A review by poisonivy70
Heart of a Bad Boy by Sugar Jamison

3.0

-Sweet best friends to lovers romance. Levi King is part of a trio of brother who grew up in Destiny but moved away to become high powered millionaires who own and operate a major auto business. It’s been thirteen years since Levi came back to Destiny, but he’s always kept in touch with his best friend, Shelly, through letters and gifts through the years. There’s never a doubt that they love each other, but it takes them a long time to admit that they’re in love too. Along the way, romance happens.

-Idealized heroine. Shelly is a twenty nine year old schoolmarm who dresses in too-big clothes, and still sees herself as that awkward teenager she used to be, instead of the gorgeous woman she is today. Shelly’s very likeable, even when she tips into Mary Sue territory. Her complete innocence kind of pushed the boundaries (that kind of innocence without being cloistered in a nunnery was um, surprising), but I liked her and I liked her relationship with Levi.

-Loving protective, slightly dense hero. Levi’s the youngest King and he’s tired of being treated like the baby, even if he doesn’t see how he ran away from the girl he loved was a dumb bunny move (they never had a romantic relationship when they were younger because Levi didn’t feel good enough for Shelly).

-Third book in series, but standalone. I wasn’t aware that it’s the third book in this series, but all three books take place at the same time, so it didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. I will say that I don’t feel the need to read the other books to feel this book was complete, so that was definitely a plus for me.

-Perhaps too sweet at times. Shelly’s complete standstill of a life waiting for Levi, even if not intended to seem that way, was a bit irksome. There’s no real tension except at the end, and it was an easy read, though I would have loved to have seen Shelly have a bit more fire in her, instead of basically treading water before Levi shows up. Emotionally, it’s very lovely but I would have loved a bit of kick to the overall tale.


An enjoyable read if you’re in the mood for small town best friends to lovers romance.

**ARC provided by publisher via netgalley for review**

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