Crashed Out by Tessa Bailey (Made in Jersey  #1)
Released: December 7, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Entangled

Reviewed by Mandi

I like the premise of this book but the execution didn’t work so well for me. Growing up, Sarge fell in love with his sister’s best friend. Jasmine is eight years older, and was even his babysitter for some time. As a teen, he would use any excuse to be in the same room with her. She would ruffle his hair and be on her way, and Sarge’s teenage hormones could barely take it. When he turned eighteen, he left town, found himself a band, and is now a famous rock star. In the past four years his professional life has exploded. He has traveled everywhere, made amazing music – but has not been back to visit his sister once. He feels guilty for having a niece he has never met – and he realizes his band mates and him need a short break. So he decides to surprise his sister with an unexpected visit.

Sarge’s sister is so happy to see him, but is afraid her young daughter will get confused with a man staying in the house, as his sister is a single mother. So his sister ships Sarge to Jasmine’s house, since she has an extra bed. Jasmine is a factory worker in her Jersey home town. She tries dating, but they usually end up as scum bags. When Sarge comes to crash in her spare room, she can’t believe it’s really him. When he left town four years ago, he was a scrawny kid, and now he is a man. A man with big shoulders.

…Sarge Purcell had been remodeled from a one-story colonial into a big brick mansion.

Jasmine slid her grip around his elbow, noticing his muscles go taut, but too curious to analyze that reaction. She turned him around to face her and couldn’t stop the words poised on her tongue from stage diving. “Holy holy shit.”

Sarge Purcell had turned into a man while he’d been gone.

Sarge immediately puts the moves on Jasmine, and this is where I started to have some problems. The romance felt so rushed. We barely get to know Jasmine and Sarge is throwing her on the kitchen counter. I felt like Jasmine was ambushed and didn’t get a second to breathe. When we go inside Sarge’s head – he has been in love with Jasmine for years. His attraction to her is out of control. But what about Jasmine?

Sitting beside him in the cab was the woman he’d been in cataclysmic lust with since middle school.

Jasmine needs more convincing. She is hung up on the age difference and that he is her best friend’s brother. While I usually love dirty sex scenes from Tessa Bailey – and we definitely get them – they didn’t feel organic to the story. Meaning, it felt like a lot of sex, and nothing else. I almost wish there hadn’t been so much sex. I guess I didn’t feel the emotional connection between them, especially on Jasmine’s side. I wanted them to put the breaks on the constant sex and maybe – date or something.

I needed more than just dirty sex – because pages of dirty sex aren’t the same when there isn’t a ton of chemistry between the lovers.

Grade: C

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