WORKED UP (Made in Jersey #3) by Tessa Bailey-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 1, 2016

Factory mechanic Duke Crawford just wants to watch SportsCenter in peace. Unfortunately, living with four divorcee sisters doesn’t provide much silence, nor does it change his stance on relationships. But when a fellow commitment-phobe stumbles into his life, getting him good and worked up, he can’t deny his protective instincts.

Samantha Waverly’s brother just put her in an impossible situation. The only way out? Marry huge, gruff, gladiator look-alike Duke—for show, of course. She doesn’t make promises—she knows too well how easily they can be broken—and this is no exception.

As the blistering attraction between them grows, the lines around the no-strings relationship blur. But Duke and Samantha’s marriage is only for show…or is it?

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REVIEW: WORKED UP is the third installment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary, adut MADE IN JERSEY erotic, romance series. This is factory mechanic Duke Crawford, and artist / children’s book illustrator Samantha Waverly’s story line. WORKED UP can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any information from previous story line is revealed where necessary. The reader was first introduced to Duke and his four ‘divorced’ sisters in book two-THROWN DOWN.

Told from dual third person perspectives WORKED UP focuses on the marriage of convenience between two commitment phobes -artist Samantha Waverly, and Duke Crawford. To appease her brother Renner, the owner of the factory where most of the town of Jersey is employed, Samantha needs to get married to present a unified front to the board of directors. When Samantha’s ‘fiance’ of three years has yet to return home from his trip abroad, Duke Crawford offers Samantha his hand in marriage for all the wrong reasons, and in doing so finds himself falling in love with the spunky artist who is his perfect match both in and out of the bedroom.

Duke Crawford is a bear of a man: he is tall, dark and brooding with a need to help those in trouble. Samantha is a woman torn between what it is she wants to do and the contract that ties her future to that of a promise made to her brother. What ensues is the quick building relationship between Duke and Samantha that ends disastrously when Samantha’s brother adds another caveat to his contract with his sister. The $ex scenes are erotic, intense and aggressive. Duke is a dirty talker in the bedroom ; the sexual chemistry is hot and heavy.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including River and Vaughn (Thrown Down), Duke’s four divorced sisters who all live with their brother, and Samantha’s brother and factory owner Renner who is one of the most despised men in the town. The world building continues to look at the blue-collar town, and the people who work at the local factory in Hook, New Jersey.

WORKED UP is a fast paced story of insta-lust between two unlikely people in a town where everybody knows your name. The premise is enjoyable and fun; the characters are spirited and heartwarming; the romance is passionate and a quick build to forever with a couple of bumps along the way.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Crashed Out
Thrown Down
Worked Up

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy