THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE (The Hurley Boys #1) by Lauren Dane-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 26, 2014

She has complete control… and he’s determined to take it away

A librarian in the small town of Hood River, Natalie Clayton’s world is very nearly perfect. After a turbulent childhood and her once-wild ways, life is now under control. But trouble has a way of turning up unexpectedly—especially in the tall, charismatically sexy form of Paddy Hurley….

And Paddy is the kind of trouble that Natalie has a taste for.

Even after years of the rock and roll lifestyle, Paddy never forgot the two wickedly hot weeks he once shared with Natalie. Now he wants more… even if it means tempting Natalie and her iron-grip control. But there’s a fine line between well-behaved and misbehaved—and the only compromise is between the sheets!

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REVIEW: THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE is the first book in Lauren Dane’s new, adult, contemporary The Hurley Boys erotic romance series focusing the members (and brothers) of the rock group Sweet Hollow Ranch. This is Patrick “Paddy” Hurley and Natalie Clayton’s storyline-a somewhat second chance at love storyline for two people who have reconnected over coffee and home town life in Hood River.

Told from third person POV the premise focuses on the building relationship between Natalie –the Hood River librarian- and bad boy rocker and lead singer of Sweet Hollow Ranch, and home town phenom Paddy Hurley. Paddy and Natalie had spent two sex filled weeks together before the band made it big and reconnecting years later with Natalie (back in his home town) rekindles all kinds of emotions and needs in Paddy. He is a man possessed to claim Natalie as his own but Natalie has many reasons to not accept and refuse Paddy in her life.

Natalie is a product of her past. Destroyed by the actions of her parents, Natalie is not very forthcoming with Paddy. She is a woman with a history that continues to control her present and in this her actions and responses to Paddy were questionable on many levels. Natalie is quick to judge; quick to assume; and quick to run when the going gets tough-not that Paddy didn’t have some demons of his own.

Paddy lived the rock and roll life style-drugs, alcohol and women-but he has left that all behind. As he and his brothers prepare for their upcoming tour, he will begin to fall in love with a woman whose past will eventually come crashing back and into Sweet Hollow Ranch’s path. Paddy is a man who believes he should be the one to rescue and save the woman that he loves-but when he believes someone has interfered his reactions are so out of character I wondered what I had missed early in the storyline.

The secondary characters include the Hurley Boys-Damien, Ezra and Vaughan, as well as their parents-Michael and Sharon Hurley. We get a glimpse into a loving family unit that has weathered a few dark times throughout the band’s rise to fame. We are also introduced to Natalie’s former college friends and besties, including her room mate Tuesday whose story will be told when Ezra finds the woman that saves his soul.

The world building takes the reader from the past to the present; from family dysfunction to family unity; from friendship to love. We are pulled into a story where four brothers have made it big in the world of rock and roll but with it comes all of the perks and problems that one could imagine.

Lauren Dane writes a story of family love, troubled pasts and moving on. I did have a few issues with the jumpy feel of the story; the focus seem to scatter on occasion as though there something was missing. I also had a difficult time with some of the reasoning and issues our leading couple allowed to bleed into their lives. Small things seem to set them off, yet bigger issues were brushed aside as though they were expected and not unforeseen which added to the already uneasy feel of the story.

THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE introduces four brothers whose lives have changed and are about to change once again. It is a story that reveals some of the seedier side of rock and roll, as well as the promise of greater things to come. Everyone needs a rock; an anchor; a soul mate; and The Hurley Boys series will find each of the members of Sweet Hollow Ranch find their Happily Ever After.I am looking forward to Ezra and Tuesday’s story-Broken Open (November 2014)

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy