Review: Round 2: 4 Stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2013
In the The Virgin's Revenge (another Rancho del Toro) we get to play with poor Amanda Jackman and her bevy of overprotective big brothers, the worst of which is the oldest brother Locke who basically ended up raising all of them after their parents died.  I really enjoyed Book 1 and was super excited to find out more about what was going on with Locke and the sassy Susie, Amanda's best friend.The storyline that I expected was not what I got but I enjoyed it all the same.  I was expecting much more of a battle of wits between Susie and Locke, an independent woman vs. alpha cave-man who wants to claim her as his own.  That element is there, but it's not the main issue between them.  The main issue is that Susie has secrets, behind her brash exterior she's actually very afraid, and although she's not physically afraid of Locke she's also not willing to put herself in a position where he might see her as "his" or a possession in any sense of the word.But Locke's been lusting after her for 2 years and after their little interlude at his cabin during Amanda & Cole's book, he's not giving her up.  He wants the whole package - commitment, marriage, the works.  By far one of the best moments in the book is when he's thinking about how he's trying to slowly creep his way into being a permanent part of his life and thinks that if everything goes to plan she'll turn around one day and suddenly realize they've been married for 20 years.  I just loved that SO much.The secrets Susie's been hiding come back to haunt her of course, because in book world if you have an awful, abusive, violent ex eventually he's going to come back and try to get you again even if it kinda makes no sense... because he's just crazy.  Honestly I'm so tired of that storyline and part of the reason I loved the first book so much was because it didn't have any of that and just dealt with the romance/relationship which was complicated enough, but at least it didn't completely overwhelm this book.  Most of this book is still dealing with the after effects of her previous relationship.That little danger subplot is why this book got 4 stars from me instead of five.  Not just because I'm tired of that subplot, but also because it really didn't seem necessary.  Still, it was well-written, it wasn't entirely cliche and - THANK GOD - love was declared far before the danger erupted, which is why this book still gets 4 stars and I definitely highly recommend it especially if you liked the first one.We also got to know the other brothers a little better which was nice, in the first book they seemed to practically just be extensions of Locke, falling in to do his bidding.  The glimpses of them in the books combined gives a better sense of some of their personalities - Dean especially, Adam gets a useful mention, and Daniel made me laugh out loud and face palm several times.  I'm pretty sure there are other brothers but I can't remember their names which tells you that they don't have a huge impact on the story... but I'm definitely looking forward to the next book and getting to know them better.  Personally I'm crossing my fingers for Dean.