Dirty Talk by Megan Erickson (Mechanics of Love #2)
Released: September 15, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Avon Impulse
Reviewed by Mandi
Book two in Megan Erickson’s Mechanics of Love series, focuses on the cocky, fun brother Brent, and a new girl in town named Ivy. Ivy, her young daughter and her sister Alex have all just moved to Maryland and they really want to establish some roots. Alex is the tough sister, the one Ivy turned to after her daughter’s father wanted nothing to with their new baby. Meanwhile, Alex fell in love, but her boyfriend turned into a monster. He started emotionally abusing her, scaring Ivy and her daughter too. They fled, and now they want to start over. Alex now works in the mechanic shop that Brent owns along with his father and brother Cal (Cal was hero in book one). Brent meets Ivy through Alex and wham, bam, thank you ma’am – he likes what he sees.
Brent is known as the jokester of the family. The cocky one. The one that takes nothing seriously. Very quick-witted and gorgeous as sin, he has ladies lining up and he happily obliges them. But when he sees Ivy, some true romantic feelings come to the surface. He wants to impress her and woo her like a mature adult.
And he didn’t want to care about what Ivy thought of him, but, dammit, he did. It bothered the hell out of him that she’d written him off before even meeting him. Did Alex tell her any of his good qualities? Like…Brent wracked his brain for good qualities.
While he loves his job as a mechanic, his true dream has always been to become a firefighter – but he is too embarrassed to tell his family that, thinking they will make fun of him for not being serious enough about life to take on that job. So he worries about giving Ivy the right impression. In my eyes, he does a damn fine job.
Ivy is hesitant to get involved with a man, after seeing what Alex just went through – but Brent makes her insides feel funny. After Brent helps her daughter after a school bus accident, Ivy feels like she owes him something – so he asks for a date. Not sex – just a date. And it’s romantic and cute. He holds her hand and they have great conversation.
And that’s when he didn’t care anymore about what he should or shouldn’t do. He reached over and grabbed her hand, wrapping his fingers around her palm.
At first, she kept her hand flat on the seat where it’d been. Then, slowly, so slowly, she curled his fingers around his.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and her gaze was on their hands, a small smile on her face.
He stared at the road and grinned.
After that, Ivy is in big trouble. She likes him – a lot.
I love heroes like Brent. He is funny, always has a comeback and just a really good dude. He would do anything for anyone, but his image is one that is more self-absorbed. He is a player, and has enjoyed his more wild lifestyle. But now he has a house, and a dog and he has his sights set on Ivy. Their courtship is done well in this book. Like I mentioned, they go on dates. They hold hands. They have innocent kisses and really dirty kisses. They have silly conversations- like when he tells Ivy his big plan to get women to come home with him after a date involves getting a stain on his shirt….
“Anyway, so I need to change my clothes, right? I can’t walk around looking like a slob.”
“Heck no.”
“So I take my shirt off when I drive my date home.”
“Because so many people will notice the stain while you are driving?”
“Well, I’ll notice the stain. And so will she. So I take my shirt off!” He spread his hands out, as if to say voila.
And she stared at him, blinking, waiting for more. But instead, he sat there with a satisfied smirk on his face. She cleared her throat. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“That’s your grand plan? To drive home shirtless?”
“Babe, you haven’t seen me shirtless. It’s a damn-good plan. Trust me.”
They work their way up to having sex, as Ivy needs a little time to process everything. I like that she is a little fearful of getting into a relationship, but she fights for it too. She doesn’t want the fear associated with Alex’s ex to rule her life.
I really enjoyed book one in this series and I liked this one just as much. Alex’s book is next and I can’t wait to see who she is paired with.
Grade: B+
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