CRASHED OUT (Made in Jersey #1) by Tessa Bailey-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 7, 2015

His inspiration. His torment. And his temptation…

Jasmine Taveras is the reason Sarge Purcell grabbed his six-string and bailed the hell out of New Jersey four years ago. She’s the fuel for every song he’s ever written-each one laced with bitter, hard-edged, hungry lust. Now, with his hugely successful band is on temporary hiatus, Sarge is determined to prove to Jasmine that this “kid” turned into every inch the man she’s always needed…

Men are slim pickings for a single factory girl in Hook, New Jersey…until tall, broad-shouldered hotness walks-or rather storms-into Jasmine’s life. Sarge’s return shouldn’t affect her this way. He’s her best friend’s much younger kid brother, and the kind of rough, gritty, sexiness Jasmine has no right to taste for herself. Even if he lets her.

But lust is a blinding, insatiable force. And when it crashes, it will take both Sarge and Jasmine down with it.

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REVIEW: CRASHED OUT is the first installment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary, adult MADE IN JERSEY erotic romance series focusing on the members of the rock band Old News. This is lead singer and front man Sarge Purcell, and blue collar worker/former singer Jasmine Taveras’s storyline.

Told from dual third person perspectives CRASHED OUT focuses on a forbidden love between rock star Sarge Purcell, and Jasmine Taveras-a woman seven years his senior and the muse to his writing success. Growing up in Hook, New Jersey, a much younger Sarge fell in love with his sister’s best friend Jasmine Taveras. Jasmine was the focus of every dream, every fantasy and every song he has ever written. Fast forward to present day, when the band takes a much needed break for the Christmas holidays, Sarge returns to Hook, after a four year absence, to seduce the woman he has always loved. What ensues is an erotic affair between two people who have known one another most of their lives.

CRASHED OUT follows the building relationship between twenty two year old Sarge Purcell, and twenty nine year old Jasmine Taveras. Jasmine is a woman stuck in a blue collar job in Hook, New Jersey when the singing career she always wanted never failed to materialize. Sarge is the boy from Hook who made it big on the music stage, and the man who has come home to claim what it is he has always wanted-Jasmine Taveras.

We are introduced to Jasmine’s best friend and Sarge’s older sister River Purcell, and her three year old daughter Marcy. River’s life as a single mother has not been easy as she works two jobs to support her daughter and herself ; and band manager James Brandon, and Old News drummer Lita Regina-who may or may not have a thing for one another. Lita has a habit of getting herself into trouble, and James is the one constant always bailing her out, and standing by her side.

CRASHED OUT is a storyline with graphic sexual text. Sarge likes to talk dirty in the bedroom but at times the ‘dirty’ crosses a line into ‘rude, crude and crass’. The age difference between the characters is amplified by Sarge’s raunchy expressions and phrases both in and out of the bedroom. The premise gets lost in the numerous sex scenes and dirty talking bad boy that does not compensate for the lack of sexual chemistry between our leading couple. And the constant reminders about the age difference was disappointing although Jasmine’s lack of maturity seemed at odds with the storyline premise.

Tessa Bailey writes a predictable but entertaining storyline about forbidden romance and falling in love. The characters colorful, animated and engaging; the romance is erotic and provocative; the happily ever after finds our couple singing the praises of togetherness and love.

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy