Molly McLain Books, LLC | September 15, 2015 | Contemporary Romance
River Bend, book 4
★★★★★
SOURCE: AUTHOR
Sometimes what you want and what you need are two very different things.
Always relegated to the “friends with benefits” corner of small town River Bend, Jenny Riley is done giving the milk for free. Falling hard for a bad boy? Not in the plan, either.
Sexy, emotionally-wounded Marine Reservist Brody Nelson just needs someone to lend an ear. A friend. Friends to lovers? That’s more than he bargained for.
Neither wants a relationship. A long distance friendship should be enough.
It’s not.
Warning: This books contains a tattooed, pierced hero with a few surprises up his sleeve...and a hella sexy one down his pants.
{ review } .
This series just gets better and better...
In an earlier RIVER BEND review, I stated how I was surprised I liked that particular book, simply because I'd read a mini-book and I didn't truly care for it... Well, I can now tell you with 100% certainty that CAN'T HOLD BACK was the exception to this series -- I've loved every single one outside of that one title (and it's not that I didn't like the writing in CAN'T HOLD BACK, I just wasn't a huge Maddie fan).
In this newest installment, Jenny is learning how to have a backbone -- she's learning that she deserves more than a friends-with-benefits relationship where the guy can and will drop her without a moment's hesitation... and she learns how to say 'no' to him when he comes back wanting just a little bit more.
It certainly helps when you have a brooding Marine at your back, though.
Brody lives for the Corps. He eats, breathes, sleeps the Marine Corps and would rather he took a spot overseas than give that same spot to someone who had someone to come home to, someone to fight for. When he's forced to come home and recoop, he doesn't quite know what to do with himself and if there's one thing that Molly did extremely well with Brody's character, it was Brody's reluctance to talk to someone (his shrink). But the more he comes to know Jenny, the more he wants to fix whatever the heck's going on in his head -- it's slightly a subconscious effort, but it happens nonetheless.
Brody and Jenny knew one another by degrees of separation -- they had friends in the same circles. Now that Brody is doing linesman work, he doesn't have as much time to visit his buddies in River Bend, but with Jenny there... he starts making a point to head out that way.
I loved seeing our old River Bend friends, and the friendship Jenny has with these girls was so extremely real and one that I could relate to.
Brody may very well be my favorite male Molly has brought out so far. Not because of his tattoos and his... mmhmm down there ;) but because of his mind. Yes, he thinks it's broken, but the way he thinks, and the things he does... he was just a lovable character. His 'voice' in the story had me cracking up multiple times, from looking at a picture of himself {There were some real sexy pillow lines on his face...} to the very male, very Marine/military person colorful nouns he uses. I loved his flirty ways and got a kick out of him showing off his sleeve to try and get Jenny's attention (fail), but I also appreciated that the first time he talks to Jenny (before they realize they have mutual friends), he keeps eye contact rather than having wandering eyes -- major brownie points, my friend.
While Jenny calls Brody 'Superman', Brody starts to see Jenny as his own hero. She's real and considerate, and someone Brody knows without a doubt he wants in his corner. Jenny has her demons though --
"...and I'm scared to freaking death that I'm not going to be enough for you either," she whispered, a small vulnerable smile trembled on her lips.
I loved that both Jenny and Brody were strong individuals who were covering up a lot of hurt, but together, they were pretty dang amazing.
Side note: one of my biggest pet peeves is when Marine Corps is wrongly shortened to Corp... But Molly shut my mind up with her correction of my other pet peeve of people calling Marines 'soldiers'. I loved that Brody pointed out the major flaw in that statement! Oorah :)
In an earlier RIVER BEND review, I stated how I was surprised I liked that particular book, simply because I'd read a mini-book and I didn't truly care for it... Well, I can now tell you with 100% certainty that CAN'T HOLD BACK was the exception to this series -- I've loved every single one outside of that one title (and it's not that I didn't like the writing in CAN'T HOLD BACK, I just wasn't a huge Maddie fan).
In this newest installment, Jenny is learning how to have a backbone -- she's learning that she deserves more than a friends-with-benefits relationship where the guy can and will drop her without a moment's hesitation... and she learns how to say 'no' to him when he comes back wanting just a little bit more.
It certainly helps when you have a brooding Marine at your back, though.
Brody lives for the Corps. He eats, breathes, sleeps the Marine Corps and would rather he took a spot overseas than give that same spot to someone who had someone to come home to, someone to fight for. When he's forced to come home and recoop, he doesn't quite know what to do with himself and if there's one thing that Molly did extremely well with Brody's character, it was Brody's reluctance to talk to someone (his shrink). But the more he comes to know Jenny, the more he wants to fix whatever the heck's going on in his head -- it's slightly a subconscious effort, but it happens nonetheless.
Brody and Jenny knew one another by degrees of separation -- they had friends in the same circles. Now that Brody is doing linesman work, he doesn't have as much time to visit his buddies in River Bend, but with Jenny there... he starts making a point to head out that way.
I loved seeing our old River Bend friends, and the friendship Jenny has with these girls was so extremely real and one that I could relate to.
Brody may very well be my favorite male Molly has brought out so far. Not because of his tattoos and his... mmhmm down there ;) but because of his mind. Yes, he thinks it's broken, but the way he thinks, and the things he does... he was just a lovable character. His 'voice' in the story had me cracking up multiple times, from looking at a picture of himself {There were some real sexy pillow lines on his face...} to the very male, very Marine/military person colorful nouns he uses. I loved his flirty ways and got a kick out of him showing off his sleeve to try and get Jenny's attention (fail), but I also appreciated that the first time he talks to Jenny (before they realize they have mutual friends), he keeps eye contact rather than having wandering eyes -- major brownie points, my friend.
While Jenny calls Brody 'Superman', Brody starts to see Jenny as his own hero. She's real and considerate, and someone Brody knows without a doubt he wants in his corner. Jenny has her demons though --
"...and I'm scared to freaking death that I'm not going to be enough for you either," she whispered, a small vulnerable smile trembled on her lips.
I loved that both Jenny and Brody were strong individuals who were covering up a lot of hurt, but together, they were pretty dang amazing.
Side note: one of my biggest pet peeves is when Marine Corps is wrongly shortened to Corp... But Molly shut my mind up with her correction of my other pet peeve of people calling Marines 'soldiers'. I loved that Brody pointed out the major flaw in that statement! Oorah :)
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