Hello there, bookworms! Happy Thanksgiving to anyone celebrating tomorrow. It’s been a bit since I’ve been on here with a book update for you, but I’ve been crazy with NaNoWriMo. I’m nowhere near the 50k “winners” goal, but I’m only 3 chapters away from finishing the first draft of my first novel so, I’ve been a bit consumed, and admittedly, haven’t been reading. I still have book reviews for you and I think I’m going to take December to relax and enjoy reading again before I get to editing, I just need more hours in the day to get it all done!
In the meantime, I wanted to come here and talk about another lovely book boyfriend I thought you all needed to meet over the long weekend. Let me introduce you to Nathan from Down Too Deep by J. Daniels!
Fans of Christina Lauren and Colleen Hoover will love this sexy and emotional fourth book in the New York Times bestselling Dirty Deeds series.
Following the sudden death of his wife, Nathan Bell has spent nearly two years burying himself in work and neglecting his biggest responsibility: his daughter. Overcome with guilt, he wants to connect with little Marley, but he doesn’t know how to do it alone. And then Jenna Savage throws him a lifeline.
A single mom of twins, Jenna is more than capable of taking care of Nate’s adorable two-year-old, and wants to help Nathan however she can. Soon, attachments are made, forcing Jenna and her kids into new territory. And the closer everyone becomes, the more right it feels.
Falling in love forces Nathan to face his biggest fear, and when hearts, both big and little, are on the line, the only thing scarier than needing someone is losing them all.
Nathan’s story is book four in the Dirty Deeds universe. If you haven’t met any of the other lovely men Daniels created so far, you can check out my reviews for Four Letter Word, Hit the Spot, and Bad For You by clicking their titles.
Getting to meet Nate and Jenna was seriously such a pleasure. Both were struggling to navigate the adventures that come with being a single parent, and while Jenna was a pro and natural born mother, Nate needed a little assistance to connect with his daughter after suddenly losing his wife. When Jenna stumbles across his path, the two strike up a slightly awkward but friendly relationship. When she sees him struggling to balance work with fatherhood, she comes to the rescue and the rest is history.
What begins as a cordial, professional entanglement becomes something more murky the more Jenna and Nate around one another, and the more their kids play together. Without realizing it, the mixed group build a family unit that brings them into new territory together. While Jenna and Nate’s kids seem fully onboard, the adults are more hesitant. They’ve each experienced too much heartbreak to dive into anything right away or head first. They tiptoe around each other until they can’t anymore and when they finally let their feelings take over reason, it seems they finally find happiness. It’s when a piece of Nate’s past comes back to haunt him that his chance with Jenna is put in jeopardy. He already lost a love of his life once, and he isn’t sure he could do it again.
I was so thrilled to meet these two. Daniels always brings the chemistry and steaminess to the pages of her story, and Nate and Jenna were no exception. Since they each have little ones to look out for, they had to tread carefully when it came to their own entanglement, which to me only made them more endearing in my eyes. Poor Nate was like a deer in headlights when it came to taking care of sweet, little Marley on his own, and he seemed relieved and eternally grateful when Jenna offered to step in with her twins Oliver and Olivia in order to help him get back on his feet after tragedy struck. She wasn’t dealing with an unexpected death of a spouse, but she had been down the road of motherhood on her own, and had to do anything necessary to survive. What she did for Nate our of the sheer goodness of her heart had the potential to lead her to a permanent fixture in her life.
When the lines blur too much and these two finally decide to test the waters, I wanted to scream with happiness. They took such precautions when it came to matters of the heart so when they eventually let desire take over, it was well worth the wait and sexy as all get out.
The road to happily ever after isn’t an easy one for this blended family. Nate still deals with a broken heart every single day, and Jenna has to think about what kind of man she is bringing into Oliver and Olivia’s world, so not everything goes smoothly. However, when they choose to take a risk and open their hearts to the possibility of forever, both of them are given a second chance at love that they refuse to cast aside.
It was amazing to see the whole Dirty Deeds gang together again. I met some old favorites, was introduced to new characters, and got to enjoy watching Nate and Jenna tempt fate and find their soulmate and the perfect other half to complete their family.
If you’re a fan of romance, and single-parent love stories, you won’t be able to get enough of these two and their whole adorable brood. They all mesh so well together, you almost wonder how they haven’t been doing it that way all along, but then you realize they both had to go through some tough stuff in order to find one another. The kiddos make this story extra special and only add to the dynamic of the characters, but once Jenna and Nate are behind closed doors for mommy/daddy time, all bets are off and the steam is through the roof!
Down Too Deep has all the emotion, romance, tension, angst, and heartache you’re looking for over this long, holiday weekend, so if you haven’t met these guys yet, grab a copy and enjoy!
Until next time, bookworms, Happy Thanksgiving and happy reading!
