Review: Hot Read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2013
Reilly's Wildcard is the fourth offering in Anne Rainey's Blackwater series. This was my first read from Ms. Rainey and I really enjoyed it.The back story as I understood it seemed very promising, and was the reason I chose the book in the first place. Turns out that I chose well because the story was every bit as good as I'd anticipated. Rainey's Blackwater series features the five Jennings brothers and the emotional baggage that came with being orphaned and placed in the foster system.Later on they were all taken in by a great couple and given a loving home. The guys are appreciative for everything their adoptive parents did for them, so when their mother needs them, they all come running. This is romance land, so they're bound to find love along the way in this series. And as they do they'll each have some issues to face. This is Reilly's story.Reilly and Lucy hooked up for a one night stand that ended in disaster when he says something that hurts her feelings. She runs off and refuses to let him make it up to her. Foolish girl, that's what she was. Anyhow, two months later, she finds out she's knocked up with his kid.Here's where the story got even more interesting to me. It's Reilly who wants something more in this story. Lucy has some deep issues of her own that keep her from committing to anything permanent. Of course, it didn't help that Reilly was a bit paranoid and kept on hurting her feelings. But then, she could have pulled on her big girl panties and quit being such a cry baby herself. Reilly definitely needed a filter for what was coming out of his mouth, but he really did love Lucy. He wanted to be there for her and the baby. He did the best he could and she kept trying to push him away. I felt that they both had some problems and that they dealt with them the best way they could.I guess you could say that I liked both of them to a certain extent. But I definitely loved Reilly, and it wasn't just because the writer describes him as sex on a stick. He was all that but he was also a good guy who wanted to do what was right for his kid. That the sizzling attraction he felt for Lucy turned into something real along the way was just icing on the cake.I didn't like Lucy nearly as much as I did Reilly. She was much too whiny for my liking. She kept running away every time he said something that hurt her little feelings. I kept wanted to grab her by her hair and give her a piece of my mind. What is wrong with a good argument every now and then? Solving your problems by talking -- or screaming -- things out usually works wonders in a relationship. It'll add passion to the story every time. I would've enjoyed seeing her go toe-to-toe with Reilly instead of running away.This story got a little personal for me. Lucy wasn't sure if she could be a good mom. Don't most of us feel that way our first time around? Given her history, I understood those feelings. It took her a while to realize that she'd just have to feel her way along, and that made the story even better for me. I was a young mother once and had some of those same fears myself. Lucy wasn't a young mother, but she had a whole different set of problems. But as I read this story I kept thinking that, like me, she needed to realize that she had it in her to be a really great mom. Lucy was afraid that she couldn't be enough for her child or for Reilly. She just had to believe in herself. Lucky for her, she had a great guy to help her do that.This is an erotic story, and some of the love scenes are really spicy. The first one was the hottest, but there were plenty of hot scenes spaced throughout the story.I really enjoyed this story. The plot flowed well and made it easy to engage in the story.The writer did a fantastic job with character development. She gave me a good understanding of why Reilly and Lucy acted the way they did. I understood their feelings. I was able to identify with Lucy, even when I didn't like her very much. It takes a talented writer to do that, especially in such a short story.I'd recommend this story to all contemporary readers.Originally posted at Long and Short Reviews