Tease (The Ivy Chronicles, #2)

by Sophie Jordan

[kimbacaffeinate]

I adored Foreplay the first book in the Ivy Chronicles by Sophie Jordan and found it to be a refreshing, low-angst tale in sea of drama filled new adult titles. As you can imagine I was excited to get my hands on Tease the second book. While I enjoyed myself and Jordan writes fleshed out characters, I was left disappointed that it had all of the trappings of a typical new adult novel.

We are back at college and this time we are getting Emerson’s story. I liked Emerson and felt for her. She has quite the back-story, and I can see why she puts on this “flirting act” and tries to be in control all of the time. She is a good kid, well grounded in her goals but afraid at the same time. Shaw is a sweetie! A hot ex-marine motorcycle mechanic who has big plans for opening up his own custom shop. He is emotionally scarred from a tour overseas, and I easily connected with him.

The romance was hot, and sweet. The sexy time was oh-la-la hawt! Their interaction had all the elements I loved -sweet moments, heat, and wicked banter. Shaw handles all of Emerson’s complicated signals well and even sees past the mask she has created. He breaks down her walls and holds her accountable. He supports her and never pushes. At times he was a tad possessive especially if someone is trying to hurt her. This would have been an issue but he respects her feelings and wishes which I appreciated it.

The plot is where Tease fell apart for me. Tease was filled with drama, intense scenes, and angst. It was extremely predictable and while that can be fun it wasn’t the freshness I expected. There were twists and turns on the road to our HEA but Jordan offered nothing new. Gone was the freshness of Foreplay and sadly Tease delivered more or less the same formula I have read in countless new adult novels. What saved Tease for me is Jordan herself; she writes likeable fleshed out characters and juicy loved scenes. The connection she gave me with the characters kept me from setting this down.

Despite my disappointment with Tease, I did enjoy aspects of it. I am hoping Wild the final book in the Ivy Chronicles delivers more of the unique content we found in Foreplay.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer