My Rating: 5 Stars
Sex Scenes: Yes.
Series: Yes, Dive Bar #2
Subject: Sometimes what you thought you wanted couldn't be farther from the truth.
Synopsis
When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot, bearded, bartender extraordinaire, Joe Collins, only intends to log into his account and shut it down. Until he reads about her.
Alex Parks is funny, friendly, and pretty much everything he's been looking for in a woman. And in no time at all they're emailing up a storm, telling each other their deepest darkest secrets... apart from the one that really matters.
And when it comes to love, serving it straight up works better than with a twist.
My Review
Book given in exchange of an honest review.
I really enjoy all of the books I'm given for reviewing; I got to know some amazing authors and their impressive work, but I have to admit it's always a thrill when I get a chance to read and review a book from one of my favorite authors.
I've fallen in love with Kylie's writing and characters when I first stumbled upon Lick and the Stage Dive series and now I get to do the same with these amazing bunch in the Dive Bar Series.
This time we get to read about Joe and Alex, they weren't each other's type or that is what they thought, but life had some surprises in store for them.
Their first encounter couldn't have gone worse and it seems there's no way they could ever see eye to eye again, Alex can't stand liars and in her eyes, this stranger is just that.
Joe has a great challenge in front of him, he needs to convince this intriguing woman, that he is not a liar and that everything was just a small mistake, so she can trust him again.
Their story is entertaining and has some uncomfortable moments for sure; how weird could it be to get to know someone and at the same time realize that you know them more than you though you did.
What will she do when she realizes that almost everything was true and she has known Joe for a long time?
Sparks fly and they need to get over their pride and fears before its too late. True love doesn't take into account your supposed tastes or whether you live close or far away; it just hits you and the only thing you can do is try to survive the fall.
Joe is my type of alpha, he is strong and sweet just in the right amounts, get ready to fall in love!
Excerpt
Hit the road to Spokane. Sure, I’d be loitering around the airport for hours and hours, but even that had to beat rehashing my oh- so-recent embarrassing past with this guy.
What I really wanted to do was swan-dive into a big soft bed and sleep for about a week. Too bad that wasn’t an option.
Opposite me, Joe sat forward in his seat, arms braced on the table. I’d returned to my usual attire, skinny jeans and boots (there were only two pairs of socks and about a hundred Band-Aids covering my poor blistered feet) and a black bulky, comfy sweater. No makeup or hair styling, that’s for sure. If the man was surprised by the lack of last night’s glamour, it didn’t show.
With all the body-shaping underwear, lip gloss, heels, and tiny dress, you could almost say I’d been fibbing about who I was. His lie, however, left my Spanx and push-up bra way behind.
We both stayed silent, watching each other warily.
A cute, perky waitress appeared, smile stretched wide at the sight of Joe. A curious gaze looked me over, then dismissed me. I swear, it took the woman no more than a nanosecond to decide I wasn’t any competition for my disheveled, hirsute, tattooed companion. Little did she know I’d always thought Jean Grey in X- Men got it right, Cyclops was a way better bet than Wolverine. All of that testosterone and bad attitude mixed with a screwy face and general give no shits about his appearance was not so wonderful. In all honesty, I’d take cool, calm, and well kept over anger management and body hair issues any day of the week. Joe was all hers. She turned slightly and hitched her hip, subtly blocking me out of the conversation.
Oh yeah, I’d be leaving her a real big tip. Something along the lines of “fuck off.”
“Hey,” purred the waitress. “Good to see you, Joe.”
“Hi, Jess.”
“The usual?”
Joe turned to me, apparently unaware he was being oh so obviously hit on. Interesting, his eyes were hazel in the sun, chocolate brown flecked with amber. Last night they’d seemed dark and furtive, brimming over with secrets and lies, but this morning, he was just a guy. Funnily enough, one I thought I’d known, though it turned out I hadn’t had a clue. Or maybe it was the other way around. I thought I hadn’t known much about him, but actually in a strange sort of way I did—which only complicated things further.
“They do great coffee and fresh juices here,” he said. “Excellent pancakes. Sound good?”
“Sure.”
Again, a small, safe smile, then he ordered for both of us. I did my best to tune out Joe and the waitress. Proving she had all the moves, however, cute, perky waitress then placed a hand on the table and leaned forward, giving the man a clear view down her shirt. All right, so I might have had a bit of breast envy on account of my minimal mammaries. And yeah, care of recent events and my head cold, my mood registered right around crap level. But if she was the universe’s way of messing with me, in an effort to pass along the message that Joe was in fact attractive, well . . . duh. I already knew that. Beards and bulk were on many a woman’s wish list. They just hadn’t been on mine. Could be I’d watched Keanu Reeves in The Matrix one too many times. That slick dark hair and cool out ts. Rawr.
“Are you sure I can’t get you anything else, Joe?” she asked, sucking on the end of her pen in a manner that would have made a porn star feel mildly uncomfortable.
“No, I think we’re good.” Joe looked my way. “Alex?” “All good over here.”
“Thanks, Jess.”
“Tell Eric I said hi,” said the waitress.
Joe gave her a friendly smile. “Will do.”
With a wiggle of the fingers, cute waitress sashayed her tiny little butt back o inside. Yes, fine. I’m a little sensitive about the size of my ass too. In all honestly, my issues are many.
“Friendly girl,” I muttered, hunkering down in my black wool coat.
Joe said nothing.
“Hypothetical question,” I said, my chin inching up a bit. “A waiter hits on the woman you’re with, what do you do?”
He blinked. “There a reason for this question?”
“Just curious.” I shook my head. “Never mind.”
It’s not like it mattered, because after this unfortunate breakfast we’d probably never cross paths again. So the waitress had rubbed me the wrong way. Such was life. Let it go. Move forward. Blah blah blah.
He cleared his throat. “If a waiter hits on the girl I’m with, I do nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Not unless it’s upsetting her.”
Hmm. “Why only then?”
“If it’s not upsetting her, then the problem’s mine.” He settled back in his chair, stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankle. “Make a big deal out of it and I look like a jealous douche bag who doesn’t trust his woman to ignore that sort of shit.”
“What if she enjoys that sort of shit?”
“Then I’m with the wrong woman.”
“Huh.”
“What about you? What if a man you were on a date with started flirting with the waitress?”
“Then I’m out of there.” I sighed and stared off down the street. Downtown Coeur d’Alene was a pretty place. And a somewhat strange one. “That is a very colorful moose.”
Joe turned in his chair, peering through the window at the brilliantly painted statue on the corner. “Yeah. They do different art installations every summer then sell them o as a fundraiser at the end of the season to pay the artists.”
“Wow.”
“Moose were the theme one year. Another time we had fountains on every corner. It was a little crazy,” he said.
“Cool.”
He tipped his chin, studying me.
I took the opportunity to sniffle. So feminine.
“I wanted to talk to you a bit more about what happened between us online,” he said, his mouth a serious straight line. “How I came to use my brother’s profile.”
Ugh. “I’m pretty sure I found out everything I needed to know last night.”
“I didn’t mean to lie to you, Alex.”
“Once is a mistake.” I crossed my legs, kicking my black leather bootie back and forth. So I was a little aggravated. Sue me. “Months’ worth of emails is not. You could have introduced yourself to me, Joe, told me who you really were. You chose not to. Christ, no wonder you kept putting off meeting. I should have known something was wrong.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t try to sell you excuses.”
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