Review: Baiting the Maid of Honor - Tessa Bailey

He’ll own her from the very first touch.

Julie Piper and Reed Lawson have nothing in common. She’s a people-pleasing sorority girl hiding behind her perfect mask. He’s a take-no-prisoners SWAT commander who isolates himself from the world. But when they’re forced together at their friends’ posh destination wedding, one thing is clear—Reed wants Julie more than he wants his next breath. Which is why he’s not about to stand by when she’s dared to seduce another man.

Julie wants neat, tidy sex, so she could get back to what she does best—making everybody else happy. She never expected to slip into a dark bedroom and have her mind blown by rough, demanding hands, and a sinfully filthy mouth—neither of which belong to the best man.

One night should have been all Reed needed to get the blond temptress out of his system, but when one taste is nowhere near enough, he’ll be forced confront the effects of his hellish past. One that may push Julie away forever...just when he realizes he can't live without her.

Wedding Dare Series:
Dare to Resist - Laura Kaye
Falling for the Groomsmen - Diane Alberts
Baiting the Maid of Honor - Tessa Bailey
Seducing the Bridesmaid - Katee Robert
Best Man with Benefits - Samanthe Beck

Visit Tessa Bailey's website for more information.

Review:
Julie spends her whole life trying to please other people and she never puts herself first. The idea of having a holiday fling appeals to her but she is so busy helping organise activities for the wedding guests that she doesn't have much time for a man. Reed is everything Julie shouldn't want in a guy, he's dark and dangerous and should have her running in the opposite direction but there is something about him that she just can't resist. SWAT officer Reed is used to getting what he wants and he's set his sights on Julie, what starts as one night of incredible sex turns into much more when he sees the vulnerable woman underneath the people pleasing exterior. Reed wants to be the one who takes care of Julie but will she let her guard down long enough to let him in?

Baiting the Maid of Honor is part of the Wedding Dare multi-author series which has been written by five of my favourite Brazen authors. The prequel novella, Dare to Resist by Laura Kaye, sets the scene for the rest of the series and introduces us to the original couple Kady and Colton. Each of the following novels, written by Diane Alberts, Tessa Bailey, Katee Robert and Samanthe Beck, follow the same time line and take place at Kady and Colton's wedding. Each book features a different bridesmaid and sees the four of them daring each other to find a hot groomsman to have fun with for the duration of the wedding. Although the series doesn't have to be read in order I would recommend at least starting with the prequel novella before you go on to read the remaining stories in any order that takes your fancy. There is a crossover of characters and you'll see certain conversations between the friends from several different angles throughout the series and I've really enjoyed seeing how cleverly all of the books have been tied together. Baiting the Maid of Honor by Tessa Bailey is the third story in the series following Dare to Resist and Falling for the Groomsman.

I'm a big fan of Tessa Bailey's dirty talking alpha heroes and Reed is no exception to that, in fact he has a mouth that could melt the panties off of any woman under the age of 100! He's a very easy guy to like and I enjoyed seeing him push Julie's buttons and getting her all riled up. As much as he pushes her I also loved that he is so caring towards her. Her friends tend to take advantage of her need to be helpful and nobody ever seems to offer to take some of her burdens off of her shoulders until Reed comes along. I was actually annoyed at times with the way her friends treated her so it was good to see Reed shake things up a bit.

As much as I loved Reed I do worry that Tessa Bailey is at risk of falling into a bit of a rut with her heroes, they are all cops with very dirty mouths who love to get down and dirty and if you've read any of her Line of Duty series you'll recognise that Reed would fit right in with all of her previous characters (I actually wondered for a moment if we'd already met him but after doing a name search on my kindle I can't find him in the other series). Her stories are all well written and incredibly sexy but I would love to see her write about a different kind of guy for a change. Don't let that put you off Baiting the Maid of Honor though because I've been really enjoying this whole series and if you've liked any of this author's other books then I'm sure you'll love this one just as much.

Source: Received from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review

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