Review & Paperback Giveaway: Appealed by Emma Chase

Appealed (The Legal Briefs, #3) by Emma Chase
Series: The Legal Briefs #3
Published by Gallery Books on January 19th 2016
Pages: 304


Amazon

When Brent Mason looks at Kennedy Randolph, he doesn’t see the awkward, sweet girl who grew up next door. He sees a self-assured, stunning woman…who wants to crush the most intimate - and prized - parts of his anatomy beneath the heels of her Christian Louboutins.

Brent has never let the loss of his leg in a childhood accident affect his ability to lead a fulfilling life. He sets high goals–and then he reaches them.

And now he has his sights set on Kennedy.
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When Kennedy looks at Brent Mason, all she sees is the selfish, Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue-worthy teenager who humiliated her in high school to join the popular crowd. A crowd that made those years a living hell.

She’s not a lovesick social outcast anymore - she’s a DC prosecutor with a long winning streak behind her. Brent is the opposing attorney in her next case and she thinks it’s time to put him through a little hell of his own.

But things aren’t exactly working out that way.

Because every fiery exchange has her wondering if he’s as passionate in the bedroom as he is in the courtroom. Each argument and objection only makes him want her more. In the end, Brent and Kennedy may just find themselves in love…or in contempt of court.

APPEALED is a sexy, humorous romance about first crushes, second chances and the final verdict of the heart.

Appealed is the third book in the Legal Briefs series, and I’ve really been looking forward to Brent’s story. I fully expected to love it, especially after falling madly in love with the previous book, Sustained. Appealed isn’t the slam-dunk I hoped it would be, but it’s still highly enjoyable. It’s a friends to enemies to lovers story that cleverly combines two popular tropes.

Brent is a successful defense attorney who happily enjoys his bachelor lifestyle. Throughout the years he’s often thought of Kennedy though. She was the shy, unpopular, yet sweet girl next door who broke his heart when they were teenagers and then inexplicably disappeared from his life. When a prosecutor is assigned to the case Brent’s working on, he’s shocked to discover it’s Kennedy—now gorgeous and confident. He’s more attracted to her than ever, but for some reason Kennedy is blatantly hostile toward him. Each of them is convinced they are the wronged party. Their animosity and sexual tension spill over into the courtroom until eventually they’re forced to confront what happened fourteen years ago.

Kennedy’s resentment makes for some wonderful banter between the two.

“What’d you do to your face?” she asks, folding her arms.

I touch my chin. “I grew a beard.”

“Well ungrow it. It looks like a vagina from a 1970s porn film.”

I loved how their past is revealed in pieces. When we finally get to see things from Kennedy’s perspective, Brent realizes he has to do some serious groveling to get back into Kennedy’s good graces—and her bed. He recognizes that she’s the one who got away.

“What if the reason I’ve never let myself fall in love with a woman 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.”

Brent’s humor and persistence make him extremely likable. Animosity can generate heat between couples, but I wasn’t feeling intense chemistry between him and Kennedy. While she is justified in her feelings of hurt and betrayal, Kennedy’s lack of trust makes her standoffish through much of the book. I think it contributed to my feeling somewhat disconnected from her. Brent may not have been deterred, but I felt frustrated for him.

In the end though, Emma Chase’s witty writing, adorable hero, and a fun storyline make this well worth the read.

 

Recommended for fans of:
Enemies to lovers romance
Male POV stories
Underdogs

 

** ARC received in exchange for an honest review. **

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