J.C. and the Bijoux Jolis Volume 14

by Katy Regnery

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

After reading the previous two books in the Rousseau series, I was eager to read Jean Christian’s story. I was briefly introduced to him in the previous books and he piqued my interest. I was curious to know who would be able to tame him of his man-whoring ways. This installment, just like the others can be read as a stand-alone.

“If the best man and the maid of honour are both single, thought J.C. Rousseau, taking another peek at Kate English’s best friend, Libitz Feingold, it’s practically an unwritten rule that they should pork. And if anyone was in dire need of a good, hard, thorough fucking, it was Mademoiselle Feingold.”

The above quote tells you a lot about Jean Christian. He has no qualms when it comes to the women he beds and Libitz Feingold was no different, even though she was not his type. At first, he came off as an arrogant pig, but as the story progressed, I got a glimpse of his real personality. The reason behind his actions became clear, but what stood out most was his fears. His greatest fear was that of falling in love. He wanted nothing to do with the emotion after seeing how it destroyed his mom. He thought that falling in love was for saps. He acted all tough and macho but like all us he had genuine fears which made him vulnerable.

“Hi. I’m Libitz Feingold, Kate’s best friend… and it’s not cold enough.” “What?” asked J.C. feeling completely turned around. “It’s not cold enough in hell for me to fall for someone like you,” she said then shifted back around to talk to the person on the other side.

I was immediately taken in by Libitz. She was classy and full of sass. Jean Christian had found his match. She intrigued him, and he was not above pulling out all the stops to add her to his list of conquests. However, the closer he got to her he realise that he wanted more. Unfortunately, as the story progressed the spark that had me fired up about Libitz began to diminish. I figured this was due in part to her actions in the latter part of the story. She had no qualms about hurting someone just so that she could hide from her feelings for Jean Christian. I considered her actions cowardly, which was a far cry from the person I met at the beginning of the story. This made it difficult for me to buy into the romance between her and Jean Chrisitan.

For me, the highlight of the story was the mystery surrounding the painting that Jean Christian’s sister found in her attic. I was eager to discover what was the connection between the model and the main characters.

Was this a bad book? Not necessarily so. It had its good points, but personally, it did not live up to my expectations.

Verdict: This was my least favourite book in the series.