Somebody's Lover

The Jackson Brothers, Book 1

By: Jasmine Haynes

Narrated by: Shana Savage

Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

If you're a fan of contemporary romance by Bella Andre, Lora Leigh, Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, then you won't want to miss Jasmine Haynes's heart-wrenching family saga, The Jackson Brothers.

A family torn apart by tragedy…Widowed three-years-ago and the mother of two, Taylor Jackson is starting to feel that life as a woman is passing her by. Always somebody's daughter-in-law, somebody's mother, or somebody's sister-in-law, Taylor longs to be somebody's secret lover.

Taylor was his brother's wife, and now his brother's widow, untouchable yet irresistible to Jace Jackson. When he discovers her fantasies, Jace swears he'll be the one to make them reality. But can his family ever accept another man in Taylor's life, let alone the black sheep of the family? Or will their grief and pain destroy any chance Jace has of being more to Taylor than her secret lover?

Somebody's Lover is a contemporary erotic romance.

©2012 Jasmine Haynes (P)2013 Jasmine Haynes

Attempted erotica & romance combo

Overall, my score is more like a 2.75. Still, this story was okay to me. I listen to plenty of romance and erotica, and this story seemed to be an attempt to straddle both lanes. And the attempt wasn’t an utter failure. The setup of the romance was plausible and worked, though it wasn’t a new plot—a brother in love with his brother’s wife/widow. Still, it didn’t come across as stale, but it also didn’t shine anything new on that idea either. And it’s been done better elsewhere, I’m sure.

What I liked: (1) the attraction between Taylor and Jace and their struggle to admit and express it were done well; Taylor’s constant fluctuating between “we can’t” and “I will” became tiresome at times, but Jace’s sort of calling her on it and being steadfast in his desire helped to sell her action as part of the story; (2) the author made good use of the mysterious and fatal family incident to keep the story moving and to require me to continue with the story to find out exactly what happened; and the answer worked and wasn’t too little or too much; sometimes the build-up leads to a big letdown, but not here; (3) and the sex scenes were somewhat hot and plentiful, though they were also very fast and short and not sensual, which is hard to write; they were primarily just sexual and barely romantic.

What I disliked: (1) the phone sex was sort of inept, sort of juvenile; (2) the combination of Jace’s prudishness and rawness didn’t work for me; he could say p*ussy and f*ck but then said “You are so pretty down there,” as though he was uncomfortable giving “down there” a name; too, he said “tush” instead of a** when referring to Taylor’s butt against his c*ck, which he also had not problem saying in that exact same reference; it made Jace’s character inconsistent and hard to buy completely; (3) the narrator’s voice for Jace’s parents were irritating, especially for the father; and (4) the story wrapped up a bit too easily for me, especially in light of the very tight family unit described herein.

I don’t regret purchasing this story, but I’m unlikely to try this author again. It was a short story, which may or may not have contributed to me not being vested in either character or the larger extended family. And the ending was no surprise. I don’t mind stories that are essentially all about sex, but I expect a bit more when they are trying to bring romance and a HEA into the mix as well, which was this author’s attempt in this story. And, if it’s all about sex, then the sex scenes need to be more than 5 short sentences.

Super hot little read!

Whoa, this is a seriously hot little number!!! I am talking a pantie scorcher here! Lord have mercy!!

The story is a mixed narrative going between Taylor and Jace for the POV. It is a terrific device for really exploring everything they are feeling. There is a fair amount of drama in this read. But that is to be expected with the plotline.

There is so much chemistry here, it burns the ears! The bedroom door is wide open, and the kitchen, and the bathroom, and well...you get the point! Deliciously smexy with a fair amount of dirty talk!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Shana Savage, who steams things up with her voice!! She does a fabulous job with the hot scenes, really great energy! Swift pace in the read adds to the movement of the story.

Overall, this was a terrific read. I can not wait to see what happens with the other two brothers. We get hints of their coming stories in this one. I anticipate much more drama before everything settles and healing occurs for everybody.

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.

Yes but no...

I've already read books by Jasmine Haynes and I wanted to try the audio experience. My first was read by another narrator whom I did not like, I chose this one only because I wanted another voice. It was better but too slow. My listening speed is most often at 1.25, I think I never set to 1.5 before, here, I was forced. It's impossible to listen at normal speed.
The story itself is not my favorite of the author either, predictable and boring sometimes, I think I'll stick to the written version.

Eh, just eh

Compared Jasmine's other novellas, this just did NOT measure up. I actually stopped in the middle of this to start and finish a whole other book, before coming back to finish this one. No where near steamy enough, the narrator's voice was mildly irritating and whiny in some of the lead female's areas, and overall, just an uninteresting read. Would not recommend spending the money on this one. Sorry Jasmine.