From New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey comes the first novel in her hot, new Romancing the Clarksons Series.

When Rita Clarkson’s Suburban takes its last breath on a New Mexico roadside, rescue roars up on a Harley in the form of smooth-talking honkey tonk owner, Jasper Ellis, a man as mysterious as he is charming. Rita’s cross-country journey to New York City–with her three estranged siblings in tow–is only beginning, but now that Jasper has found Rita, his plans do not include her leaving.

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When rescue looks like a whole lot of trouble . . .

The road trip was definitely a bad idea. Having already flambéed her culinary career beyond recognition, Rita Clarkson is now stranded in God-Knows-Where, New Mexico, with a busted-ass car and her three temperamental siblings, who she hasn’t seen in years. When rescue shows up—six-feet-plus of hot, charming sex on a motorcycle—Rita’s pretty certain she’s gone from the frying pan right into the fire . . .

Jasper Ellis has a bad boy reputation in this town, and he loathes it. The moment he sees Rita, though, Jasper knows he’s about to be sorely tempted. There’s something real between them. Something raw. And Jasper has only a few days to show Rita that he isn’t just for tonight—he’s forever.

Review

I absolutely love the premise of Tessa Bailey’s new series Romancing the Clarksons.  It spotlights two pivotal storylines at the same time, one dealing with family bonds and the other focused on a love story between one of the family members and his/her love interest, intersecting the plot lines in a way that they feed off of each other and also allowing their separation by the end of the story because enough progress has been made in both areas to promote a new sibling to take the helm for his/her story and continue to strengthen the once disconnected relationship of the 4 Clarksons children.

Too Hot To Handle is the first in the series, and it’s responsible for bringing the Clarksons together as well as setting Rita Clarkson on her new path, providing a fresh start for both her and her potential suitor, Jasper Ellis. Both characters feel like they’ve never measured up to expectations; in fact, both feel like absolute failures because Rita’s career as a chef has all but burnt out and Jasper’s seen as “Hurley’s resident tramp,” only able to provide women with a good time but not worth anything more than an orgasm because he’s incapable of anything else.

The Clarksons’ journey cross country from California to New York was set in motion by their late mother’s last wishes in hopes that her children would crash together once again in a way that lasts and provides them all with a new perspective on their lives and the choices they make, and even though the beginning of their journey is filled with tension, anger, and drama, it’s also created a path for the siblings to get to know who one another is now and who they hope to be in the future.

Rita and Jasper meet by chance, but their attraction is palpable from the start, and even though Hurley wasn’t supposed to be a stop of the family’s trip to New York, fate, or their mother, intervened and in the short amount of time Rita spends with Jasper forces them both to take stock of who they are and what they want and then find the courage to go after it.

Like I said at the beginning of my review, the overall scope of the series intrigued me from the start, but the interaction between characters and the introspective look into who the characters truly are and the reasons behind their personalities and actions fell a bit short for me. I don’t know if it had to do with the fact that the story is written in third person, which for the most part I don’t mind as long as I truly feel the characters are clearly shown to me, or if Tessa Bailey’s objective is to slowly reveal the characters’ pasts, and why the Clarksons all went their separate ways all those years ago, but I found the storyline dragging at times, and other times, I really couldn’t get a sense of why the characters acted and felt the way they did.

The dynamics between Rita and Jasper did work for me for most of the story, and I’m totally fine with insta love connections, but where I felt tripped up a bit was how quickly it became all about their sexual chemistry and interactions after Jasper was trying so hard to prove he was worth more than a good time. I get that he’s a man and that Rita was quite persuasive, but I guess I just wanted them to both realize their worth before allowing their bodies to take over.

Just because I wasn’t completely sold on Too Hot To Handle doesn’t mean I won’t continue with the series because I feel pretty invested in what’s going to happen to the Clarkson siblings, especially since readers are only given small glimpses into what’s going on in their lives.

I’m most intrigued to find out what makes Belmont the man he is and what that means for any possible relationship Bailey puts in his path.

A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3/3.5 Poison Apples

Excerpt

“So, you see, Jasper? Just because we have one more day…”

Yeah, that was his cue to move. He let the school acceptance letter flutter to the nightstand and went to stand in front of Rita. “Yeah, I heard. You’re leaving. But I need to straighten something out right now.” He took hold of her hair, winding it around his fists. The position put her at eye level with his lap, which was exactly where he needed her to be, in a minute. But just then he kept her head tilted back, needing those eyes up. “Don’t you need me back? Did you actually ask me that, Rita?”

“Hard to tell,” she whispered, her lips appearing stiff.

“That right?” Keeping one hand twisted in Rita’s hair, Jasper unzipped his jeans with the other. “Would you like a clear answer?”

Her nod was subtle, thanks to his hold, but her parted lips and stained cheeks gave him the answer before she spoke it out loud. “Yes.”

His dick was almost embarrassingly engorged as he took it out of the restraining denim. His growl of agony snapped Rita’s spine straight on the bed, those big eyes riveted on the swollen, aching wet-tipped flesh he presented. And damn if a little more fluid didn’t seep out at her awed reaction. “Still hard to tell if I want to bang you, Rita?”

“No,” she breathed.

“No, it ain’t,” Jasper rasped. “It’s pretty obvious I want to strip you naked, fuck you mindless, and leave you whimpering in a pile of sweaty sheets, no idea if you want round two or a week to recover. Isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Good, beautiful. As long we’re on the same page.”

Pretty sure he would die from the agony of stuffing his turgid cock back into the jeans, Jasper managed the feat, nonetheless. Not without a few pained groans, however. Rita was staring up at him in total shock from her position on the bed’s edge, which he half loved, half detested. They’d learned a lot about one another tonight, but he appeared to have overshadowed some of that progress with his naughty presentation. Best to get an agreement out of her before she wondered who the hell she’d let walk into her motel room.

Jasper crouched down with a grimace to plant a kiss on Rita’s mouth. “Now, I’m going to see you tomorrow, Rita. Whether you come to me or I show up here, that’s your call, beautiful.” Another, slower, wetter kiss that made him ponder the merits of standing back up and seeing if Rita would unfasten his jeans again and give that same kiss to his cock. That’s your cue to leave, man. “It’ll be early in the morning when I come looking. Or when you show up.” He gripped his erection. “Either way, I’ll still have a nasty need to come in Rita’s name.”

About Tessa Bailey

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.

Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

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