Tease by Sophie Jordan Series: The Ivy Chronicles #2
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks on May 27, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 303
Format: eBook
Source: Library
A born flirt and good-time party girl, Emerson has never had a problem finding a willing guy. She’s always chosen her hook-ups carefully, and she's never broken her three cardinal rules:
Never let them see the real you.
Never fall in love.
Always leave them begging for more.
Then comes Shaw. A hotty from the wrong side of the tracks, he’s immune to her flirtatious banter and come-hither smile. After rescuing her from a disastrous night at a biker bar, he doesn’t even try to take her to bed—he calls her a tease and sends her home instead. Unable to resist a challenge, or forget the sexy dark-eyed bad-boy biker, she vows to bring him to his knees.
But instead of making Shaw beg, she finds herself craving him. For the first time in her life, she’s throwing out her rulebook. Suddenly, she’s the one panting for a guy she can’t control. A guy who won’t settle for anything less than the real Emerson, who forces her to do things she’s never imagined, including facing a past she thought she'd buried.
A guy who just might leave her wanting more . . .
Remembering Foreplay like I do despite it being 9 years since I read it, I had high expectations of Tease. SJordan did a stellar job in meeting those expectations, only falling short in one minor area. Overall though, I loved Emerson and Shaw’s story.
Emerson is such a great character. She’s loyal and kind and always has her friends’ backs. That’s what made me sad about how Tease opened because Emerson wasn’t receiving those in return from someone who was supposedly a friend. However, she did meet Shaw so, silver lining. 😉 But I digress. Emerson works hard at presenting herself as carefree, in control, and relatively happy. If she keeps her facade in place and her walls up, no on can get close enough to hurt her. Because she’s been hurt. Oh boy has she. And by those who should have protected her. So she keeps her friends at arm’s length and does her best to hook up with boys she can control. Boys that are okay with hookups without strings. What she fails to understand is that while loving someone is scary, the risk is worth the reward. And people, especially friends, miss out on quite a lot when they aren’t getting ALL of the real you. But Emerson is about to be schooled where this is concerned – by her friends, her professor, and most especially Shaw.
Shaw is a guy who’s seen more life – probably more life in some ways that I have being twice his age. A former Marine, he’s home now trying to build a new life without a few important elements – family members. While in service, he was given the nickname Hawk for his ability to see things, read people and situations. When he sets eyes on Emerson, he sees quite a bit… a lot more than Emerson wishes anyone to see. And Shaw is determined to get around Emerson’s walls, rip off her facade because what he sees is all he’s looking for.
It’s been a hot sec since I’ve read much New Adult but SJordan is adept at delivering on the main element I enjoy in the genre – watching as these characters figure out themselves. The emotional growth in Emerson was brilliant to witness – her shaking off the shackles of her past so she could begin to really experience life and love. My only complaint is that SJordan didn’t develop Shaw as much as she could have. He has no life-altering epiphany. However, he did get Emerson – someone who could love him and understand him, and to have his back.
I appreciated the camaraderie between Emerson, Pepper, and Georgia. We girls need out tribe and these three demonstrated why that is when they supported one another through both trials and triumphs. Now that Emerson and Pepper are settled, it’s Georgia’s turn and I can’t wait to watch her go Wild. 😉
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
Nice review. I like that there is also a great friendship as well as the romance.
Thanks, Wendy. Yes, the friendship between the girls, and later the guys, makes this series a standout in my opinion. 🙂
What a great review you have here. Its always so wonderful to see how these older works end up working out for us. I definitely need to read these books and explore her older works.
I don’t read NA much anymore but this series is definitely worth the time, Renee. 🙂
Twitter: Northwomn
So glad you are enjoying your series read. Wonderful review.
Anne – Books of My Heart
Thanks, Anne!