I love the Nights in Bliss, Colorado series. Sophie Oak certainly knows how to write a humorous, sexy, and entertaining book with truly endearing characters, and she's done it again.
- Review by Kazza K
Well, it's Sophie Oak, it's Bliss, so you just know it's going to be good...and it is. More than a few quotes make up this review.
This time around the kinked up trio of MC's consists of Gemma Wells, a blackballed lawyer from a high powered law firm, with an arsehole ex, what else? and the hot mechanics, Caleb Sinclair and Jesse McCann, introduced in Pure Bliss.
Caleb and Jesse are still working at Long Haired Roger's and have discovered that they fit right into the vibe of Bliss. Jesse rolls with it, Caleb fights it somewhat. Gemma turns up in Bliss with her mother, who has previously lived in Bliss and is recovering from cancer, and her mother's nurse, Naomi. She starts out working at Teeny and Marie's, then Stella's and, through a series of 'unfortunate *cough, cough* incidents,' lands up working for Nathan Wright, at the Sheriffs office.
Of course the three MC's have their individual baggage, but I must say Emo of the year goes to Caleb (or Bare-Chested Ape Man as Gemma originally refers to him). Holy shit! he has a lot of "I'm not good for her" moments and inner monologue. Lots. Of. Them.
During one of his, lighter, introspective moments -
'"You look morose again". Jesse stared at him, a frown on his face. Great. Now he was Morose Bare-Chested Ape Man.
Jesse is the talker here, in this triad, he makes things happen through honest communication, irrespective of what it is. Perhaps asking about Gemma's ex, Patrick, during their first sexual encounter may have been a bit much, in my opinnion, but he is nothing if not consistent. You have to love Jesse. His upbringing hasn't been perfect, he met Cade in a foster home, he's been in juvie, but he believes in getting words out there. Thank goodness, because Atlas-Complex Cade and Ice-Princess Gemma would never get together without Jesse as a conduit between them all.
Gemma doesn't believe in love, you can't plan it, people die on you, they hurt you, they do unpredictable things that don't fit into her whiteboard driven matrices of control. So, Gemma has big walls up and comes across as aloof and unapproachable. When she sees Jesse and Caleb, and realises there's a mutual attraction, she rationalises it -
Maybe she could just play around. Not for forever. Forever was an idiot's dream. But she still had needs. Lots of dirty, filthy needs.
Gemma had always been on a diet to fit into power suits and the lifestyle she had in Manhattan. My favourite activst, Nell, constantly visits Gemma with pictures of people hurt in a case Gemma was invovled in previously, to get Gemma involved in the good fight, and, because it's Nell...to give Gemma muffins -
Cam snorted and reached for the muffin. Screw her diet. How many calories could it really be? It was vegan. "Get your own muffin-making stalker."
Of course Jesse and Caleb are interested in a menage, that's how it's done in Bliss, and of course there's always someone else thinking about hitting on the pretty new woman in town -
The last thing he needed was Ty trying to hit on Gemma. He doubted it would work. He was pretty sure Gemma was interested in what he and Cade had to offer, but he was a very straightlaced man. He believed in tradition and that meant no fourths.
I also want to say that I loved the pamphlets Mel and Nell were handing out. If you are a reader of the Bliss series you will know Mel as the wonderfully paranoid, moonshine making/drinking, alien conspiracy theorist. His pamphlet is titled -
You've Been Probed. What to do Next.....
And Nell as the protesting, vegan, cruelty free, activist. Nells' pamphlet is titled -
Eat Vegan or Die Horribly.
Yes, these are just a couple of the wonderfully colourful crazies of Bliss. If it existed I'd be on the next plane.
This is book #7 and Bliss is still going strong. Yes, it has some similarities in the writing, but that is wonderful, because the writing is great and there are always well painted yet subtle nuances to the MC's, and a little more is revealed about existing characters or added on. Henry, for example, just keeps getting more and more intriguing. But mostly the we-are-family feel of Bliss is always the highlight - for a while you can be part of somewhere nice, where you are given a second chance, and people genuinely care for one another. There are a few more interesting characters touched on here that you just know are going to get books and the series will continue, so, yay!
A friend of mine, on GR, just recently gave a review where she liked the book a bit more because of the MC’s name, Liam. I thought that was nice, to have that association. Well Purplegirl, I now feel like that about the name Cade. I've now met a few fictional Cade's I really like. I loved Cade Sinclair, every time he was on the page my chest felt pressure and I wanted to hug him, slap him or do something perhaps a bit more R rated to/with him. Angsty-Cade, who loves to feed his woman, as well as sex her senseless, is my kind of man. Plus, Jack Barnes gets a mention, if you've ever read my Texas Sirens reviews before you will know I'm happy dancing right now.
Chasing Bliss is another great book in an equally great series and I can't recommend it highly enough.
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