I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
All Jacked Up
by
Lorelei James
erotic romance in eBook edition that was published by Samhain Publishing on November 3, 2009 and has 280 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Corralled, Saddled and Spurred, Rode Hard, Put Up Wet, Wrangled and Tangled, Long Hard Ride, Cowgirl Up and Ride, Rough, Raw and Ready, Tied Up, Tied Down, Wild Ride, Branded as Trouble, Shoulda Been a Cowboy, Raising Kane, Cowgirls Don't Cry, Chasin' Eight, One Night Rodeo, Casanova Cowboy, Kissin' Tell, Gone Country, Mistress Christmas, Miss Firecracker, Bound, Redneck Romeo, Unwound, Turn and Burn, Hillbilly Rockstar, "Schooled", Wrapped and Strapped, Unraveled, What You Need, Just What I Needed, Racked and Stacked, Hang Tough, Spun Out, All You Need, I Want You Back, Want You to Want Me
Eighth in the Rough Riders erotic western romance series revolving around the McKay family. The couple focus is on Keely McKay and Jack Donohue.
My Take
It’s too funny how much these two hate and lust after each other. I enjoyed all the snarky comments and the jabs as much as I enjoyed the hot sex. They hate each other’s music. Jack likes TV and Keely would rather be out socializing. He adores his 760li Series BMW and doesn’t see why he has to swap cars with Keely just ’cause he’s borrowing her pickup.
Okay, I ain’t buyin’ it. Just why is it that Jack has to move in with Keely??
Crack me up! Every time one of the McKay boys—or her dad!—gets near Jack, they have but one thing to say. They will hurt him bad if he hurts their baby sister. Then there’s the young audience they acquire at the engagement party…woo-hoo! I am still rolling and laughing! And Jack is falling in love, desperate to figure out how to keep Keely off balance.
For her part, Keely’s falling in love, too. A man who can keep her off-balance. Yet, she knows it’s not to be.
I do enjoy James’ stories. There may be a genetic wild streak caroming through the McKays and Wests, but they are the most caring, loving, supportive people with all sorts of human issues. It’s like a moral soap opera. Yes, I said moral about an erotic western romance series. You’d be hard put to find a more decent group of people.
The Story
As Keely is about to find out, Fate hates her for her arch-nemesis, Jack Donohue, is her landlord and the expert consultant she has to hire to get her building’s renovations approved. All her dreams…down the toilet.
Keely and Jack are oil and water. Each despises the other. Only, there’s this commission Jack would just about kill to get. If Keely agrees to “marry” him, he’ll do her renovation.
Only, everything goes wrong. Including that conference dinner where Keely meets Jack’s bitch of an ex who really knows how to ram it home.
The Characters
Keely McKay is about to see her dream come true. She hopes. Carolyn and Carson are her parents and daddy just ain’t buyin’ her news either.
Jack Donohue owns a number of rental properties, has a license to approve changes and restorations for historical buildings, and is an architect. He hates his background, hates ranching; he’s Mr. GQ himself. Doro is his mother and she’s all excited about planning the engagement party. Justin is his younger brother. The one who dumped Keely after their little threesome with his friend because of what Jack said to him.
Keely’s brothers are Carter, the Western artist who is married to a pregnant-again Macie; Cam is a cop married to Domini and they have Anton, Liesl, Dimitri, and Oxsana although Domini really wants to adopt two more—Markus and Sasha; Colt is married to India and they have a son Hudson; Colby and Channing have Gib, Braxton, Miles, and Austin; and, Cord is with AJ and they have Kyler and Foster.
The McKay cousins include:
Kade who’s married to Skylar and they have three kids: Eliza, Peyton, and Shannie; Kane is still single; Quinn, Bennett, and Chase; and, Luke, Brandt, Tell, and Dalton.
The West cousins include:
Chet and Remy West will be doing the remodeling work. Then there’s Dax, Nick, Blake, Harris, Lief, and Sebastian. Chassie West is married to Trevor and Edgard.
Dr. Joely Monroe makes an appearance. Seems she’s been encouraging Keely to open her own clinic.
Baxter Ducheyne is his former partner now married to Jack’s former fiancée, Martine. The one more interested in Baxter’s bank account. Jack left BDM, Inc. and moved to Denver, setting up his own architectural firm. Gina Arguello fills Jack in on Martine.
Henry is the point man for the Milford project in Utah. A job Jack desperately wants, but he has to appear respectable.
The Cover and Title
The cover is the signature Rough Riders with its sepia-toned black-and-white-style photograph with a narrow band of leather topped by a “carved” floral spray. I’m a little disappointed that Jack Donovan is in jeans when his pinstripe trousers are so much more him. He’s leaning toward Keely, his right hand on her shoulder, and her long hair falling to her shoulders in white jeans and a black bra. It’s only a bit scary that whatever lipstick she’s wearing makes her look like a vampire about to take a bite…eek!
The title is so accurate about Jack and Keely’s relationship as they are All Jacked Up.
