LynneC’s review of Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery, Book 2) by Victoria Dahl
Contemporary Romance published by HQN 27 Sep 11
While I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first in the series, I still had a good time with this book. Another well researched book with lively characters and a believable story.
Jamie Donovan is the middle sibling of the family who inherited Donovan Brewery from their parents when they were killed in a car accident when he was sixteen. He is the happy-go-lucky one, the man who creates trouble and sails through life, the one women adore. That’s from the outside. Although Jamie is now twenty-nine, he’s never outlived the difficult phase he went through after his parents died, when he bunked school, went to wild parties and generally rebelled. In the first book, Jamie slept with Victoria, and so set up the loss of business for his company when her father found out. But I’m relieved to find that Victoria isn’t the heroine of this book. It’s Olivia.
Olivia teaches at the local university, but she married an older man when she was twenty-two, and although she’s been divorced for a year, she’s never really got into the whole having fun thing. Her friend Gwen invites her to a “book club” at Donovans’, which is really a chance to chat and ogle Jamie, who will sometimes wear an Irish kilt when he’s serving. And since Jamie’s share of the work is to deal with the bar and the front of house stuff, he’s usually there.
So Olivia needs fun and Jamie can provide it. That’s on the surface. Underneath, there’s an awful lot of other stuff going on, and as the book progresses, the reader discovers more.
I think this book could have been shorter. There is definitely a long middle, when Jamie and Olivia’s romance seems to be going fine and the other story is working through. But Dahl’s style is professional enough and smooth enough that you keep reading. The sex is nice and hot and adds to the enjoyment.
Jamie goes to the classes Olivia is teaching on entertainment management. He wants to expand the bar and provide eating. The bar has the space. His problem is that his siblings, Tessa and Eric, don’t take him seriously because of his transgressions when younger. It’s a shame that there is a rational explanation for Jamie’s conduct in the things Tessa and Eric blame him for. I say a shame, because I rather like the idea of seeing feckless Jamie reform, but in reality he’d already reformed.
Olivia is accused of fraternizing, but since the classes in question are summer school and there are no credits involved, it’s a bit of a non-issue. This part of the story isn’t as strong as some other parts and doesn’t really provide a conflict, since it’s over as soon as it’s begun, and when it’s resolved in the end, it’s a bit of a let-down, but I could buy into it. It’s also vaguely irritating when Olivia thinks about her age for the umpteenth time. She’s thirty-five, but she’s an inexperienced thirty-five, and so the difference between her and Jamie isn’t that much. But as an old-fashioned girl, it would seem like a big deal to her, and it is in character, so I figure if I were her friend, I’d probably tell her to shut up and leave it at that.
I’d still recommend this book for the vivid characterization, well researched and depicted setting, and great writing technique.
Grade: B-
Summary:
Olivia Bishop is no fun. That’s what her ex-husband said. And that’s what her smart bob and glasses imply. So with her trademark determination, Olivia sets out to remake her life. She’s going to spend time with her girlfriends and not throw it all away for some man. But when an outing with her book club leads her to a brewery taproom, the dark-haired beauty realizes that trouble—in the form of sexy Jamie Donovan—may be too tempting to avoid.Jamie Donovan doesn’t mean to be bad. Sure, the wild streak in his wicked green eyes has lured the ladies before. Now it’s time to grow up. He’s even ready for a serious romance. But how can that be when Olivia, the only right woman he has ever met, already has him pegged as wrong?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
