* * * * *
I know two things when I meet my new boss, Greyson Parker Montgomery III.
One, he’s an egomaniac.
And two, we’re going to get naked.
Something I didn’t know? That I’d end up pregnant.
No one is more surprised by our off-the-charts chemistry than me. I’m a free spirit with a passion for design and a taste for the bohemian. Greyson is a cocky venture capitalist who’s as soulless as his sharply cut power suits.
He owns half of Charleston, and has the other half at his beck and call. But the only place he owns me is in bed...or in the backseat of his car, boneless and begging for mercy.
We argue over contracts and costs all day long. Behind closed doors, however, we engage in a different kind of business. The kind that has me surrendering to his unique brand of dominance.
Our no-strings attached arrangement suits me just fine. Until I wake up one morning with what I think is a wicked hangover.
Only it’s not a hangover.
I thought Greyson was a typical “greed is good” grump. But when he demands to be involved in the life we accidentally created, I start to see a different side of him. One that’s more gentleman than jerk.
Am I crazy to think we could be a family together? Or is making me fall for him just another one of his power plays?
Source: advance ebook provided by author in exchange for an honest review
If there's one thing I've come to rely on from Jessica Peterson is this: sweet sexy stories with a happily ever after that makes the world seem right for a few precious moments.
Julia and Greyson are brought together through mutual friend, Eli to help him restore and renovate his farmhouse as part of his successfully growing farm-to-table business. Julia, who is a college professor by day and an interior designer whenever she can work it into schedule, relishes projects such as this. It allows her to connect with her creative side and relive those memories of working with her father who passed away. The only thing that could make this project a nightmare is Greyson who is for all intents and purposes, a stick in the mud. You could say that Greyson is simply misunderstood. He allows people to think of him as a serious, no time for nonsense businessman when in truth, it's his love of family that drives him to take on most of the responsibility of maintaining and growing the venture capitalist business he shares with his brother. The company's success means that everyone is provided for. His personal life may have taken a few hits but it's work that he can control to a certain extent and that is what drives him. Julia and Grey may butt heads about the project, but that does nothing to lessen the obvious sexual tension between them. They finally just give in to it thinking it'll just be a one time thing - of course it's not. Months later, Julia discovers she pregnant and everything changes.
I like that most of the book is Julia and Grey figuring out how to fit the pregnancy into their lives and also, how to fit into each other's lives. Grey, as nervous as he is, is on board with doing whatever Julia needs done. Julia, has all the up and down moments of pregnancy, and I swear I felt her pain and joy through each trimester. Pregnant women and their hormones - it's a fun ride, let me tell you! There's a lot to wade through between Julia's emotions including depression and Grey's constant fight with himself to be dependable despite feeling he's not worthy of happiness. Then there's also how their relationship has to evolve to include impending parenthood. I think this is a struggle that most expecting parents grapple with - learning how to read each other's needs and also to communicate those needs. So much is changing and at such speed, and Peterson addresses those challenges head on.
I feel like each new book in the series becomes my new favourite. There's just something about this turn of events for Julia and Grey whose relationship could have gone in a far different direction were it not for the pregnancy. They could've gone on with their friends-with-benefits routine, and who knows, they could've fizzled out. But this pregnancy gives them both new life (pun intended). In a way, it's the redemption that Grey is looking for and the family that Julia has missed. Sometimes things happen for a reason and it just so happens that these two were in the right place and time of their lives to take this next step together. Southern Gentleman is that hot, sexy summer read you should add to your TBR right now!
~ Bel
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