Wistful/Wanton Wednesday!

You guys, we are totally making it. If this week is kicking your arse, or if you are on a roll taking no prisoners yourself, it’s freaking hump day and we are halfway through the week! To celebrate our thriving/surviving, I have the perfect, perfect romantic treat!

Samantha Chase is an auto-buy for me. I love her stories. They strike this balance of romance and steamy anticipation that rides you hard from beginning to end. This was never more evident than in her latest The Shaughnessy Brothers #7 novel, Tangled Up in You. Don’t bat an eyelash at this series being seven books deep. They stand alone, though the family bonds, naturally, thread throughout the series tying each entry together. I’ve read them all and am confident that even series new comers or casual readers that have only read one or two (wait, how?) can jump right in without a ripple. (JUMMMMMP!)

One fateful night Bobby Hannigan sustains a gunshot wound that could end his career as a police officer. If that’s taken from him, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. The only ray of hope is Teagan Shaughnessy—a kindhearted single mom who understands his struggles…

Teagan and her young son have just moved back to the Carolina coast to be near family. When she meets Bobby, the timing feels wrong, but everything else feels oh-so-right. Bobby and Teagan each had plans for their own futures. But they’re finding that those plans are meaningless if they can’t be together…

Ok. Can we pause and give it up for the blurb!? I mean Chase has somehow wielded three of my fav tropes and aimed straight for my heart! I already knew the pulverizing was imminent. A man in uniform, wounded (destined to be growly!) finding solace in the arms of a single mom with the heart of gold!?! I immediately sent for my best pearls and smelling salts- I knew. Oh baby, I knew! I was in for a treat!

Bobby Hannigan was your hero’s hero. I appreciated that he was so vulnerable, yet steadfast. His healing, his fears, ugh, I felt him deeply. Teagan bucked every lame single mom stereotype you dare consider. She was not looking to be saved, she held agency over her own actions, thoughts and love life and she was human. Human in a way that I think some may be startled by. I was a little, though her spirit just endeared her to me even more as she grew as a person. This was a story of equals, both characters had work to do and it was a pleasure to see them actually do the work- not just fall into lust, officer saves the day and bam, sex and insta-family. Their HEA wasn’t easy and didn’t always seem set in stone. I only knew it was a lock- because it had to be….right…. *waves salts!* Their “will they/won’t they” was pretty epic! If you like a little push with your pull, this romance more than fits the bill. Did I mention the sweet and sexy?

Oh- Chase spares us nothing!

The adoration:

“I want whatever we find to be ours. Yours, mine, and Lucas’s. You’re my family. My heart. My home. And I want nothing more than to start a life with the two of you and build on it.”
“I’ve waited a long time for you, Teagan Shaughnessy. I’ve been wandering through life, searching for something. I had no idea what I was looking for until the day I met you. And now that I have you, I don’t want to ever let you go.

The…undulation….

When he placed a knee on the bed and went to reach for her, he was surprised to notice that his hand was trembling. He had sworn to himself during the drive over that they wouldn’t do this. There were too many things they really needed to discuss. But there was no way he could stop now. No way he would deny her—them—this. She was already barefoot and his hand trailed slowly from her slim ankle up her leg. Teagan had on khaki shorts that allowed him to caress a whole lot of smooth skin. She purred as his hand moved farther and farther up. He gently tickled her thigh before reaching for the waistband. Her hand settled over his.
“I want you to know,” she said breathlessly, “I wasn’t prepared for this.”
It was a weird thing to say, but he took it to mean that maybe she hadn’t put fresh sheets on the bed or something. Leaning down, he kissed her.
“It’s okay,” he said.
With the shorts unbuttoned, he pulled down the zipper and then gently began to tug the fabric over her hips. Once they were off and he had tossed them aside, he studied her and grinned widely.
“I wish I had thought to change,” she said, smiling shyly.
Running his hand up her leg again, he said, “You know how much I love you in white cotton.”
“I thought you loved me in those lacy thongs I bought?” He laughed. “Sweetheart, I love you in anything and everything.”
Next thing he knew, Teagan was pulling her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside like he had done with her shorts.
“One of us is severely overdressed here.”
Straightening, he quickly undressed, adding his shirt and shorts to the growing pile of clothes on the floor. They both sighed in unison as he settled between her thighs.
“You feel so good,” he murmured, kissing her throat, her shoulder, the swell of her breast.
“And you taste even better.”
“Mmm…is that right?”
He nodded because he couldn’t speak. His lips didn’t want to leave her skin. She was so warm and soft and…still overdressed. Using his teeth, Bobby moved first one bra strap and then the other from her shoulders, then nudged the cups aside.
Glorious.