Review: Forget Stella, Lisa got more than her groove back!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
Ever since I can remember my friends and family have adamantly admonished me to do stand up comedy. I'm funny, witty and quick with a come back they've always said. Because of that I'd like to think I have the inside track on what's funny and what's not. Let me tell you, Extreme Closeup is FUNNY! I had only gotten 9% into the story when I knew this for fact. Within the first few chapters I was cracking up and had sore face muscles from smiling so much. The humor wasn't the only thing about Extreme Closeup that I loved though. I found depth in both the characters and the story. I went into reading this thinking I would just get a story about some hot cougar sex that wouldn't make me think too hard. What I ended up getting was not only a story that made me think but a story that made me FEEL, as well. Not just emotion but every single one a woman can have. I fell in lust, I fell in love. I was turned on. My heart was torn and repaired all within the pages of this marvelous book.This isn't your typical cougar gets her groove back story. Lisa Taylor is a woman who spent most of her youth married to a man who systematically chipped away at her self worth. Not just him but a few other encounters with men have beaten away at her self image until she honestly believes she is undesirable. She's 41 now with a teenage son and her body isn't as young as it used to be. It's been years since her libido has had a pulse leaving her with no desire to be with a man. As a woman I can fully grasp this feeling. After a bad breakup and a lifetime of body issues it has contributed to my feeling the same thing. It's like you're almost dead and I, like Lisa have found myself wondering if I'll ever be attracted to a man on a purely lust filled level like I did when I was younger. Thankfully for Lisa her awakening comes in the form of a sexy 23 year old neighbor's son wanting to help her around the house at the request of her son.I knew when Braden showed up that things would get interesting. Their connection to each other seems innocent at first until it's revealed that Lisa's ex husband Vance married Braden's mother SO... the first thing I thought was "REVENGE SEX!!! GET IT GIRL!". The families have known each other for a while because Lisa's son and Braden have been friends and they've all taken vacations together before the affair tore them apart. Lisa can't help but be attracted to the man Braden has become but what she didn't count on was the crush Braden has always had on her. I wasn't bothered at all by Lisa's bodily attraction to Braden because guys nowadays are way better looking than they were when I was younger. Back then they were gangly and snot nosed, now they are walking Adonis' with facial hair and skills. Life isn't fair! Even though she had met Braden when he was a young boy they always shared a connection and he felt like she was the only one who understood him and listened to what he had to say. Once he got older and everyone only saw him as the attractive football star Lisa saw something deeper in him and he's never forgotten that. I loved the flashbacks of him remembering how many times she's touched his life. It was so well written and really showed the deeper side to their relationship aside from the sexual chemistry that was so intense.Lisa and Braden are two characters who have taken a piece of my heart. There was a strength to Lisa beneath the humor she used to get through life. Being a divorced single mother while your husband runs off with your best friend is enough of an excuse to give up but she picked herself up by the boot straps and built herself a small little business as a photographer. Lisa's personality was so down to earth and she looked at everything with a realistic set of eyes and didn't sugar coat anything to herself or others. She didn't delude herself in anything and always kept her best interests in mind as well as Braden's. The thing about her that got to me the most was her inner struggle over Braden's age. She really took time to think everything out and didn't just jump right into anything. It had to be difficult to reconcile knowing him as a boy and knowing him as a man and Jaret really captured the internal push and pull any woman would go through in this same situation.Braden was the kind of guy that, if I had a daughter, I would absolutely approve of. He was helpful, kind, sweet, incredibly smart and absolutely beautiful. Braden was the total package with a bow on his head. (Which one? That's up to you to decide LOL) He was such a great guy all the way around. The way he felt protective of Lisa even when she didn't know about it was very endearing of his character. He hated the way her husband treated her and often held himself back from standing up for her. What broke my heart for him was that he also faced a sort of body image issue. Granted he was so effing gorgeous nobody took him seriously but still. Body issues come in all shapes and sizes and anyone can struggle with them. I never really thought about beautiful people having them too. Lisa and Braden helped each other in so many ways that lead to personal growth for each of them. She helped him discover what he wanted to do with his future and he helped Lisa see herself as the vivacious and beautiful person she was.So...the sex. Yeah. It's hotter than you can imagine but it's not the graphic way it's described that made it so. No, it was the intense and deeply rooted connection between the two characters that brings their chemistry to life. It's like a physical pulse you can feel with each encounter that leaves you breathless. Because these two have known each other since he was a 12 year old boy I expected to feel somewhat awkward after a while about their relationship. Especially when their shared memories of the past detailed his attraction to her as a young man. That didn't happen though because those scenes were so well written and handled the right way it just made their bond so beautiful. So they sex, and they SEX, and it's hot, and it's HOT! You root for them so hard to be together but when reality sets in she's 41 and he's still 23 and you have to ask yourself how that would work? She's had her life and his is just beginning so where does that leave them? In all honestly it leaves them in a place that was only natural for a couple like this to end up. I'll tell you, this was the most beautifully bittersweet story I've ever read. Jaret took me on a sexy, witty, and romantic journey that was sad to let go of. I invested so much of my heart into these characters and didn't realize it until it I finished reading and was incredibly sad I had to say goodbye.The way Jaret wrapped up her story was so realistically organic and true to the dynamic of this kind of story. I discussed this at length with a close friend who also read it and overall we both realized there was no other way to go. I was so, so, so, SO extremely torn and happy with this book. Jaret blew me away with her intensely erotic and funny story. I've never read any of her work before so she came out of nowhere for me but she's definitely secured a spot on my favorite authors list with Extreme Closeup. If you enjoy a story that hangs on long after you finish and characters you hopelessly fall in love with then you want to read Extreme Closeup now! I won't be forgetting it anytime soon and I wouldn't want to.