Carlton
Monroe is finally getting his groove back. After a year playing dad to his
nephew and sending him safely off to college, it’s back to his bachelor ways.
But when his teenaged niece shows up on his doorstep looking for a permanent
home, his plan comes to a screeching halt. Family is everything, and in the
eyes of social services, a couple makes a better adoptive family than an
overworked bachelor father. A fake relationship with his closest friend is the
best way to keep his family together.
If things between him and Deion are complicated, well, it only needs to last
until the end of the semester.
Living with Carlton is a heartbreak waiting to happen, and once the adoption
goes through, Deion’s out. He’s waited two decades for Carlton to realize
they’re meant for each other, and he’s done. It’s time to make a clean break.
But it’s hard to think of moving away when keeping up the act includes some
very real perks like kissing, cuddling and sharing a bed.
Even the best charades must come to an end, though. As the holidays and Deion’s
departure date loom, the two men must decide whether playing house is enough
for them—or if there’s any chance they could be a family for real.
Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Higher Education series!
For book one, Learned Behaviors, click HERE.
Book
2
Buy Links
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Carina Press (Harlequin)
Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
I’m not a big fan of romance stories with fake relationships but by the time
the assumption is made that Carlton and Deion are a couple, things between the
men are already so complicated, I actually thought playing house might help.
These two are just circling around each other, Carlton terrified to admit that
he loves and needs Deion, and Deion openly admitting how he feels but not
prepared to force the issue.
I loved Deion, but it killed me that this wonderful 38-year-old had effectively
been pining after his friend all his adult life. This made it unlikely that his
dream of marriage and family was going to happen. That made me sad. I wanted
more than anything for Deion to be happy. When the story switched to Carlton’s
point of view and we get to experience how he feels about Deion, it gave me a
little hope that Deion had a chance with Carlton. Carlton is a really good guy.
He looks out for others, takes over the parenting of his niece with no notice,
and he does love Deion, he just won’t admit it.
This was a story that tugged on my heart strings big time. Sometimes my
feelings were warm and fuzzy and other times they were being crushed by
heartache. As the story progressed, Carlton started to frustrate me. I just
wanted to smack him in the head and tell him to get his act together. But by
the end of the story, the frustration at Carlton and the troubles between him
and Deion were totally worth it. The ending to this story is so romantic.
For me, Learned Reactions was a wonderful, emotional, and at times, frustrating
romance and I totally loved it.
Jayce
Ellis has three loves: her husband and her two turtles. Hubby loves her back.
The turtles she’s not so sure about, but they do love their sports (Oakland/Bay
Area teams FTW!). She still hasn’t figured out why she lives in Northern
Virginia, where there’s weather, instead of her home state of California, or
even Mr. Jayce’s Florida, where it’s just... pretty. Jayce spends her days
breaking up happily married couples (or so she’s been told, but really, what do
exes know anyway?), and her nights talking maniacally to herself. Thankfully,
the recorder catches her rumblings and turns them into words on a screen.
Magic! Because really, painting nails is way easier when you don’t actually have
to type, and with well over 500 polishes to get through, there’s a lot of
painting going on.
Notwithstanding her no-good, very bad, horrible day job, Jayce seriously
believes that true love conquers all. Even Maleficent said it. Sure, she was
having an epic Mean Girls moment at the time, but she was right. The
only thing Jayce loves more than writing about it is hearing from readers who
feel the same way. Drop her a line; she’d love to hear from you.
Connect with
Jayce
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website
~ Goodreads
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Learned Reactions (Higher Education #2) by Jayce Ellis to read
and review.
