May 26, 2014

New Adult Mondays: Tease (The Ivy Chronicles #2)

The New Adult genre - their bad boys and big problems and epic loves make them engrossing tales that are so easy to lose yourself in. What's not to love about that? And, now, thanks to the cool chicks at Bewitched Bookworms, we can show these books the love they deserve in a weekly feature - New Adult Mondays.

This week, I'm hosting a stop on the Tease blog tour, organized by Bookslapped. Check out my review, then enter the giveaway for one of two Etsy giftcards or a basket of books from some of the Between the Covers authors, including Sophie Jordan! And, don't forget to check out all the other tour stops!

Tease (The Ivy Chronicles #2), by Sophie Jordan
Published May 27, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Format: e-book, provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble


Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads)
What happens when a girl who always calls the shots meets a guy who's too wild for even her?

A born flirt and good-time party girl, Emerson has never had a problem finding a willing guy. She's always chosen her hookups carefully, and she's never broken her three cardinal rules:

Never let them see the real you.
Never fall in love.
Always leave them begging for more.

Then Shaw comes along. A hottie from the wrong side of the tracks, he's immune to her flirtatious banter and come-hither smile. After rescuing her from a disastrous night at a biker bar, he doesn't even try to take her to bed—he calls her a tease and sends her home instead. Unable to resist a challenge, or forget the sexy, dark-eyed, bad-boy biker, she vows to bring him to his knees.

But instead of making Shaw beg, Emerson finds herself craving him. For the first time in her life, she's throwing out her rule book. Suddenly, she's the one panting for a guy she can't control—a guy who won't settle for anything less than the real Emerson and who forces her to do things she's never imagined, including facing a past she thought she'd buried.


A guy who just might leave her wanting more. . . 


Can I just tell you how much I love Sophie Jordan and her Ivy Chronicles couples? Good. 'Cause, I'm gonna.

Emerson loves men and loves sending them home when she's done with them. Don't get close and, for heaven's sake, don't fall in love with them. And then along came Shaw. He was everything she never went for - dark, dangerous, maybe a tad bad, and capable of taking away Em's well-earned control. But, Emerson's been hurt in the past and has decided that not falling in love is the answer. Not even Shaw can change her mind on that one.

Emerson was introduced in the first Ivy Chronicles book which followed Reece and Pepper's path to love. Emerson is one of Pepper's best friends, and I have to say, she seemed different in Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) when we were looking at her through Pepper's eyes. Emerson seemed to be a very "grab life by the horns" kind of girl. In Tease, Emerson was painted more of an avoider. She parties hard, uses guys and doesn't get close to people just so that she doesn't care about them too much. Because when you care about someone too much, and then they leave, it can sort of destroy you. Honestly, the Tease Emerson was more annoying than the Foreplay Emerson. She toyed with Shaw's emotions more than I usually like - there was a lot of pull and push from her, which became frustrating at times.

Shaw and Emerson meet when he steps in and saves her from a bad situation in a bar. He was chivalrous and kind and totally hot. And Emerson treats him like crap because she's attracted to him. What the what? There's a lot of snarky banter between them which is endearing and funny. Emerson fights her attraction to Shaw by unleashing her inner bitch and Shaw takes it and then some. He seems to be able to detect that she's running away from something and not genuinely a mean person.

And that is just one of the many reasons that I love Shaw. Dude - he was awesome. He put up with way more from Emerson than most men would. It's almost as if he knew she needed him as much as he needed her in his life. He has tats and is a former military man. He is good in a fight and with bikes. He's totally the different type of guy that Emerson usually goes for. And he works really hard at changing her mind. He slowly draws her out of her protective shell.

I loved their hobbies. Emerson is an art major at college. She paints and draws and uses her painting as her outlet. I love that about her. It was a dichotomy - she's not a soft, feely kind of girl, which is what painting seems as if it would be to me. I guess it's her one opportunity to be that kind of girl since she doesn't allow herself to feel that way with people. And, Shaw is a motorcycle guy. He can build them from the ground up, which is also really cool. So, he's sort of an artist too. They really do work well together despite Emerson's denial.

The sexual tension between the two is completely palatable, and when they finally give into it, OMG. It was awesome. Very well written and super sexy and sweet. It was my second favorite part of this book. My most favorite is how Shaw fought to win Emerson's heart. I'd be willing to bet you'll love it too. If you haven't started this totally excellent new adult series by Sophie Jordan, I suggest you get started on it. Although Tease can be read as a standalone, we do catch up with Pepper and Reece from book #1, so why not read Foreplay too while you're at it?


About the Author

Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler.

Learn more about Sophie --> Website / Twitter / Facebook


Giveaway

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