Want

by Emma Rider

[stacey_is_sassy]

A cuddle a day keeps the fighter…happy.

I started Want with my tongue firmly lodged in my cheek. A cuddler and a fighter??? OKaaaay... Yes, this chick is a professional cuddler. It makes sense…kind of. I’m the first person to admit that there is nothing better than a cuddle from my hubby and kids, but a complete stranger...not sure. Maybe if her services included a play with my hair or tickle my back, I’d think about it. Now, this is the part I get about the cuddling business…it’s not always about sex. It’s about the connection, catching up, chatting and dedicating time to each other. A person connecting like that with a complete stranger… I didn't get that. By the end of the story though, I could actually see where this sort of job has a place.

The story starts with us meeting Jade and she’s in a spot of bother. It's the old story of - you think you know someone, and then you find out all the things you thought you knew, were maybe something you dreamed up. She was engaged and loved a man named Jake. He was leading a double life and that life put hers in jeopardy. What once was a promising start…engagement, new house and a university degree, became tarnished just from knowing and loving the wrong man. Jade is trying to make a new start but with study debts and the expenses for her new business "Snuggle Up to Me", she’s struggling. Luckily for her, her clients were varied but mostly nice. One, though, makes it harder to keep her cuddles platonic. Ryland is intense...and he wants more.

Ryland is an MMA fighter. He has worked hard to get to the level he has attained. Once he has his sights set on something he won’t take no for an answer and his sights are set on Jade. His strategy to get her onboard with his plans were a little unconventional but gave me a few chuckles too. From the start, you can see that he cares for her and is looking to protect and help her.

This story is about seeing Ryland finish his career on a high and getting Jade to a good and safe place beside him. Jade's protective barriers need to be taken down for Ryland to have a chance, but he's willing to fight for her. The connection between Ryland and Jade was slow to cement, but you could see that her fight to get her life back on track and his determination would lead them to a HEA.

To some extent I felt like Jade’s character was a lot sillier than she should have been. Considering she had a degree, and part of it in psychology, she could not read people well and most of her problems centred around misjudging people. This along with a few other eye-rolling plot points made it hard for me to fully invest in the story.

I did enjoy the quirky characters. I loved the hot and determined Ryland, the friendly and sweet Tyeesha, the brash Coach, the supportive Ben, Maverick the scary biker and the reserved, workaholic Jules.

This was my first story by Emma Rider and while it wasn’t perfect, I still enjoyed it for the light-hearted, feel-good romance that it was. If she was to share Maverick’s story along with Jules and Jases’s story, I think I would definitely go back for more.

I received a complimentary copy of this story via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

To buy from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1NqsivH