The Two-Date Rule (Smokejumper #1) by Tawna Fenske-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 25, 2020

Willa Frank has one simple rule: never go on a date with anyone more than twice. Now that her business is providing the stability she’s always needed, she can’t afford distractions. Her two-date rule will protect her just fine…until she meets smokejumper Grady Billman.

After one date—one amazing, unforgettable date—Grady isn’t ready to call it quits, despite his own no-attachments policy, and he’s found a sneaky way around both their rules.

Throwing gutter balls with pitchers of beer? Not a real date. Everyone knows bowling doesn’t count.

Watching a band play at a local show? They just happen to have the same great taste in music. Definitely not a date.

Hiking? Nope. How can exercise be considered a date?

With every “non-date” Grady suggests, his reasoning gets more ridiculous, and Willa must admit she’s having fun playing along. But when their time together costs Willa two critical clients, it’s clear she needs to focus on the only thing that matters—her future. And really, he should do the same.

But what is she supposed to do with a future that looks gray without Grady in it?

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REVIEW:THE TWO-DATE RULE is the first instalment in Tawna Fenske’s contemporary, adult SMOKEJUMPER erotic, romance series. This is Smokejumper Grady Billman, and thirty-one year old, website designer Willa Frank’s story line.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Grady and Willa) THE TWO-DATE RULE follows the building relationship between Smokejumper Grady Billman, and website designer Willa Frank. A night out with friends at a strip club finds Willa Frank face to face with a man she believes is part of the evening’s entertainment. A promise of dinner at a high-end restaurant finds our heroine struggling with wasteful expenses and enacts her two-date rule to get out before it is too late but all does not go according to plan when Willa and Grady’s series of non-date, dates finds our couple falling in love. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Grady and Willa, and the potential fall-out as Willa struggles Grady’s lack of preparedness for the future, and her inability to let go of the past.

Willa Frank does not do relationships having watched the failure of her parent’s marriage destroy her father, turning him into a struggling alcoholic. The two-date rule allows our heroine to walk away without any pressure but all is not well in Willa’s well-ordered world. Constantly worried about money and expenses, Willa battles between head and heart every time Grady wants to be spontaneous or take her out to dinner. Grady Billman comes from a very large family where most of his brothers are also Smokejumpers. Having watched his mother struggle without his father’s absence Grady reconsiders his future, and his future with the woman with whom he will fall in love.

The relationship between Grady and Willa is one of immediate attraction but Willa is determined to stick to her two-date rule, even though Grady makes sure that every time they are together, it isn’t considered one of their two dates, ever.When Grady forces Willa to take a weekend for herself, Willa discovers that stepping out of her comfort zone threatens her emotional stability. Willa’s worry aka obsession about money threatens her relationship with the man with whom she will fall in love. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Willa’s best friends Kayla and Aislin; Grady’s fellow Smokejumpers Tony Warren, Ryan and Jimmy; Willa’s father; Grady’s parents and his nine brothers and sisters.

THE TWO-DATE RULE is a story of family, dysfunction, struggle and acceptance. The premise is engaging and captivating; the characters are colorful and energetic; the romance is seductive.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy