Joy Ride by Lauren Blakely

Let's be honest, ladies. A good man is a lot like the perfect car. You want a hot body, an engine that purrs, and superior performance under the hood...for the best joy ride of your life.

I'm at your service. Ready to go all night long.

But then a wildly sexy brunette appears in my life and throws a wrench in all my plans. She's fiery, she's talented, she's gorgeous, and I'd really like to know what makes her engine hum.

Henley also happens to be my biggest rival, and now we're forced to work together every day on the most important custom car build of my career. The trouble is I can't quite figure out if she wants to kick me in the lug nuts or beg me to give her a good, hard fuel injection. Until one night that question is answered on the hood of a sports car when she calls out my name three times. And we can't seem to put on the brakes.

If sleeping with the enemy is a bad idea, how much more dangerous would it be to fall in love with her?

Publisher: Lauren Blakely Books  | Narrator: Sebastian York | Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Won | Ratings: 4 Cups

Challenges Read For: Literary Pickers Keys

 

I’m always up for an enemies-to-lovers romance and Joy Ride didn’t disappoint seeing as Max and Henley had an interesting past.

 

Here’s what’s going on. When Henley messed up on a custom car, Max had no choice but to fire her but she didn’t leave before giving Max a piece of her mind. Needless to say, Max is not only surprised but a bit annoyed when he discovers that Henley’s been hired by a film company to help build a custom car alongside him. He’s even more annoyed when he discovers that she’s working for his biggest competition. When they both realize the attraction they felt for each other is still there, they decide to put their feud on hold and explore their attraction. Although Henley’s business plans for the future has potential to act as a spanner in the works.

 

I have been having so much fun catching up on all the Lauren Blakely books I’ve missed and I think Henley and Max have to be one of my top five Blakely couples. They were just amazing together. They were snarky and sexy and I wasn’t sure what was going to come next with them.

 

Max was a bit cocky and a complete alpha male but he wasn’t afraid to admit when he made a mistake or take a bath complete with a bath bomb. He’s determined and a bit hardheaded but it works for him without making him come off as a wanker. I also liked how he looked after Henley.

 

Henley’s not afraid to work hard for what she wants or get her hands dirty and I loved her go get ‘em attitude. She could have caved when Max fired her and found a new career but she kept doing what she was doing and became the top in her field.

 

The fact they had an employee/employer history that ended badly only added to the tension between them. There were definitely some hurt feelings and somethings that needed to be reevaluated and I’m glad that they worked through these things without throwing the past up in each other’s faces. I also enjoyed that they took the time to figure out who they were now.

 

I think this is the first time that I’ve read a book where the heroine works as a custom car builder and it just offered a fresh approach that I loved.

 

Sebastian York works so well with this book. I have an odd listening relationship with him—some books he works for, others not at all. Thankfully, he was a good fit for this one.

 

Overall, I’ve been in a weird reading mood lately but this book hit the spot. It’s fast-paced, sexy, and so much fun. And there was the cutest monkey ever.

Do you like characters to have unique careers?