Once Upon a Bad Boy by Melonie Johnson

Once Upon a Bad Boy (Sometimes in Love, #3)

by Melonie Johnson

Former soap opera star Sadie Gold is determined to overcome her reputation as a spoiled rich girl with more connections than talent. She’s thrilled to score a coveted role in a blockbuster movie - until she learns that the stunt man training her is Bo Ibarra, the guy Sadie lost her heart to years ago.

Sadie and Bo haven’t seen each other in a decade, and their reunion is bringing up desires they haven’t felt since they were teenagers. But Sadie has been holding onto a secret from their past she is desperate to keep hidden.

When a tabloid splashes the secret across the headlines, both of them are shaken from the fallout. Can Sadie convince Bo to take a chance on them again? One thing’s for sure, happy endings don’t come as easily in real life as they do in the movies.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

4 of 5 stars

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I am really enjoying getting to see this group of fabulous women find their HEAs. Book after book in this series has been a solid read for me, but I think Once Upon a Bad Boy was my favorite.

Sadie and Bo, more or less, grew up together. Those summers at her grandmother's estate were the highlight of Sadie's life. There, a friendship was born, which grew into her "epic love". It was at the estate that Sadie experienced so many beautiful and amazing firsts, and she was lucky enough to share them with Bo. On her prom night, it all came to an end, when Bo suddenly broke it off with her. After a decade, the universe brought them back together, when Bo was hired as the stunt coordinator for Sadie's first film. The sparks, the heat, the feelings were all still there, but would these two be able to overlook the past and make a future together?

Sadie and Bo were so perfect together! I loved the chemistry and the challenges they constantly put before each other. I had the privilege of sharing pieces of their past, while watching them attempt to build a future together, and it was simply wonderful! They both had some aches, pains, and baggage they needed to deal with before they could really make take advantage of this second chance the universe was giving them. It was not always easy to watch them navigating the path back to each other, but I loved every second of it!

Other things of note:

• Sadie's grandmother was a queen among women. I adored her, and was very touched by her relationship with her granddaughter.

• These two had some cool jobs - stunt coordinator and movie actress. It was fun being on the set with them, and I liked that Johnson threw in some entertainment industry type drama.

• Bo's nephew was too adorable. I adored meeting him.

• Being on the movie set was fun, but I also thought the estate was fantastic. It sounded like a really beautiful place, which was only made more lovely, when Sadie or Bo shared the memories they had attached to the place.

• Bo's tattoos. My heart melted, when we got to "see" those.

• This whole series is based around this group of five friends, and I love a good female friendship. I spent the most time with Ana, but did get some page time with the entire gang, which is always a good time.

• Johnson writes very pro-women books. In each book, she touches upon something affecting women, either the exclusion of them, the diminishing of their rights, or the double standard society has, when it comes to women. I likes that she works those ideas into her stories, and it was done, quite thoughtfully in this book.

• The ending! So good!

Overall: A fantastic second chance romance between two people, who were destined to be together. It made me laugh, cry, smile, and swoon.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 June, 2019: Finished reading
  • 14 June, 2019: Reviewed