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jess_78 's review for:
Bad Boys Do
by Victoria Dahl
Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads
…his green eyes twinkled. God, could he just do that on demand? What a terrible and deadly skill.
The first word that came to mind when finishing this book was emotional – I was really not expecting it, especially coming from crazy Tessa’s book, she had me rolling off the couch in fits of giggles. Jamie, I just wanted to give him a great big hug. Talk about a guy who’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, only no one really sees that. He’s the happy-go-lucky part owner/bartender of the Donovan Brothers Brewery, he wears kilts when he feels like it and loves the people that come in. He can work a room like nobody’s business and comes off as maybe an overgrown kid. But inside, he’s struggling to get himself out of the playboy role his brother and sister have always had him in. In their eyes, especially Eric’s, he’s irresponsible and would rather be looking for a good time instead of growing up. How wrong they are.
Olivia is coming off a bad marriage, bad in the sense that she gave up everything to be whatever her husband needed her to be, gave up her dreams, her likes, her personality and after she caught him cheating, she divorced him only to be completely lost. She can’t remember who she really is anymore. She lives and dies by lists, appointments, schedules, that’s her life. Her friend Gwen drags her to a monthly book club meeting where she meets Jamie and realizes that maybe taking a risk, even a really small one, might not be such a bad thing.
After a first date that happened under a few false pretenses, Olivia confesses that her ex told her that she wasn’t fun, and she desperately wants to learn how to have fun again. Jamie, who’s taking a restaurant management class taught by Olivia, wants to put together a complete plan for opening up a restaurant at the brewery. He’s determined to do it, but needs a consultant. Olivia and Jamie agree to help each other out and the fun starts.
Jamie pulled her in for a kiss.
“You look exactly the same way you do after sex,” he said.
“Because I’m laughing?” she collapsed into giggles again at his look of outrage.
“I was thinking more of the breathless screams.”
“I bet you were.”
Olivia is convinced that what they’re doing is just for “fun” and it takes her a bit to realize that he’s not at all like the persona he puts out there for people to see. He so desperately wants his family to start to see him, but he keeps everything so close to the vest, he doesn’t show them all the work he’s put into his home or the landscaping, and he doesn’t tell them that the time off he’s taking from work is to attend business classes. It’s not like Jamie doesn’t try to explain himself, he does but Eric cuts him off all the time and won’t listen. He doesn’t stop for one second and actually hear Jamie. He gets on him about everything and their bickering got a little old. If a bartender doesn’t show up, it’s Jamie’s fault because he hired him. Never mind the bartender isn’t there for a completely valid reason, everything’s Jamie’s fault. Some scenes were hard to read on Jamie’s behalf, it really bothered me how Eric treats him through most of the book. But with Olivia’s help, Jamie knows he can make something with his restaurant plans and moves forward knowing if it doesn’t happen at the brewery, he’ll make it work somewhere else.
Jamie and Olivia are a fun couple to get to know. They both have their hang ups, Olivia having a few more to deal with coming off a failed marriage, now she’s learning to have fun with a slightly younger guy and she’s in a career that she doesn’t love. She slowly comes to realize that the only person holding her back now is herself and her confidence grows throughout the story. They were interesting characters apart, but became stronger together, and of course once they got over some bumps along the road, the emotion really came out when Jamie started talking about his past.
Jamie kissed her hard, and she sucked at his tongue as if she needed this as much as he did. Framing her face in his hands, he kissed her for a long, long minute, then dragged his open mouth down her neck. She smelled like him. His soap, his shampoo. She wore his clothes and his scent and she was in his bed. He wanted to snarl with satisfaction.
We have a couple scenes with Eric, Jamie and Tessa and I just love how the brothers still act scandalized that she’s not the little sister they have in their minds. We get a small glimpse of where her relationship with Luke is at, and I love how “older brother” they both still act. Like Tessa would ever put up with it, it’s still very sweet.
This is another nice read in the Donovan Brothers Brewery series, seeing Olivia take back control of her life with the help of Jamie and watching Jamie realize that he has so much more to offer everyone around him, and having him fight for it. It was nice to watch these characters grow and come together and even though Eric acts like a huge jerk to Jamie, I want to know why(!) and I’m looking forward to finding out who the real Eric is in his book, up next.
…his green eyes twinkled. God, could he just do that on demand? What a terrible and deadly skill.
The first word that came to mind when finishing this book was emotional – I was really not expecting it, especially coming from crazy Tessa’s book, she had me rolling off the couch in fits of giggles. Jamie, I just wanted to give him a great big hug. Talk about a guy who’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, only no one really sees that. He’s the happy-go-lucky part owner/bartender of the Donovan Brothers Brewery, he wears kilts when he feels like it and loves the people that come in. He can work a room like nobody’s business and comes off as maybe an overgrown kid. But inside, he’s struggling to get himself out of the playboy role his brother and sister have always had him in. In their eyes, especially Eric’s, he’s irresponsible and would rather be looking for a good time instead of growing up. How wrong they are.
Olivia is coming off a bad marriage, bad in the sense that she gave up everything to be whatever her husband needed her to be, gave up her dreams, her likes, her personality and after she caught him cheating, she divorced him only to be completely lost. She can’t remember who she really is anymore. She lives and dies by lists, appointments, schedules, that’s her life. Her friend Gwen drags her to a monthly book club meeting where she meets Jamie and realizes that maybe taking a risk, even a really small one, might not be such a bad thing.
After a first date that happened under a few false pretenses, Olivia confesses that her ex told her that she wasn’t fun, and she desperately wants to learn how to have fun again. Jamie, who’s taking a restaurant management class taught by Olivia, wants to put together a complete plan for opening up a restaurant at the brewery. He’s determined to do it, but needs a consultant. Olivia and Jamie agree to help each other out and the fun starts.
Jamie pulled her in for a kiss.
“You look exactly the same way you do after sex,” he said.
“Because I’m laughing?” she collapsed into giggles again at his look of outrage.
“I was thinking more of the breathless screams.”
“I bet you were.”
Olivia is convinced that what they’re doing is just for “fun” and it takes her a bit to realize that he’s not at all like the persona he puts out there for people to see. He so desperately wants his family to start to see him, but he keeps everything so close to the vest, he doesn’t show them all the work he’s put into his home or the landscaping, and he doesn’t tell them that the time off he’s taking from work is to attend business classes. It’s not like Jamie doesn’t try to explain himself, he does but Eric cuts him off all the time and won’t listen. He doesn’t stop for one second and actually hear Jamie. He gets on him about everything and their bickering got a little old. If a bartender doesn’t show up, it’s Jamie’s fault because he hired him. Never mind the bartender isn’t there for a completely valid reason, everything’s Jamie’s fault. Some scenes were hard to read on Jamie’s behalf, it really bothered me how Eric treats him through most of the book. But with Olivia’s help, Jamie knows he can make something with his restaurant plans and moves forward knowing if it doesn’t happen at the brewery, he’ll make it work somewhere else.
Jamie and Olivia are a fun couple to get to know. They both have their hang ups, Olivia having a few more to deal with coming off a failed marriage, now she’s learning to have fun with a slightly younger guy and she’s in a career that she doesn’t love. She slowly comes to realize that the only person holding her back now is herself and her confidence grows throughout the story. They were interesting characters apart, but became stronger together, and of course once they got over some bumps along the road, the emotion really came out when Jamie started talking about his past.
Jamie kissed her hard, and she sucked at his tongue as if she needed this as much as he did. Framing her face in his hands, he kissed her for a long, long minute, then dragged his open mouth down her neck. She smelled like him. His soap, his shampoo. She wore his clothes and his scent and she was in his bed. He wanted to snarl with satisfaction.
We have a couple scenes with Eric, Jamie and Tessa and I just love how the brothers still act scandalized that she’s not the little sister they have in their minds. We get a small glimpse of where her relationship with Luke is at, and I love how “older brother” they both still act. Like Tessa would ever put up with it, it’s still very sweet.
This is another nice read in the Donovan Brothers Brewery series, seeing Olivia take back control of her life with the help of Jamie and watching Jamie realize that he has so much more to offer everyone around him, and having him fight for it. It was nice to watch these characters grow and come together and even though Eric acts like a huge jerk to Jamie, I want to know why(!) and I’m looking forward to finding out who the real Eric is in his book, up next.