{"id":3167,"date":"2015-07-07T08:08:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T12:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=3167"},"modified":"2017-03-08T14:42:49","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T19:42:49","slug":"review-sustained-the-legal-briefs-2-by-emma-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=3167","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sustained (The Legal Briefs, #2) by Emma Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

5 hilariously chaotic, sweet (and hot) romantic stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love this book! Romantic, steamy, and so freaking funny! Emma Chase has given us a great story \u2013 once again from the POV of a sensational hero who is a total ass, but who you can\u2019t help but love. Add to that a smart and sensible heroine, and six feisty but adorable kids, and it\u2019s a fantastically fun read.<\/p>\n

This is book two in the\u00a0Legal Briefs<\/em>\u00a0series \u2013 focussed around a group of friends who are all attorneys. The stories do tie in with the group firmly involved in each other\u2019s lives, but this book can easily be read as a standalone.<\/p>\n

Jake is a criminal defence attorney, he is firmly dedicated to his career and his life is all about order and control, and he makes an effort to keep his life as uncomplicated as possible. This includes women – he has never had a relationship, and sticks to frequent and non-emotional one-night stands.<\/p>\n

And then Chelsea Quaid comes into his life. Chelsea has recently become the guardian to her six nieces and nephews (aged 6 months to 14 years) – the children of her recently deceased brother and his wife. Her life is everything that Jake has always avoided, but he finds himself getting sucked into the chaos that is their family.<\/p>\n

The racket reverberates down the second staircase and spills out into the kitchen, and the two screeching, running kids who are making it do laps around the island like a fucked-up\u00a0<\/em>Hunger Games\u00a0of ring-around-the-rosey.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow many kids live in this house exactly?\u201d
\nIt\u2019s starting to feel like they\u2019re cockroaches \u2013 see one and you can bet there\u2019s fifty more crawling around inside the walls.
\nI shiver.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before he knows it, his life is overtaken by Chelsea and her kids, and he\u2019s dealing with drunken teenagers, One Direction concerts, Mommy & Me classes, being called to the Principal\u2019s office and copious amounts of vomit. And OMG, it\u2019s hilarious! Jake doesn\u2019t pull any punches with the kids. He\u2019s practical and straight to the point and doesn\u2019t take any shit from them, but he\u2019s also fiercely protective, and he is there for them in every way that he can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to add a piano teacher to the list.\u201d\u2026
\n\u201cWhat do you mean? You have a piano teacher.\u201d
\n\u201cNot anymore.\u201d The seven-year-old shrugs.
\nChelsea turns suspicious eyes on me.
\nAnd I have no guilt at all. \u201cThat guy shouldn\u2019t be teaching children. Sadistic son of a bitch.\u201d
\n\u2026
\n\u201cHe hit my knuckles with the ruler \u2018cause I messed up.\u201d
\n\u201cExhibit A,\u201d I interrupt. \u201cWhat kind of sick fuck could hit her?\u201d I motion to Rosaleen\u2019s joyously precious face. \u201cRory? He\u2019s another story. Her? No way.\u201d
\nRosaleen continues. \u201cSo Jake went out to his car and came back in with baseball bat Monsier La Rue asked him what he was doing and Jake told him, \u201cYou hit that kid\u2019s knuckles again, I\u2019m gonna hit you with this.\u2019\u201d
\nChelsea turns to me, her head tilted and jaw slack.
\nI admit nothing.
\n\u201cSo\u2026he fired us,\u201d Rosaleen concludes.
\nI nudge her with my elbow\u2026 \u201cWe fired him.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then there is Chelsea herself. Smart, beautiful and with a huge heart, she and Jake are immediately drawn to each other. Finding the time to actually do something about it is a challenge, but through the chaos of family life, they find their moments and their intense physical attraction becomes something so much more meaningful as they fall for each other.<\/p>\n

Their relationship develops really naturally and Jake is seamlessly enfolded into the family, and his cold ruthlessness melts away as his heart softens for them.<\/p>\n

I want her \u2013 this fearless, stunning woman. And I want the kids. Those perfect, awful, amazing children \u2013 whom she loves with every inch of her soul. I want them to be mine. Mine to hold, mine to protect and teach. Their joy, their laughter, their love. I want to come home to it, bask in it, be the reason for it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But there are dramas that need to be dealt with and as much as I laughed at the antics of the group, there are also some really emotional scenes that are truly heart-clenching. And before they can claim their HEA, Jake is forced to reassess his life and figure out what it is he really wants.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou deserve a man who knows what the right thing is, and who does it. I want\u2026<\/em>Christ\u00a0I want to be that for you.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emma Chase\u2019s fans know that she writes brilliantly from the male perspective, and she\u2019s done an amazing job with Jake. Even though he\u2019s a jerk, there\u2019s something incredibly charming about him. I loved watching his pursuit of Chelsea, and the way that he allows her and the kids into his life and accepts the chaos that comes with it. He is their defender in every way he can be, and that was a beautiful thing to watch. As the story progresses he has some personal issues that he needs to deal with, and I thought his character development was absolutely fantastic!<\/p>\n

\u201cA knight in tarnished armor is still a knight.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I loved this book. It\u2019s such a fun read, and I laughed out loud so many times while reading. There\u2019s a nice amount of drama to add depth, and the romance is fantastic \u2013 sweet and playful, but really freaking hot. Jake\u2019s friends all form a part of the story, and I love their involvement, and there is some nice progression for Stanton and Sofia from\u00a0Overruled. I\u2019m really looking forward to more from this series, and can\u2019t wait to get my hands on Brent\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

5 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Legal Briefs series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Overruled\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Sustained\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Appealed\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Sidebarred\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overruled (#1)\u00a0<\/strong>(Stanton & Sofia)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Sustained (#2)\u00a0<\/strong>(Jake & Chelsea)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Appealed (#3)\u00a0<\/strong>(Brent & Kennedy)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 | \u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Sidebarred (#3.5)<\/strong>\u00a0(Jake & Chelsea)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook\u00a0|\u00a0Paperback Review 5 hilariously chaotic, sweet (and hot) romantic stars I love this book! Romantic, steamy, and so freaking funny! Emma Chase has given us a great story \u2013 once again from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[454,65,9,29],"tags":[37,66,48],"class_list":["post-3167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio-recommendation","category-lol-funny","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-emma-chase","tag-legal-briefs","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/22926485.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-P5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}