SUSTAINED (The Legal Briefs #2) by Emma Chase-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 25, 2015

A knight in tarnished armor is still a knight.

When you’re a defense attorney in Washington, DC, you see firsthand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.

Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.

Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.

Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.

And that — that, I know how to do.

•••••••••••

REVIEW: SUSTAINED is the second installment in Emma Chase’s adult, contemporary The Legal Brief erotic, romance series. This is hotshot defense attorney Jake Becker, and art history major Chelsea McQuaid’s storyline. SUSTAINED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from first person point of view (Jake Becker) SUSTAINED follows Jake Becker as he tries but fails to stay away from Chelsea McQuaid. Two months earlier Chelsea found herself a single parent to her six nieces and nephews when her brother and his wife were killed in a head on collision. Fast forward to present day and Jake finds himself the victim of a nine year old pick pocket named Rory McQuaid who targets Jake in a case of sidewalk hit and run. Finding himself face to face with Chelsea, Jake takes it upon himself to offer up his services if she should ever need them. Jake will soon be on the receiving end of several phone calls as the young family find themselves in a number of situations including school yard bullies, stolen cars, underage drinking, a broken arm, every day childhood mishaps and a bout of the flu that shuts everyone down for days. What Jake never expected was to fall in love with Chelsea and her ready-made family-and that scares Jake more than he could ever imagine.

The relationship between Chelsea and Jake is one of immediate attraction that follows a natural progression from professional to friendship to lovers in a short period of time. As a single parent to six children under fourteen years of age, Chelsea has no time for socialization or dates but Jake is determined get some one on one time thus hiring his own mother and fellow attorneys to babysit the rambunctious brood. The $ex scenes are seductive, provocative and energetic.

The secondary and supporting characters include the six Mcquaid children: Rosaleen, twins Rory and Raymond, Riley, Ronan, and Regan who all play a significant role throughout the storyline. We are reintroduced to Jake’s friends –attorneys Brent, Stanton and Sofia (Overruled #1) as well as several clients, defendants and professional law enforcers. Jake’s mother is the personification of the perfect grandma but an accident on her watch raises questions by the hospital personnel.

The world building focuses on the trials and tribulations of a single mother trying to raise six children all on her own and the extent to which Chelsea’s young life has been turned upside down, but we also look at how the death of a parent sends a child’s life spiraling out of control when they are unable to handle the devastating loss and resulting turmoil. While Jake struggles with his need for Chelsea McQuaid he realizes he doesn’t want the complications and troubles that go with six growing children.

There are moments of humor and fun (Mommy and Me classes/ One Direction concerts); heartbreak and sorrow; falling in love and letting go. SUSTAINED looks at the fall out of a young family struggling to carry on in the face of grief and death; and of one man who places himself on a path towards love from which there is no return. But for Jake Becker, falling in love with Chelsea means falling in love with six more hearts and souls. SUSTAINED is a heartwarming storyline that will give you the ‘feels’ every time.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy