The ex of a friend is always off – limits, but what if…

Synopsis

Resisting temptation will test me to my limits

I’ve been in love with Skye since we were kids. But she’s off-limits, not just because I’m her boss, but she’s my best friend’s ex. And, together we made a pact as teenagers. And unbreakable bro code. Never Touch each other’s ex. Ever.

But I’m forced to spend hour after hour, day after day, with her beauty. In meetings, conference calls, emails, business trips. Every. Single. Week. It’s hideously torturous, and I shouldn’t want her the way I do. But then I think she might feel the same way…

Jacob is my boss. He’s broad, toned, dripping in ink and it turns out the man I’m falling for has been under my nose this entire time and yet I can’t have him. It’s too complicated and he won’t betray his best friend and my ex.

So we resist. Although it’s amazing how much naughtiness you can get up to without touching. But then it becomes clear this is more than just lust. This might be real. How can we ever make this work? I wanted a fairy tale, but right now I’d settle for a chance to at least kiss my prince.

My review

Jacob has always been in love with Skye, from the moment they met when they were just kids. But then Skye started dating Owen, Jacob’s best friend. And even now, that Skye is Owen’s ex, Jacob still sees her as off – limits. Not just because he is Skye’s boss, but because Jacob and his friends have a bro code. A bro code Jacob is not willing to break, not even for the love of his life. However, spending so much time together, it becomes more and more difficult to resist temptation. And Skye one evening sees Jacob in a complete different light, making her understand what she has been missing out. However, taking things further, or just starting things, is not done. But for how long is it possible to resist that attraction?

Having read the first book of this series, as a first encounter with this author, I was eager to read more about the friends with a bro pact.

I have to say, while initially I liked the thought of Skye being with Owen for so long, was in a way admirable (because how many high school sweethearts last that long?), I quickly realized that their relationship wasn’t at all a heartwarming one. To be totally honest, I didn’t like Owen at all. How can he be such an a**hole boyfriend?

So yes, I wasn’t all too sad to see the end of that relationship, because in my eyes, it wasn’t a relationship at all. Of course, I was sad for Skye, because she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that, but there are plenty of fish in the sea, aren’t they? And the perfect fish for her may be in a closer sea than she could imagine…

The first encounter we as a reader have with Jacob in this book, wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. It wasn’t him in the office, at night, with someone else on his desk, and Skye finding them in that situation. And I for sure didn’t expect that Skye herself would act in that specific way. luckily I wasn’t eating or drinking in that moment, otherwise, I would spill it all!

And yes, Jacob is too hot to handle, I could imagine him perfectly, and I know that if he were are a real person, I couldn’t resist him. But Jacob is so much more than a handsome, hot and fierce man. Because after that heated night, Skye discovers that Jacob knows her like no one else. He not only truly listens to her. He wants to give the woman that stole his heart years ago, everything she could dream of.

In a way, Jacob is a martyr. Not only did he see one of his best friends run off with the woman he loves, but he also had to be the secret boyfriend in a way, buying the right gifts, being there for Skye when she needs in fact Owen… It breaks his heart to see Skye with Owen, but he cannot imagine a life without her in it.

Jacob is the guy that would sacrifice his own happiness for the person he loves. And discovering this in the book, made me fall in love with Jacob too.

And with Skye now being single, she finally has the chance to see Jacob for the man he truly is. And reading how Skye realizes what Jacob has already done for her and is still doing, made me almost scream at her: Jump him already! 😊

Yet that is perhaps something I didn’t expect in this book, as yes, there are plenty of heated moments in it. But with Jacob not wanting to betray his best friend, gave the story a complete different direction. Because both Jacob and Skye find it more and more difficult to resist the attraction, but it’s a matter of keeping his word and doing the right thing that keeps Jacob from going further with Skye.

And that is something admirable, because not everyone would do the right thing. Jacob being himself was a bit frustrating as a reader, because I was ready for the “action”, but on the other hand, if Jacob wasn’t the Jacob he is now, I don’t know if I would love him this much.

Skye’s and Jacob’s story is also a matter of seeing behind what we always thought to see. Because ever since Skye realizes Jacob’s feelings, she sees what has always been in front of her, yet she managed to fail to see all the hints.

There is also an incident that made me gasp. I did not see that twist coming, I was fearing for the worst, as I don’t wish anyone to live through what Skye has to endure. Yet also here we see that Jacob goes lengths for his loved ones…

I devoured this book, as I even liked it even more than Lincoln’s story, that I already loved. We see how a love can start at a young age, how it can be unrequited for so long. Yet once the shades fall off, and it’s all in the open, it is just the start of something wonderful. But there is also a lot of respect and loyalty towards the people that have been there for you.

As I have been rather mean towards Owen in this review, I am very curious what journey the author will let him take. Because there is no way that both Lincoln and Jacob, that are lovely people, would be friends with such a character. And from the snippets we saw from him, it’s clear that he is a troubled young man, and I am eager to read how, when and with whom he will get his happy end…