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Now and Then

Now and Again

by Brenda Rothert 

  

Now and Then

Now Emmaline Carson is a sharp, settled graphic designer who loves painting, cooking and girls’ night out with her older sister Layla. But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.
Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.
Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.

I loved the idea of this book. Sister against sister, one feeling not worthy enough, the other feeling entitled. Both wanting the same man, who was definitely worthy of being wanted. 

"There should be a rule somewhere that if people try their hardest, if they cry and hurt and want something so badly-something good-they should get it"

When the book started, I felt the author jumped from first to third person a lot and it was a bit confusing however the idea of the forbidden romance between Emma and Cole drew me in immediately and I had to know more. The biggest complaint I have is that the flow seemed to be off. There would be gaps in things happening that were not filled in and maybe needed to be? 

The author did a great job in letting each sister portray their respective role. Emma being the sweet, shy one where Layla was the "mean girl" used to taking charge and getting what she wants.

"Eww. I'm not taking a used vibrator, Layla."

"I'm not offering one! They're like dear old friends to me. We've been through a lot together. You'll have to get your own"

Who can't love a line like that? 

Another issue I had is with Cole's big secret. I felt it was rushed at the end and the ties were just closed up to easily with no real drama after it was made out to be a big deal. 

"I've kept it all to myself for such a long time, and I don't want it to poison me, Em. I don't even talk to my parents about it"

Overall I really enjoyed the book and wanted to see where it was going. It finished up nicely and I liked that everything wasn't rainbow and sunshine between the two sisters at the end. It gave it a more realistic, life like feel. 

 

Now and Again

Once again, 26-year-old Layla Carson has the attention of a man eager to satisfy her. Ben Montrose, the hot, confident cop who gets off on frustrating her, is eager to show her just how arresting he can be. But as a reforming sexaholic, Layla’s sworn off casual hookups, and doesn’t miss the days of her early 20s –much.
Ben’s caught off-guard when the sexy, outspoken attorney turns him on and then turns him down. But the confident former Marine knows he can handle the simple seduction of a beautiful woman. He finds Layla’s weak spot – competition, which he happens to share – and challenges her to a game that could make them, or destroy them.
As they compete to crown the master of seduction, Ben and Layla discover there’s more to their game than power and foreplay. But as the stakes go up, they realize the game has changed, and they both stand to lose more than they bargained for.

I went into Now and Again not knowing what or who it would be about. I was really shocked to see it was Layla's story and was really prepared to hate her. Boy was I in for a shocker!

One attorney + one detective= A pretty hot book.

"When I meet someone as charming as you, I wonder why attorneys have such a bad reputation," Ben said, amusement in his tone.

I was very happy to see that Layla had made some changes in her lifestyle and was on the road to forgiving Cole and Emma. When she met Ben I thought it would be a much simpler courtship than it was. They were brought together by a threat left in Layla's mailbox (more on that later) and while it was instant attraction on both of their parts, it wasn't instant companionship. I liked the idea of their agreement and it was pretty different from a typical romance. The author wrote great scenes about the foreplay into their sex lives however the ending of each encounter was always quick and lacking in the steam factor that led up to it which left me feeling disappointed. The characters were also very high-schoolish for being adults. Some of their actions and behaviors just baffled me and made me wonder exactly how old they were.

"Layla doesn't exactly attract the good guys. If you're with her, I know why, and I don't want your type getting cozy with my girlfriend"

That was from Cole. Who says that stuff out loud anyways in front of another person? This totally went against how they portrayed him and his character in the first book. 

This book was much more detailed than the first and also I felt more connected with the characters however, we went through 86% of the book before this "mystery stalker guy" was even mentioned again and then, it felt very rushed and anti-climatic to me to get to the ending. I wanted a more thorough explanation and it never got there. I really like this series so far and will definitely be reading the next in the series, Now and Forever which is due to be released in January 2014. 

Buy Links
Now and Then (Book 1)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
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Now and Again (Book 2)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Brenda Rothert lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three sons. She was a daily print journalist for nine years, during which time she enjoyed writing a wide range of stories.

These days Brenda writes New Adult Romance in the Contemporary and Dystopian genres.

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