Bad Behavior by Jennifer Lane

Bad Behavior (Conduct, #2)

by Jennifer Lane

Grant Madsen's got issues. He's still battling his Mafia family and doing everything possible to keep his loved ones safe. With the cruising season coming to an end, he has to find another job soon or he'll rejoin his father in prison. And he's trying to convince his rebellious teenage nephew to stay away from their criminal relatives (you can imagine how that's going). But worst of all, Grant's parole officer has mandated that he attend therapy. The only saving grace is that they're couples sessions with his girlfriend, Sophie Taylor, a fellow parolee who's struggling with a few issues of her own. Sophie desperately hopes her past with Grant's brother won't destroy her future with him. There's a sleazy professor at work who revels in sexually harassing women in the psychology department. And her father still hates Grant. Their psychologist has his work cut out for him. When Grant's ruthless father hints at a plot to get out of prison, Grant must use everything he's learned in therapy and beyond to try to stop him. It's a race against time -- and a race to rescue Sophie from the Mafia's clutches once again. But this time McSailor and Bonnie refuse to play victims. This time the cuffs are coming off.

Reviewed by Amanda on

3 of 5 stars

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3.5

Bad Behavior is a prime example of why I dislike taking review requests. Not because Bad Behavior is bad--it's not, not at all--but because I drag my feet when it comes time to read and review. (Sorry, Jennifer!) And I'm sure that the only reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first is because it was a review request. Because review requests = obligations = not as fun. So it goes.

If you thought Sophie's and Grant's adventures were over and done with after With Good Behavior, you were wrong. Though certainly not over, the suspense factor in Bad Behavior is toned down, waiting until the very end of the book before the action kicks up and we start worrying for the characters. The ending, though? I like where it's going to take the characters. There's hope for them yet.

I'm torn about how I feel about the psychologist aspects of Bad Behavior. That Sophie and Grant work on building healthy relationships with each other and their respective families was something that belongs in more books. But it did turn into a psychology lesson every now and again, which wasn't what I was looking for at the time. Sometimes even I need to turn my brain off. Crazy. But true.

But if you've read With Good Behavior, you'll want to see how Sophie and Grant fair in this installment. I had some eyebrow-raising moments with these two (Grant more than Sophie), but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 June, 2013: Finished reading
  • 19 June, 2013: Reviewed