved about Southern Gentleman, the third book in author Jessica Peterson’s Charleston Heat series. This enemies to lovers, accidental baby, reverse romance was packed full of sexy times, emotion, and a whole lot of realism for which I am grateful, but at times the issues between this couple felt a bit contrived. Overall, I enjoyed these characters, the way they fell into a relationship, and watching them fall in love.
Julia Lassiter is a no nonsense kind of woman; she lives her own life on her own terms. She is a college professor who teaches classics as well as contemporary romance and she takes on an interior design project from time to time as it is something that reminds her of time spent with her late family. Having no siblings and losing both her parents in the space of two years, Julia relies on her friends and colleagues for support. When she meets Greyson Montgomery, the man who will essentially be her boss on her latest design project, she is instantly attracted until he opens up his and becomes a condescending a$$.
It isn’t often that a woman sets Greyson on edge but the minute he meets Julia there is something about her that makes him uncomfortable and he’s not just talking about the tightness going on in his pants. She’s smart, she’s argumentative, and she pulls no punches, something he greatly admires, but the attraction bothers him considering she is about to be his employee.
You’ll the sparks coming off these two every time they meet are enough to set your e-reader on fire. The fact that they argue about everything to do with the project they are working on it just foreplay. After one particular nasty tirade, Julia makes a bold move and so begins their “hate-f*ck” relationship (their words not mine). They are both perfectly okay with the arrangement until Julia discovers she is pregnant.
I have to give this author a lot of props for the way she handled this accidental pregnancy on several levels. Julia considered all her options, she looked at her life and how a baby would change it, she weighted the pros and cons, but ultimately it came down to she’d lost all her family and she wanted this baby. While she may not have liked Greyson all that much she did respect him, and thusly she did tell him about the baby, something I admire her for. Greyson has his own demons, but he isn’t mad or unhappy about the baby, but Julia tells him straight up if he isn’t going to be involved and present in their child’s life then she’ll do it on her own. He agrees despite his 80-90 work week. Julia’s pregnancy doesn’t get off on the best foot, she is miserable and I loved that this author didn’t sugar coat it. Julia wasn’t a happy, glowing mother to be, she was miserable something so many women are for the first trimester. She finds support in her friends, the women in a pre-natal yoga class, and especially in Greyson who really jumps in when she is feeling poorly. I actually loved this part because it showed that underneath that icy exterior was a man with a gentle heart.
I enjoyed watching them dance around one another after she announces her pregnancy and it takes them awhile to go back to being intimate. I loved how she opened up to him about so much of his life and he gave her bits and pieces of his and while she knew there was something big holding him back she didn’t press him, just let him know she was willing to listen when he was ready. They began to appreciate everything about one another while becoming friends and then much more which is why I call this a reverse romance; they f*cked without liking or knowing one another and then because they were going to be tied together for years began to really get to know one another and that led to them falling in love. Both characters showed great growth throughout this story which is what made me enjoy it so much. Was it a perfect romance? No, the contrived issue between them was a big part of the problem, but I did appreciate that this couple had great communication skills and worked through their issues fairly easily.
If you enjoy romance your romance with little angst, hot sex, a couple who knows how to communicate, and isn’t afraid to put it all out there then Southern Gentleman is the book for you.
4 stars
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