Six Naughty Nights (Love in Reverse, #2)

by Serenity Woods

[Cocktails and Books]

Six Naughty Nights is the story of Esther and Toby. Toby and Esther have a romantic holiday fling. Esther wants to keep the flame alive, but Toby refuses to remain in contact and goes back to his life. He reconsiders later, but he's left Esther wounded, distrustful, and pregnant. She ignores his attempts to contact her. They meet fortuitously in the supermarket just as an earthquake hits. This is where the story picks up the lives of Esther, Toby, and their son Charlie.

The author shocked me by right away having Esther reveal to Toby that Charlie is his child. It was none of the hiding the child and hoping that he never found out it was his baby that I always found so silly in these kinds of stories. I also found it refreshing that Toby and Esther didn't waste time trying to deny their physical attraction to each other. They decided to enjoy the time they had together for the physical pleasures it could be bring.

So you might we wondering as I was what on earth is this plot going to be since we've revealed the child (check), engaged in sex without all the ploys and delays (check), and the only thing missing was the happy ending where they decide they can't live without each other. That was the crux of this story. I enjoyed the further development of the characters where Toby is portrayed as very sensitive, strong, family oriented, and with insecurities that come along with being the least educated among his family and friends. I did think that part was drawn out a little longer than necessary, and I kept wondering how many times they were going to have sex before they decided to make their relationship permanent. There were several false starts where I thought this is it, and then it didn't happen and it was back to square one.

Charlie was absolutely adorable, and I enjoyed the dialogue that the author wrote for him. Esther was a strong female character, but at the end I felt like slapping her and telling her to just get over the past. She had the courage to tell Toby about Charlie but not that she threw away his phone messages and deliberately didn't contact him? That didn't ring true somehow. These characters pulled me in and made me care about them. Serenity Woods has penned another great book. I loved the ending and felt myself getting misty eyed.