While the first book in this series got its hooks into me and kept me turning the pages, this one just didn’t do it for me. I can’t seem to pinpoint what the problem was and it leads me to believe it may have been my mood more than anything else. The characters are great, their story has emotional depth and plenty of heat, and there wasn’t even a lot of pushback like I expected with the FMC being so high-powered and business oriented.

Tiffany and Dylan meet at his brother’s wedding, although she’s not actually a guest and just happens to walk into the bar they are at. But she does know Mick and his bride and falls into an easy banter/flirting with Dylan right away. She’s looking to blow off some steam, a quick wham-bam-thank you ma’am. While Dylan is not averse to those types of encounters, he’s always been on the lookout for the one he can settle down and build a life with. He feels an instant connection with Tiffany and believes she may be the one for him. Tiffany feels this, too but has never seen herself as the settling-down type. Her career takes up too much time and she isn’t really in the market to let someone in behind her walls. She doesn’t do emotional.

Dylan is very sweet and patient and understanding. I love that he understands how important Tiffany’s job is to her and that her drive and determination are part of what makes her who she is, so he’s not looking to change her. But he does want some of her precious time. Tiffany is resistant at first, but quickly finds herself craving time with Dylan and realizing that she hasn’t been letting anyone in, not even her dad and brothers. She’s determined to find a more balanced life while still going after what she wants in her career.

There are some wonderfully steamy scenes in this story, including a phenomenal phone/facetime scene that shows how hot such a thing can be while also being super intimidating and awkward. Both characters are excited and nervous and it’s just a delicious scene.

That being said, there is some language used that I felt was misogynistic and some attitudes toward certain sexual proclivities that I wasn’t on board with. Understandably, Tiffany would have a bad taste in her mouth about certain things due to what her ex-boyfriend did, but when the conversation comes up about this it seems both characters are so dismissive of alternative lifestyles. Plus, Dylan uses a term for a female body part to describe himself when he’s feeling weak more than once. It happens a lot. Too much.

So there’s good and bad with this book. Some things would have kept me from being all in on the story, as I reference above, even if I had been in the right headspace. But I also think I would have been more engaged if I had been in the right mood.

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.