A Pound of Flesh (Pound of Flesh, #1)

by Sophie Jackson

[Cocktails and Books]

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book that has the heroine falling for the hero while he's in jail. But I have to say, Sophie Jackson did a great job of bringing these two broken characters together in a way that felt believable and very real.

Carter was a really rough, often crude, character. There were times I knew I really wouldn't like him, if it weren't for the fact that his inner monologue was there to show you that what came out of his mouth was mostly a defense mechanism. Carter was a man who was beaten down by his family and life in general. But it's the scars from his family that pushed him down the path he was on when he met Kat. It's not until Kat that someone sees beyond Carter's bluster to the caring man he is at his core.

Kat wasn't without her own set of emotional baggage. Witness to the death of her father, she's tormented by those events, even as she lives her adult life based on the promise she made her father. And even worse, her mother and her best friends seem to start turning against her as she moves forward with her prison teaching position. While those close to her choose not to really listen to Kat, it's Carter and is attitude that seem to break through Kat's walls, helping her understand who she really is.

This was a great angsty read. Even though I would have loved to have found out more about why Kat's best friend Beth was so easily swayed to do what she did to Kat or even why Carter's cousin Adam didn't stand up sooner, and lastly what kind of relationship Kat and Carter had with Kat's friends and family after everything, I still enjoyed this story immensely. If was different and kept my attention, even when the call of summer sun beckoned. Definitely one to pick up and try.