Book Review: Parks and Provocation by Juliette Cross

 

Book Description

Lola Landry stares through the window of her locked car with the keys in the ignition and the radio blaring Beck’s “Loser.” While standing there and sweltering in the soupy Tennessee humidity, she wonders how her orderly life had crashed and burned so badly. Then her high school nemesis saunters up in all of his tall, strapping, fireman-to-the-rescue glory, slapping her with the humiliating proof that it can always get worse.

When the uber-confident Jedediah Lawson requests a date in return for popping her lock, a lightbulb goes off. Revenge is sweet. He would make the perfect victim—guest, that is—for her next podcast episode on Kiss and Tell. What shocks her is the casual way he not only agrees to the post-date interview on air, but ends up hijacking her audience and wooing them with his swoony, southern charm. Not even a low score on the date-o-meter can dissuade the man or keep her fans from demanding more of the charismatic Jed.

What’s worse, she secretly wants a second date with this man who is so different from his teenage self. His unwavering patience and dimpled smile erodes her will, until she breaks the Kiss and Tell rules by agreeing to a second…and a third date. It’s a disaster. Not the date. They’re wonderful. The disaster is that she is falling for a man she once dubbed Jockstrap Jed.

My Review

Lola is a waitress at a diner but she also has her own podcast where she goes on dates and then has the guys back on her podcast to give them a point score for their dates. So when she has car trouble and needs help, she's surprised that it's her high school nemesis that comes to her rescue. She agrees to a date with him and then tells him why after the date and he agrees to come on her podcast. A second date happens and then a third because they realize that they really do like each other. 

Jed moved back to town in order to take care of his father and now he's a firefighter. So when he gets called to help someone with a car problem, the last person he's expecting is Lola but there she is. He really liked her back in high school but because of a misunderstanding she didn't go to prom with him which he regrets. So he asks her out and after some time she agrees but then he has to go on her podcast after the date which leads to another date. 

As the dates get more and more fun and they start getting reacquainted, the old sparks they felt start to reignite but there's one problem. Lola has a good job offer out of town and she plans on leaving so this, whatever this is between them can't last, or can it? 

I really liked this second chance romance. Watching Lola and Jed get a second chance at their relationship was great. I really liked both characters and all of the secondary characters as well. This was a fun read. 

I give this book 4 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book via the author but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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