Luke Harper was finally
starting to settle into his life - a life that had previously been full
of more heartbreak and pain than most people ever experienced. He had a
job he loved, and was blissfully content in his on-again, off-again
relationship with the striking, and highly sexual, Holly. But, life
throws Luke another curveball with the arrival of the alluring April, a
woman stuck in a tumultuous, violent marriage to a famous athlete. Luke
soon finds himself torn between what is safe, familiar, and right, and
what is dangerous, unknown, and forbidden.
Thou Shalt Not was not what I expected. I thought this would be a sexy romance from
the cover, but was concerned when I found out this was written by a male. So I went in thinking I was going to read a love
story from a male POV and didn’t quite know what I was getting into. What I found is not only a well written book,
but a story that gave me three characters who I fell in love with.
So here we go, you have Luke who I instantly found
adorable. He isn’t the sexy alpha male
that we normally read about, he is a teacher for a Christian School, who, yes
dare I say it, has a nerd quality about him that I found sweet. He has a way of talking to himself that just
feels real. He isn’t your rich man, who
can buy any woman he wants. He deals with
teenagers all day and somehow keeps his sanity through it. He has
a “friend” Holly who has filled the void a bit after his first marriage ended
in such a tragic way. Let’s say friends
with benefits have taken a whole new meaning with those two.
Holly is a hardworking, kind woman. She loves Luke, maybe in a friendship way,
maybe the feelings are growing stronger and she wants more. It doesn’t really matter because I think she
knows that Luke isn’t interested in long term.
Holly’s life hasn’t been easy, she has had to face her own heart breaks
and that just makes her a more compassionate woman. I adore her, I want her to have a great life
and I want her and Luke to be together, but wait, we now have April.
April is a substitute teacher; she is in the room next to
Luke at school. She is a beautiful woman,
so kind, so intelligent, friendly and sexy as all sin. She is also married. Luke just falls all over himself when he meets
her for the first time. She starts going
to his class during her breaks and watches him teach the kids. It is hilarious to watch Luke try to stay
focus on teaching when she is around. So
I am thinking no way do I want him to have an affair with her, but then we hear
about April’s home life. Her husband is
a hot headed baseball player and he makes her life hell. So now of course we want Luke to dash in and
be her savior, but where does that leave Holly.
Now remember when I said he taught at a Christian school………yes
this is where the plot thickens. What
would Luke lose besides his morals if he and April become involved? How would he walk by the huge paining of the Ten
Commandments every day and see “thou shalt not commit adultery”? Was he willing to risk his reputation and job
for a relationship with April? What
would he tell Holly? She has been so
supportive of him and he does have feelings for her.
For a debut novel, JJ did a great job with his characters,
creating people that we love and want to see win in this battle, where we have
three players and only two can be winners.
I will warn you this is a cliff hanger and not an easy cliff hanger to
forget. It will leave you on the edge of
your seat screaming for more immediately.
What impressed me the most is even though I am 100% against having an
affair, especially when there are children involved in one or both of the
marriages, he was able to make me give Luke and April some serious consideration
as to why it would be ok? Yes I am not
proud to admit that, but this is how great his writing style is. I will say I have come up with who out of the
two women I hope he ends up with, but I won’t say it here. I will say if you want an emotional ride that
will grab your heart, soul and brain and manipulate them till you don’t even
know what you think; this is certainly the book for you. JJ has proven just how powerful words can be
in life. They can hurt, they can heal
and they can make you stop and think in a whole new way you didn’t even know
was possible.
My eyes may or may not have closed for a
moment or two when I heard the classroom door open. The sound seemed to come
from a faraway land and jolted me upright.
"April," I said,
hoping she hadn't realized I was dozing.
Who was I kidding? I was sure
she had.
"Luke," she said,
walking toward my desk.
It was more of a saunter, and
it was slightly sensual.
Maybe it seemed that way in
my head. But, April looked even sexier than she had earlier in the day when I
had entertained my teacher fantasy.
Her lipstick was a fierce
red, and it matched her fingernails. I hadn't noticed them earlier, only her
lips. But now, the red seemed more vibrant. It stood out against her pale skin.
And I could have sworn she
had undone one of the buttons of her white blouse.
Damn, I think I might be
waking up.
"Did the putrid pupils
run you from the lunchroom too?"
"No," she said,
stopping at one of the student's desks and placing her hand down on it. "I
actually lost most of my sense of smell as a child."
My face surely registered
shock.
"Oh my god,
seriously?" I asked, unable to hide my incredulity. "I'm so
sorry."
Stupid, insensitive me.
Always chewing on my feet.
April just stood there for a
moment, looking a little sad and contemplative.
Then she started laughing.
"Of course I'm not
serious," she said. "Those kids smelled like rotting fish."
I just shook my head and
ignored the fact that she made me feel guilty about her little ruse.
"We have tried to start
to a petition to keep the kids from having to run miles before defiling the
lunchroom. No such luck yet."
"Well, you will
absolutely have my signature on that petition," she said. "But, I
will need a pen to sign it. Which brings me to the reason I'm here. I need to
borrow a pen."
Nice segue.
"First you try to mock
my sense of compassion, and now you want to borrow my stuff??"
More head shaking.
I scoured my desk for an
acceptable pen. I had a habit of chewing pens and pen caps, when I didn’t
have toothpicks available.
I couldn't see a single good
pen on my desk.
I opened up the drawer and
searched. Nothing.
There was a table behind my
desk, mostly covered in papers. I turned around in my chair to look there.
Finally, I found a Bic that
appeared to be untouched by my teeth. It actually looked new.
But what a boring fucking
pen. I was mildly embarrassed. As a teacher, I took a little pride in the
supplies I had in my room. I always seemed to find cool versions of everyday
classroom items. My stapler looked like the skull of a T-Rex, mostly because I
was obsessed with Jurassic Park.
And, now, the prettiest woman
in the building was asking me for a pen, and the best I was going to be able to
give her was a boring-ass Bic.
"This is all I've
got," I said, turning back toward her. "It's just this
stupid..."
April hands were resting on
the front of my desk, and she was leaning over it toward me. She had absolutely
unbuttoned one of her top buttons, and her shirt hung open slightly. I could
see down her blouse, the tops of her breasts visible. I couldn't have resisted
staring even if there had been a gun to my head. I'm sure my eyes got big. And
I was sure she noticed.
"A stupid what?"
she said, lowering herself onto her arms, giving me an even better look had I
been looking.
Which I obviously was.
"Uh, just this plain
Jane Bic," I said, forcing myself to look at her face.
God, her lips were amazing. I
wanted her red lips on every part of my body.
Fuck, I was getting hard.
"What was wrong with
these?" she asked, gesturing toward the few mangled pens on my desk.
She hadn't moved from her
position. If someone had walked into the classroom, they would have seen her
bent over my desk.
The view might almost be as
good as this one.
Think unsexy thoughts, think
unsexy thoughts.
"I have a bad habit of
chewing my pens," I admitted. "It's not something I'm proud of."
She feigned horror.
"Bad Luke," she
said. "Certain things belong in your mouth, but I'm pretty sure pens don't."
Shit.
"Well, this one hasn't
seen my mouth, so you're in luck," I said, handing the pen over.
She stuck her tongue out at
me as she took the pen, her hand seeming to linger on mine ever so slightly.
God, her hand was soft.
God, her tongue was long.
God.
"I didn't know people
over the age of six still stuck their tongues out," I said.
"I have two small
children," she reminded me. "I stick my tongue out all I want."
She did it again. But this
time she took my pen and laid it across the tip of her tongue.
She smiled, and I swear she
curled her tongue in, pulling the pen toward her lips.
I never imagined this in any
teacher fantasy of mine. But, holy fuck.
I could see lipstick on the
pen.
Luckiest Bic ever.
Then, she took the pen and
slid it into the side of her mouth, long ways, like the world's luckiest
toothpick. Or dick.
Yeah, my mind definitely
wasn't thinking toothpick.
"Thank you Luke,"
she said, pen still in her mouth. "I'll bring it back to you when I'm done
with it."
I just nodded. Words weren't
going to come out coherently.
She stood up straight,
stretching her arms back and pointing her chest in my direction.
If I were a teenager, I would
have already masturbated ten times to this fantasy. I will later masturbate ten
times to this fantasy.
"God, I'm tired,"
she said. "Maybe I'll come visit your couch after school."
She smiled again, her eyes
dancing. Then she turned and walked out of the classroom.
The bell rang. And I was rock
hard.
JJ Rossum
traveled the world as a child, and called many places "home".
Currently, home is Portland, Oregon, where he is at work on other novels that
were hatched while people watching during many airport layovers.
Awesome giveaway
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