Cocky Bastard by Penelope Ward, Vi Keeland Published by EverAfter Romance on August 16th 2015
Pages: 300
Amazon
He was someone who belonged in my wildest fantasies instead of a rest stop in the middle of Nebraska.
A sexy, cocky, Australian named Chance was the last person I expected to run into on my cross-country drive.
When my car broke down, we made a deal. Next thing I knew, we were traveling together, spending sexually-tense nights in hotels and taking unplanned detours.
My ordinary road trip turned into the adventure of a lifetime. It was all fun and games until things got intense.
I wanted him, but Chance wouldn’t make a move. I thought he wanted me too, but something was holding him back.
I wasn’t supposed to fall for the cocky bastard, especially when I knew we’d be going our separate ways.
All good things must come to an end, right?
Except our ending was one I didn’t see coming.
Author's note - Cocky Bastard is a full-length standalone novel. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
Cocky Bastard is a surprisingly sweet book about Aubrey, a somewhat repressed lawyer, and Chance, a spontaneous, flirtatious Aussie. Circumstances bring these two strangers together for a cross-country road trip, and along the way Chance helps Aubrey learn to embrace life’s opportunities while she helps open his heart.
The story is different than I expected. I thought it would be a sex-filled romp across the country, but it’s not that at all. Chance may enjoy some dirty talking, but there’s actually very little sex. Instead, the plot focuses on character development. It’s a romance in the truest sense of the word with lots of wooing.
Aubrey’s self-esteem has taken a hit. She is afraid to get her heartbroken again, but she’s brave enough to take a chance on love anyway. She has such a good heart. It’s easy to see how Chance could fall for her. Unfortunately, her indecisiveness and the way she strings him along began to grate on me.
As it turns out, Chance isn’t really a bastard. His generous heart is on full display in the second half of the book. The man is the embodiment of the perfect book boyfriend. Handsome? Check. Attentive? Check. Romantic? Check. Witty? Check. Faithful? Check. Sexy as hell? Double check. The entire book could have been written entirely from his point of view and I would have been very happy.
Sometimes the pacing seems off. I’d get invested in the enjoyable details of a chapter, only for the authors to abruptly cut to the end of the scene, or even to the next day. It didn’t ruin the story for me, but I did find it noticeable.
Their many adventures are fun, and the crazy antics with the goat are absolutely hilarious. Cocky Bastard is an amusing, sexy, and surprisingly heartwarming romance.
Recommended for fans of:
Romantic comedy
Double entendres
Men with sexy accents
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.**
About Penelope Ward
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over 2-million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels.
In 2014, Penelope’s fourth novel, Stepbrother Dearest, became the #1 bestselling independently published Kindle ebook of the year on Amazon.com and was credited with igniting an entirely new subgenre of romance.
Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Penelope can often be found chatting live with her readers in her private Facebook group, Penelope’s Peeps.
About Vi Keeland
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in two dozen languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
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