Appealed by Emma Chase Series: The Legal Briefs #3
Also in this series: Overruled, Sustained, Sidebarred
Published by Gallery Books on January 19, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Humor, Romance
Review Copy Provided By: Gallery Books
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When Brent Mason looks at Kennedy Randolph, he doesn’t see the awkward, sweet girl who grew up next door. He sees a self-assured, stunning woman…who wants to crush the most intimate - and prized - parts of his anatomy beneath the heels of her Christian Louboutins.
Brent has never let the loss of his leg in a childhood accident affect his ability to lead a fulfilling life. He sets high goals–and then he reaches them.
And now he has his sights set on Kennedy.
**
When Kennedy looks at Brent Mason, all she sees is the selfish, Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue-worthy teenager who humiliated her in high school to join the popular crowd. A crowd that made those years a living hell.She’s not a lovesick social outcast anymore - she’s a DC prosecutor with a long winning streak behind her. Brent is the opposing attorney in her next case and she thinks it’s time to put him through a little hell of his own.
But things aren’t exactly working out that way.
Because every fiery exchange has her wondering if he’s as passionate in the bedroom as he is in the courtroom. Each argument and objection only makes him want her more. In the end, Brent and Kennedy may just find themselves in love…or in contempt of court.
APPEALED is a sexy, humorous romance about first crushes, second chances and the final verdict of the heart.
❝I’m not going to let us fall this time, Kennedy.❞
I am sad, so sad. I feel like I have been deserted, on an island, not even a pretty one. ‘Appealed’ by Emma Chase marks the END of the Legal Briefs series. I mean, WHHHHYYYY? There has to be more. I WANT MORE! (throws tantrum) That Epilogue BEGS for more! Okay, maybe it’s me who’s begging. But that is only because The Legal Brief’s series is easily my favorite series of 2015!
I seem to repeat myself in each review I write for an Emma Chase book. We all know she is a master at the male POV, she has the humor of a comedienne and writes the most incredibly sexy men, and scenes. What I have noticed also, is that her portrayal of children is spot-on! I love reading her scenes with children. With them, you are in for an emotional ride – whether it be of humor or heartbreak – Chase knows how to get inside the heads of children and translate those thoughts, fears, and delights onto the page.
Riley’s eyes narrow. ❝If you consider living under the fascist rule of a dual dictatorship ‘okay’, then yeah, I guess it is.❞
With Appealed, Chase delivered a knock-out. Brent Mason and Kennedy Randolph have been a power couple in the making since they were children. Best friends growing up, one day Kennedy realizes, Brent is less willing to be her friend in public as he is behind closed doors. She was the awkward girl growing up under the intense scrutiny and high expectations of her overly controlling mother. She needed a friend.
Brent, now a defense attorney, suffered a tragic accident when he was younger and learned that life was fleeting. Living the free life and living on the edge, was more important than relationships and commitment. Being happy in the moment, that was living. Until, 14 years later, when he meets back up with Kennedy, now a prosecutor, and realizes she is no longer that awkward girl he grew up with. Instead, she has turned into a beautiful fire-breathing dragon.
❝What’d you do to your eyes?❞ I lean in, frowning.
❝They’re called contact lenses.❞
❝Well, take them out. I don’t like them. Your eyes are incredible.❞
❝What’d you do to your face?❞ she asks, folding her arms.
I touch my chin. ❝I grew a beard.❞
❝Well ungrow it. It looks like a vagina from a 1970’s porn film.❞
Their witty banter was great, providing for many laugh out loud, moments. But once Brent realized what he had in Kennedy and what he did in his past to hurt her, I melted.
Brent’s character growth was stellar, breaking down Kennedy’s walls along the way. He doesn’t stop. Constantly moving forward, pushing, comforting, loving.
❝One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Screw you, Paula Abdul. I never liked you.❞
The reappearance of the “gang” in this book made me squeal with delight! Their support and encouragement for Brent never wavered. His friends were as much a family to him as his own.
Jake’s voice is low and lethally calm. ❝Chelsea can walk into any damn den she wants. Because I am the lion. And I’d make sure I was with her.❞
I loved this story so much. It was a perfectly executed, friends to lovers, second chance romance! As fabulous as this was, it PAINS me to say, this was the ending to a terrific series. After reading each book, I looked forward to the next. I will miss these couples, miss their banter, miss their love.
Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author of the Tangled Series, returns with the first installment of the Legal Briefs Series.As a DC defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing – with his southern drawl, disarming smile and captivating green eyes – he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him and women want to be thoroughly cross-examined by him.
Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan.
Until the day, he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart and mother of his beloved ten-year-old daughter. Jenny is getting married — to someone who isn’t him.
That’s definitely not part of the plan.
***
Sofia Santos is a city raised, a no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions.
But when Stanton, her “friend with mind-blowing benefits” begs for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him – to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi – to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves.
Her head tells her she’s crazy…and her heart says something else entirely.
***
What happens when you mix a one stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage and a gun-toting Nana?
The Bourbon flows, passions rise and even the best-laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart. Goodreads :: AMZ
A knight in tarnished armor is still a knight.When you’re a defense attorney in Washington, DC, you see firsthand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.
Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.
Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.
Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.
“What’s great about this series is each of the guys have very distinct personalities. Stanton is the southern charmer, Jake is the more serious protector, and Brent is definitely the carefree playboy. There’s a lot of quick banter, sexual tension, and clever arguing in Brent’s story – he and Kennedy argue really well. Theirs is a story about first crushes and second chance love that’s light and pure fun!” ~ Emma Chase via Dirty Girl Romance, to read more go to ➜ Review, Author Interview & #Giveaway:★Sustained★ By @Emmachse
About Emma Chase
By day, Emma Chase is a devoted wife and mother who resides in a small town in New Jersey. By night she is a keyboard crusader, toiling away the hours to bring her colorful characters and their endless antics to life. She has a long standing love/hate relationship with caffeine.
Emma is an avid reader. Before her children were born she was known to consume whole books in a single day. Writing has also always been a passion and with the 2013 release of her debut romantic comedy, Tangled, the ability to now call herself an author is nothing less than a dream come true.
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