I LOVED this book!
Ms. O’Keefe also just won the contemporary romance RITA award for CRAZY THING CALLED LOVE, because she’s just that awesome! 🙂
BETWEEN THE SHEETS
by Molly O’Keefe
July 2014
Boys of Bishop, book #3
BOOK SUMMARY:
Perfect for readers of Susan Mallery and Rachel Gibson, Between the Sheets is Molly O’Keefe’s final book in the Boys of Bishop trilogy, featuring a sizzling romance between a sexy motorcycle bad boy and the girl next door who can’t resist him.
After years of running, Wyatt Svenson has now parked himself in Bishop, Arkansas, trying to do the right thing and parent a son he didn’t even know he had until recently. Over six feet tall and packed with muscles and power, Ty likes to get his hands dirty, fixing his motorcycle at night and keeping his mind away from the mistakes he’s made. Then his pretty neighbor shows up on his driveway, doesn’t bother to introduce herself, and complains about the noise. First impression? She should loosen up. Funny that she turns out to be his son’s elementary school art teacher—and the only one willing to help his troubled boy. Ty needs her. In more ways than one.
Though Shelby Monroe is safe in her structured life, she is drawn to Ty’s bad-boy edge and rugged sexuality. What if she just lets it all go: her worries about her mother, her fear of heartbreak, and her tight self control? What if she grabs Ty and takes a ride on the wild side? “What if” becomes reality—intense, exhilarating . . . and addictive. But Ty wants more than a secret affair. He wants it all with Shelby. But will she take a chance and open her heart? Ty is determined to convince Shelby to take the biggest risk of her life: on him.
Review:
Molly O’Keefe’s books are always so much more than they appear on the surface…and I love that about them.
In Between the Sheets, our hero and heroine, Ty and Shelby, both had horrible childhoods that are still affecting them as adults. Shelby grew up with a manipulative and narcissistic father who was a truly awful parent and spouse. He has since passed away, but not before Shelby became an expert at emotionally walling herself away from the world. As the story begins, we learn that her mother has developed Alzheimer’s and is becoming steadily worse–really, she’s too much for Shelby to handle on her own–but guilt and love, combined with the emotional distance she feels from the world, keep her from seeking any real help.
Ty is in a better place when the novel begins–somewhat, anyway. He managed to survive his parents’ toxic relationship and was taken in by his grandparents at a relatively young age, so he did at least have one positive example of a loving relationship behind him. He lost ground after his grandfather died, however, and did some major backsliding, taking up with a group and a girl who were bad news. He had finally pulled himself up and had just begun to really bring his life back together when he got the shock of a lifetime–his eleven-year-old son, Casey.
Determined to do what is best for his child–even though he’s not at all sure just what that is–Ty moves them to Bishop, Arkansas, enrolls Casey in the local school, and takes a job working in construction (for Brody, the hero of book two–Never Been Kissed). Ty’s gone for more than a decade not knowing he was a parent, though, and Casey’s lived through his own set of childhood horrors. Just as Ty begins to think that he’s made the right choices at last, Casey starts acting up at school.
Imagine Ty’s surprise when the witchy neighbor who confronted him the night before turns out to be his son’s art teacher, and one of the few people at the school who seems to have a handle on how to help Casey.
He’s even more surprised by how attractive he finds her. Finding out that she wants him too is icing on the cake.
Or is it?
Shelby wants to use Ty as a crutch, and sex with him a quick fix when her life feels beyond her control. Ty soon wants more, though. And he doesn’t want to be compartmentalized into one of her tiny little boxes. He wants to be all in.
I was so invested in the characters of Ty, Shelby, and Casey. Molly O’Keefe does an amazing job of really getting into the minds of her characters, showing us what makes them do the things they do. Casey’s character was especially heartbreaking, and had me tearing up more than once. Ty was amazing–even though his instincts told him more than once that it was time to cut and run, as he’d done so many times in the past–he stuck it out; for himself, his son, and for Shelby.
One of my (many) favorite quotes, because it really shows Ty’s character:
Ty wasn’t like other parents. Wasn’t like other people, and he seemed to have this tremendous capacity to understand that second chances were a divine right, so he stepped aside, letting her in.
Seriously sigh-worthy!
Shelby was a bit harder to really empathize with–she was just so prickly and cut herself off so much from the world that even the reader feels the distance. It wasn’t until the very end when she makes a real push to make herself change that you finally feel that she might be able to do it after all. Still, the second-to-last chapter feels a bit more like a happy-for-now than a HEA. The final chapter, set a year later, does paint a much more optimistic future for the three, and gave me real hope for them all.
I haven’t had a chance to read the other two books in the series yet, but I’m going to–SOON. Although the characters from Wild Child and Never Been Kissed do pop in and out of Ty and Shelby’s story, you don’t need to have already read the other two to enjoy this one. (Pssst! You can enter to win copies of both of them below–check it out!)
Rating: 5 stars / A
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
BETWEEN THE SHEETS PURCHASE LINKS:
WILD CHILD PURCHASE LINKS (book #1)
NEVER BEEN KISSED PURCHASE LINKS (book #2)
MOLLY O’KEEFE’s Bio:
Molly O’Keefe is the RITA Award winning author of over 25 books and novellas. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband, two kids and the largest heap of dirty laundry in North America.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Site – http://www.molly-okeefe.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/MollyOKwrites
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MollyOKeefeBooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/223845.Molly_O_Keefe
This is a new author to me, thanks for the intro.
I highly recommend her, Neena! She’s a fantastic writer 🙂