Laura C’s review of Trouble Me by Laura Moore|
Contemporary Romance published by Ballantine 27 Mar 12
I probably should have given this book a pass after the first scene between the hero and heroine. Jade and Rob meet up after a number of years at a hotel far from home where they are both snowed in. They have a night of wild sex without exchanging names. Not even first names. And right there, that should have let me know this book isn’t for me, because, according to the back of the book, Jade is supposed to be going home to show how much she’s grown up and how she’s ready to settle down. And all I could think is “uh, yeah, because that’s a really responsible thing to do.”
And, yeah, Jade makes a big deal—when she breaks down and tells her sisters about the incident—to say she used condoms when she slept with Rob. And when she confronts him, she says he was just as guilty as she. But…she took a stranger up to her hotel room. A stranger who’s much bigger, much stronger, much more capable of harm than she is. She never once gives any thought to the fact that it might not be a great idea to do so without at least telling someone in the hotel or, for crying out loud, asking his name.
But I pushed on. And off Jade goes to the town where she grew up only to discover that Rob lives there, too, and is, in fact, the cop who repeatedly arrested her when she was a wild teen. It was during one of those arrests, while Rob was booking Jade, that his wife died. He blames Jade for her death, for keeping him from her, though he knows he shouldn’t. Which he tells himself repeatedly and even tells his mother. (I don’t know why that annoys me, but it did. Her reaction is good, though. She basically tells him to grow a pair, only in a maternal way.)
And then he finds out that Jade, the woman he blames, the woman he had a one-night stand with, is going to be his child’s second-grade teacher. Needless to say, he’s furious, but as soon as he gets her alone . . . in the classroom . . . on parents’ night at the school . . . they start making out. Both of these people need to grow up.
As well as teaching second grade, Jade plans to teach riding to children at the family horse ranch. There’s a lot of detail about pony buying, pony riding, pony training, and pony grooming. I found it interrupts the romance. I feel as if I were reading two books: one with characters always itching to jump into the sack and a second about the care and feeding of ponies. It’s . . . disconcerting.
If I subtract my own (admittedly prudish) sentiments about how careless Jade is with her own safety, this isn’t a bad book. It’s just not very exciting, either.
Grade: C
Summary:
The youngest and wildest of the Radcliffe sisters, Jade is the last to return home to her family’s sprawling Virginia horse farm and its unsettling memories. She never planned on a night of passion with a stranger before starting her new life as a teacher and riding instructor—or the shock of recognizing the man who gave her so much pleasure standing right there in her classroom.
Officer Rob Cooper is stunned. Not only is the woman who rocked his world his daughter’s second grade teacher, but she’s the troubled teen whom he blames for his wife’s death years ago. Worse, now that he sees her in the light of day, he wants her more than ever. Time has softened Jade’s hard, rebellious edge—she’s spirited, honest, and sexy to distraction. But will the feelings ignited in the heat of desire be enough to heal a past that needs forgiving?
Other books in this series:
