A Washington, DC, defence attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don't call him the Jury Charmer for nothing. 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, the mother of his beloved ten-year-old daughter. Jenny is getting married-to someone who isn't him.
Sofia Santos is a city-raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defence attorney in the country. She doesn't have time for relationships or distractions. But when Stanton, her "friend with mind-blowing benefits," begs her 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?
Emma Chase has a new series! I feel like shouting it from the rooftops, like Maria singing in the Alps.
First, she gave us Drew Evans, who I love with the fire of a thousand suns and now we have Stanton Shaw. Lawyer and good ole southern man. Lord have mercy. He's intelligent and so ridiculously charming and the drawl? Um yes, please.
I'll admit that this one sat on my Kindle for awhile merely because I didn't want to read it and be done with it. I always want to savor an Emma Chase novel. If you're a Drew Evans fan, you'll be satisfied by a few cameo appearances of the man himself. Drew and Stanton are college buddies and business associates (of sorts).
My mother told me once, "Honey, he's just a man, he can't help it." Stanton Shaw needs a t-shirt made with this saying because as much as I loved him, I wanted to punch him or shake him or something. See, Stanton has a lovely high school girlfriend, Jenny who is also the mother of his child. Stanton believes they are MFEO (made for each other) even though he continues to work and live in DC while his daughter and baby mama live in Mississippi. They've lived separate lives by design and everyone seems to be okay with that. Stanton Skypes with his daughter and maintains a great relationship with her. Stanton indulges in relationships with other women, most notably Sofia Santos, his lawyer buddy with benefits. The sexy kind of benefits, not the dental plan and 401k. The chemistry and attraction between the two of them is palpable and undeniable.
Sofia is kind of a badass. She's smart and funny and she can totally hold her own. She's not a female character that you want to scream at due to convoluted self-esteem issues. Her self-esteem is completely and securely intact and she really deals with a lot where Stanton is concerned.
Jenny gets engaged and Stanton completely loses his mind. Did I mention that I wanted to shake him? Repeatedly? He had it in his brain that he and Jenny belonged together when he and Sofia clearly had a more intense connection. Jenny was his past and she would always be a part of his life, but I really wanted Stanton to wake the eff up and look at what was right in front of him. Drew Evans did some stupid stuff, but even he may have smacked Stanton around a bit.
Ms. Chase goes all the way back to Jenny and Stanton as teenagers and when Jenny got pregnant and we get to witness Stanton as a daddy and my ovaries were screaming and giving him a standing ovation when he held that baby.
Overruled was chock full of Ms. Chase's perfect mix of humor and romance. I simply cannot wait for the next books in this series, as we were introduced to Jake Becker and Brent Mason in this book. I'm already dreading starting and finishing those books. ;)
