DESCRIPTION:
Jag Peters has one goal in his quiet comfortable life—to keep his karma slate wiped clean. A near-miss crash with a candy apple red Harley threatens to upend his safe world. He tracks down the rider to apologize properly. Slipping into a seedy biker bar, he discovers the rider isn't a "he", it's a "she", a dark-haired beauty.
Rena Jett is a troubled soul, who lives in a rough world. She wants no part of Jag's apology, but even while she pushes him away, she is attracted to him. When he claims to see a ghost—her brother—can she trust him? And could her brother's final gift, a magical rune stone with the symbol for "happily ever after" have the power to heal her wounds and allow opposites to find common ground—perhaps even love?
I learned a couple of phrases that are apparently "Texas" based. For example - the use of the word "chunked" as a verb. I thought it was a mistake at first. I've never "chunked" anything. But, after seeing it a few times, I looked it up. Yes, chunked is a verb in Texas. :)
I liked the twists on the traditional play: the female lead, Rena, is the bad-a** biker, and the male lead, Jag, is the nerd. Jag suffers through the sexual harassment of a female boss. He also lets Rena teach him to ride a motorcycle.
I can believe in spirits and ghosts and loved ones sticking around to help or returning to check on you. I liked that element of the story with Rena's brother. Their bond was touching.
Rena and Jag's love story was sweet, but it took me so long to read it, like over six hours. I felt it could have been shorter. It seemed like there were periods where not much was happening that could have been stripped away and not changed the story.
Rena's back story made me cringe sometimes. It seemed every foster home and every adult or child she ever knew in those homes did something unspeakable to her: not just bad things, evil things. It felt too heavy on the negative for her to fall into bed with Jag as quickly as she did.
This book blesses us with a happily-ever-after for many characters. I do love a happy ending.
***I won this book in a blog contest.