Menu
3 Stars / Contemporary / Review

Review: Heavy Petting by Erin Nicholas

He’s her best friend. A reformed bad boy turned hot teacher. And after one spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding… her husband.

Jordan Benoit and Fletcher Landry have been best friends since they were six. He’s always been The Guy. When she needed picked up, cheered up, or lifted up–like literally, to see the stage at a concert–Fletcher was the guy.

So when her boyfriend dumps her–on national TV–Fletcher immediately gets on a plane and comes to her rescue.

And when she ends up in a Vegas wedding chapel and needs someone to say, “I do”…yep, Fletcher’s the guy. Of course.

But being The Guy 24/7 is a lot. He just wants everyone to give him a freaking minute to get this marriage thing right. Including his sexy, sweet new wife who he’s wanted for three years. Who is exasperatingly, temptingly all-in from minute one.

Jordan knows what she wants. A life in her hometown. A job with alpacas. And Fletcher. Not necessarily in that order.

They’ve said the vows. They’d told the world. They’ve told their grandmas. Forget taking things slow. Forget just heavy petting. Forget any chance of backing out when things get tough. They’re going to have to go all the way, in every way.

After all, friends becoming lovers should be the easiest thing in the world. Right?

Title:Heavy Petting
Author:Erin Nicholas
Series:Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild (Book 2)
Pages:381
Genre(s):Contemporary
Trope(s):Friends to Lovers
Small Town Romance
Opposites Attract
Point of View:Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoints (H & h)
Location:Autre, Louisiana, USA
HEA:✔️
Release Date:25th May, 2021
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AmazonUK.jpgThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AmazonUS.jpgThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AmazonOz.jpgThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AmazonCanada.jpg

Enjoyable back-to-front romance

3 stars

This is the second book in Erin NicholasBoys of the Bayou Gone Wild series. These books are spin-offs from the original Boys of the Bayou series. While this book does stand alone, it is awash with characters from the original series, this series, and introduces us to those still to get their own books. It’s a lot… so if you haven’t read any of the previous books, maybe this isn’t the book to start with.

Jordan and Fletcher’s story had been teased in previous books and since I love a friends to lovers with a bit of unrequited love thrown in – I expected to adore this book from beginning to end.

It’s packed with Nicholas’ trademark humour, wit and close-knit small-town Bayou family and friends. It’s action-packed in so much that there’s always something going and some mad-cap scheme being cooked up by one Landry or another. For those who’ve read the previous books, it’s always fun to catch up with some of the characters – and their partners – from previous books.

Jordan has just been publicly dumped after an 11 year relationship when our story starts. And I guess that’s the start of where I had a few problems with the book. After dedicating 11 years of your life to someone, and him being an alright guy, and turning down our hero not once but twice… the jump to let’s get married and I’m in love with you, made Jordan seem exceptionally fickle in my eyes. I didn’t dislike her – I just didn’t identify with her and, well, I didn’t believe her.

“…the heat is cranked up in our story and Jordan and Fletcher are deliciously compatible.”

I liked Fletcher and thought he was the perfect blend of gruff protector type, and sweetheart determined to make everything perfect for Jordan. I understood his anxiety of taking the relationship further but, I mean, you’ve just married the girl you’ve loved for years and then you hit the brakes? I didn’t get it.

As always with Ms Nicholas, the heat is cranked up in our story and Jordan and Fletcher are deliciously compatible. Because they’ve known each other, and been best friends, for their whole lives, we don’t have the usual ‘getting to know you’ phase which means we get stuck right in. The teasing coupled with the dirty talk is an added bonus.

I say the story is back-to-front as the “I dos” take place at the start of the story and then our couple’s love story begins. From there, it’s more about learning each other as lovers rather than friends, and taking that next – and first – step in married life. Their story was sweet and hot, but when you pare it back to everyone other than Jordan and Fletcher’s relationship, it’s actually fairly uneventful.

An enjoyable tale but not one that lit my world on fire. Not my favourite from Ms Nicholas but she still remains one of my go-to authors for a good-time read. 3 stars.

3 stars

*I received this book in exchange for my honest view*

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.

Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Link-Small.pngThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Instagram-Small.pngThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Goodreads-Small.pngThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Twitter-Small.pngThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Facebook-Small.pngThis image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Bookbub-Small.png

Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild Series:

No Comments

    Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.