Series: Southern Secrets (Book 1)
All she wants for Christmas…
is to make him beg!
After he broke her heart, Mazie Tarleton is definitely immune to the charms of J.B. Vaughan. Now she has him right where she wants him and it’s payback time -- until a moment of white-hot desire takes them both by surprise! Suddenly, revenge is getting complicated. Maybe she can just say yes to a holiday fling…or is she already in way too deep?
This was a good friends to enemies to lovers story. Mazie has known JB for most of her life. He is her brother's best friend, and as a teen, she had a huge crush on him. When she was sixteen, she asked him to be her date for the spring formal. He turned her down, the rejection breaking her heart, and starting years of an unspoken feud. Mazie perfected the ability to avoid him, no easy feat as he was still her brother's best friend. Then her chance finally came to get back at him. JB is a developer and has plans to renovate the block where Mazie has her jewelry store. She was the lone holdout, preventing him from starting his project. She had every intention of selling to him; she just wanted to make him suffer for as long as possible.
I had to laugh when JB showed up at the store right after one of Mazie's conversations with the real estate agent. It had all the fun of "He's right behind me, isn't he?" The sparks definitely flew between them. I felt a bit sorry for him, as he really is a true Southern gentleman at heart. He has felt bad for years about the way he turned down Mazie's invitation. He'd been young and not yet skilled in graceful rejections. He was also attracted to her even then, but he knew she was too young for him. Plus there was the whole best-friend's-little-sister thing going on, and Jonathan's threats if he were to meddle with his sister. He wanted to apologize ever since, but he had never been able to. Now, perhaps, he'll have a chance to make things right. I loved how he challenged her to get her to see the property with him. Neither one expected to get locked up in the old bank vault there, or the passion that exploded between them. Only the untimely arrival of Mazie's brother prevented them from taking that passion all the way. One thing it did do was push them into seeing each other again.
JB and Mazie were in the midst of a date that sizzled with sparks when he got word that his mom had a heart attack. Desperate to give her a reason to fight, JB blurted out that he and Mazie were engaged, creating all kinds of complications. Mazie was caught between a rock and a hard place when Jane proved to be more intuitive that she expected, and Mazie was committed to playing the loving fiancée. It isn't long before the sparks burn out of control and JB and Mazie can't keep their hands off each other. The connection between them continued to grow. Mazie quickly realized that her heart was in jeopardy once again, but couldn't walk away. JB's feelings for her grow also, but he is extremely wary. He'd been badly burned by a former relationship and he was reluctant to trust another woman. Be that as it may, there were some really sweet scenes between them. I loved his whole idea of giving Mazie the kind of Christmas that she'd dreamed of.
I ached for them both as misunderstandings and the insecurities from their pasts combined to rip them apart. I especially wanted to shake JB for his needlessly harsh and cruel comments to Mazie. I felt that he deserved every minute of the misery he felt until the truth came out. I loved his big moment at the end as he exposed his vulnerabilities and bared his heart to Mazie. Though she could have made him grovel a little more, I loved seeing Mazie get her heart's desire.
I am intrigued by the glimpses of Mazie's brother Jonathan. I love his friendship with JB, his love for his sister, and the love and respect he has for his father. The epilogue that is obviously a lead-in to the next book has me worried about him, and I can't wait to read his story. I am also curious about their brother Hartley and what drove him away from his family.
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