Sophie Sullivan, a librarian in San Francisco, was five years old when she fell head over heels in love with Jake McCann. Twenty years later, she’s convinced the notorious bad boy still sees her as the “nice” Sullivan twin. That is, when he bothers to look at her at all. But when they both get caught up in the magic of the first Sullivan wedding, she knows it’s long past time to do whatever it takes to make him see her for who she truly is...the woman who will love him forever.
Jake has always been a magnet for women, especially since his Irish pubs made him extremely wealthy. But the only woman he really wants is the one he can never have. Not only is Sophie his best friend’s off-limits younger sister...he can’t risk letting her get close enough to discover his deeply hidden secret.
Only, when Sophie appears on his doorstep as Jake’s every fantasy come to life—smart, beautiful, and shockingly sexy—he doesn’t have a prayer of taking his eyes, or his hands, off her. And he can’t stop craving more of her sweet smiles and sinful kisses. Because even though Jake knows loving Sophie isn’t the right thing to do...how can he possibly resist?
The first thing I want to talk about after reading this book is how much I absolutely loved it. I don't recall ever having read this author, Bella Andre, before but I can tell you I will most definitely be picking up the rest of the books in this Sullivan series. I don't usually go for the traumatized hero, but Jake was different. I could see beyond his tough exterior and knew that somewhere in his past was some sort of trauma. I was not surprised when I discovered that he was a victim of child abuse and abandonment. It became clear that his being unofficially adopted into the Sullivan clan played a big part in his drive to stay away from Sophie. His sense of belonging and his only experience with love had always stemmed from this family and to pursue Sophie, in his opinion, would be pure disrespect because underneath it all he always felt unworthy of their love and acceptance.
The Sophie character had me hooked from page one. I was intrigued that her nickname was Nice and she wanted to be anything but that. She was the black sheep of the Sullivan brood. While her brothers and sister were outgoing and open she was more subdued and prone to leaving a patterned life. After all she was a librarian. I have so much respect for Sophie because she knew what she wanted and she had reached a point in her life when she was no longer happy with denying what she really wanted. She was in love and she wanted to act on that love.
I could barely breathe properly when the chemistry between Sophie and Jake erupted. I loved the pace of the story and how the brothers didn't play a part in the discovery and development stage of Sophie and Jake's relationship. But what I will say was my most favorite part of this book was Jake's struggle with his reading ability. At times it was actually painful to read his pain, his embarrassment and his fear of being found out. His reading troubles had followed him around since he was ten years old. I wholeheartedly agreed with Sophie when she told Jake how admirable, strong and deserving of love he really was. I found myself choking back tears at Jake and his struggle. When the end of the book came and there was some form of resolution with Jake and his reading capabilities I was so happy.
This was a great love story with equally great love scenes. I cannot wait to read more about the Sullivan men and the women they fall in love with.
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