Review: Betting the Bad Boy
Series: The Bad Boys of Destiny
Contemporary Romance
Released: January 11, 2016
Swerve

Reviewed by Sheena

Ten years ago, Duke King knew that getting involved with Grace Truman would only bring trouble into his already hard life. After all, the son of the town drunk has no business falling for the judge’s daughter…a passion that led to disaster and ended with Duke serving a ten year prison sentence. Duke never wanted to return to Destiny, especially now that he’s built a multimillion dollar custom car empire with his brothers. But when his sick aunt calls him home, he must face his past and discover a secret that instantly changes his life.

Grace never thought she would see Duke again, especially after years of silence. But when Duke comes storming back into her life, looking hotter than ever, and determined to get to know the son he never knew he had, she realizes that maybe she’d been wrong about him so many years ago. So Grace decides to make Duke a bet. If he can stay in the house with them for the next thirty days and prove he’ll be a good father, she’ll agree to letting him be part of his son’s life. If not, he’d better be prepared for a fight…

Second chance love can be rich and rewarding trope and one of my favorites.  I’m also partial to *gasp- I-didn’t-know-I-had-a-kid-and-now-I’m-back-gimmie!” trope. What I am not a huge fan of is the “I’m-the-baby-mama-and-what-I-say-goes, so-what-I-never-told -you-that-you-were-a-dad-” song and dance.  I do not like heroines who place restrictions and boundaries on fathers who (on the whole) are not bad dudes. Alpha and jerky, but not bad.  That just rubs me the wrong way- like seriously Grace, he does not have to live with you for a month to hack being a dad! I almost rather he just flip her the bird and duke it out in court, but alas, that would not a romance novel make.  So, I’ll bite and turn a semi-blind eye to the ridiculous premise that brings them under one roof and move along with the romantic feels of it all.

Duke is a rough and tough alpha bad boy, unapologetic with his tough exterior, yet had a softer side tucked away just beyond where the eyes can see.   He also remained mentally grounded, even with his great business success.  Grace was the quintessential good girl whose father is a prominent judge. She and Duke had a hot and steamy, misunderstood love affair when she was eighteen.  Trying to do what he thought was best for her (high handed!!!!) Duke breaks things off and in a cruel twist of fate (he kicks the total and complete ass of the town Sheriff’s douchebag son) Grace and Duke are torn apart and do not see one another for more than thirteen years when mutual familial distress brings them both back to town to face one another. And. She. Has. His. Baby- well teenager- but you get the drama of it all! Whew!

Grace is battling insecurities regarding Duke’s motives and Duke is up against his own formidable fury in being kept in the dark about his son- a son who as fate would have it, is battling his own demons and needs his father more than ever.  Neither have ever fallen in love since falling for one another so long ago.  Sexually, Grace and Duke set the pages afire but the meat of this story is how they came to trust one another again,  especially in relation to Ryder’s obstacles.  I confess,  the primary trouble I had with this novel is that the characters waffle in and out of likability.  I didn’t love how Duke could be so very rude and I didn’t love how Grace was irrational in her expectations and when she whined….yeah- no thanks.  I respected her for working hard and holding down jobs to support herself and Ryder. I also respected Duke for not forgetting where he came from but they both had a lot of personal growth to get through before I could really like them. That impacted how well I could have potentially enjoyed the story.

The real star of the novel is Duke’s meddling aunt Lolly.  My favorite character in the story, she has her hand in damn near every romantic pot in town, with plenty of time to stir! Absolutely a scene stealer and saved my overall impression of the story.  If it were not for Lolly, Duke would not be back in town, nor would he have a chance to help raise his son.  Grace and Duke have a ton of dormant aggression and anger to work out obviously, taking their battle royale between the sheets was a given!  Nothing gratuitous, but I certainly was not left wanting in the sensuality department.  The second chance love between the judge’s daughter and the town drunk’s son was hard-won and along with being a strong romance, the redemption both Grace and Duke achieved was respectable.

Overall, thankfully, the plot moved- a tribute to the author’s ability to weave the story line exponentially.  Betting the Bad Boy is a pretty fast read (a story like this does not work as a slow burner! Trust me!) and I also enjoyed getting to know the townsfolk as Destiny is a living city, teaming with colorful life. Betting the Bad Boy is the second in the Bad Boys of Destiny series.  I think it stands squarely alone as I did not feel like there was an elusive “something” missing, the story was told and unfolded on its own quite nicely.  Sugar Jamison is a new-to-me author, I am not compelled to go back and read The Bad Boy CEO, however, I am invested in Duke’s brother, Levi having an HEA so count me in for Book 3!

Grade C+:
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