Bad Behavior (Conduct, #2)

by Jennifer Lane

[Cocktails and Books]

The second book in the CONduct series picks up shortly after the first. Sophie is still recovering from cousin Carlo's attack while preparing to start her teaching position at DePaul. Grant, still reeling from the torment his family put Sophie through, dealing with the death of his brother and the prospect of finding a new job, really doesn't want to participate in the couple's therapy sessions their PO has assigned.



But therapy is what Sophie and Grant embark on with Dr. Hunter Hayes. Hunter was working with Sophie when she was first released, but he agrees to take on the couple against his better judgement. He knows right away that things with this couple are not going to be easy. He was right.

Grant's nightmares are bad and with therapy, things seem to get worse. Reliving the nightmare he lived through and knowing that the woman he loves knows all his dirty little secrets is almost too much for him. And when Grant learns exactly what kind of relationship Sophie had with his brother, Logan, Grant snaps.

But Grant's not the only one needing to deal with issues. Sophie's dealing with her tenuous relationship with her father and trying to figure out what her professional life is going to be like now that she's teaching about psychology instead of practicing it. Plus there's her ex-professor/crush who she now works with and makes her feel inferior.



While Grant and Sophie have their own individual issues to deal with, they also need to help Grant's nephew Ben. Grant's determined to make sure Ben doesn't fall into the family business, but Ben's not fully engaged in his clean-cut lifestyle.

But as Grant and Sophie make strides in strengthening themselves and their relationship, old foes resurface and put our couple right in path of trouble. Can they finally stop the Barberi's and live happily ever after?

Sophie and Grant are as cute as ever in this addition to the series, but they both face some real hardships in their relationship. Through their counseling sessions they both learn they have their own set of issues that need to be worked on in order to ensure their relationship will be strong. It was very interesting to "watch" them work through those issues and get to the place where they can actually address those that caused the brunt of their issues.

The continued Barberi story was interesting and we get to witness Enzo Barberi first hand and how the man can still terrorize his thirty year old son....even from behind bars. My only complaint would be what happened to Enzo and the rest of the Barberi family after the events that happened at the end of the book. Maybe we'll get more of that in the third book in the series.



While not quite as heartbreaking as "With Good Behavior" but it was nice to see a good therapist help Grant and Sophie deal with their issues and work towards being healthier individuals and creating that strong, lasting, loving relationship.

Can't wait for book 3.