Stuck in Between by Blakely Bennett
Series: Bound by Your Love, #1
First Published by TandemWriters on March 18, 2014
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Erotica
372 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/30CzAKE
Jacqs is a twenty-eight year old woman caught up in an on again, off again relationship with Bond, who is her best friend and the one who causes her the most heartache. She succumbs, yet again, to his powerful charisma, but vows not make it into more than it is, a great night of sex.
Bond, too sexy for his own good, wants Jacqs for himself as he “dates” his way through the female population of South Florida. He selfishly doesn’t see the conflict of interest.
Red, Bond’s best friend, has watched Bond take Jacqs for granted for way too long and soon stakes his own claim on her.
Will Red and Jacqs budding relationship pull apart their tight-knit group of friends and will Jacqs survive being Stuck In Between.
Review
Can I have a moment please to gather my thoughts and my sanity? Haha. Because seriously, I needed it after reading this book, Stuck in Between by Blakely Bennett.
I was just patiently browsing my TBR when I decided to try this one. And if I would have clearly seen the cover I doubt I will ever have the guts to read it. I really hate to admit it but this story, even with how wild and intense it was, it entertained me so much more than what I expected after finding out it’s an erotica.
I was greeted with a sexy scene as early as its first chapter and I guess during that time, I already know this story isn’t going to be mild than the previous book that I’ve read. This kind of story usually fazes me thus making me put the story aside, but for this one, it didn’t happen that way. I guess it was because I’m curious and intrigued, you see, Jacqs (female lead) still hanging out with her ex and it’s not just a normal hang out but more than that (I think you know what I mean?). Aside from that, I also kind of liked the writing style of the author. This was my first time reading something from hers and I’ve got to say that she has given me a pretty good first impression. That said, expect more book reviews about her books in the future *wink.
As I resume with the story, I realized that Jacqs was in a quite complicated situation. I don’t want to explain more about that because the last thing I want is to share some major spoiler but looking at the sypnosis above, I guess you already have an idea on what I mean*wink. But before that, can I drop this one out? Hehe, because I’ll be talking more about it soon for sure, haha. Some readers don’t usually like it when there’s threesome involved, I used to detest the idea at first too, but when I stumbled to Julia Kent’s Random Acts of Crazy…I was enlightened…a little haha. After reading two books containing threesome and (worst) enjoying them, I guess I wouldn’t be more reserved on what I’ll be reading next, whether it’s erotica or not haha.
What I like about this book was that it didn’t just gave us romance (maybe a little bit f*cked up than your usual romance read) but it also gave us a story (if you know what I mean?). The thing I hate about erotica is that some of them just create a book that contains mostly sexy scenes without any depth at all, but this book is far from that. Ofcourse, this one contains a lot of sexy scenes too (which is really hot if you ask me, haha) but I love that it didn’t just stop from that. Because I’ve got to know more about the main characters particularly Bond (real name is Mitchel but I guess he just loved to think he’s James Bond lol) because if not, I’m sure he’s already in my sh*t list by now. His past will never erase what he did to Jacqs and even if how awful and cruel it was, it will never justify the wrong things he did to her. But atleast, I’ve got to find out about his side of the story. I still don’t like him but in the last few chapters of this story, I’m seeing that he is doing his best to change for her. If I have to choose, I would rather go for Red (real name is Aidan, now, isn’t his name sounds sexy? haha).
For Jacqs, well, I’m not sure how to think about her. You see, she knew Bond for almost eight years and she clearly loves him even if they’ve broken up already, but I have to agree with her best friend, it really is not healthy still being attached to the guy. He’s bad news to her and I really wish she could just forget about him and move on. But oh well, I understand that it’s always easier said than done, but could she try? It didn’t also help that she’s always horny lol. So far, the only flaw I found about her character is her reluctance to move on, thus getting her in a situation where it involves two alpha male (two domineering predators), and that’s really bad. But oh well, who am I to judge?
For Red, I didn’t get a chance to really know more about him aside from the fact that he’s a very good friend. No background like Bond’s but he’s always sure about himself and you can see and feel how he really loves Jacqs thus making me rooting for them together. I can’t even see any flaws at all. Well, scratch that, I kind of hate his domineering attitude(almost the same as Christian Grey) and whenever he mentions that he likes tying a knot, makes me shiver in fright.
There’s quite a lot of characters introduced in this story but so far, they were very easy to keep track of, considering Jacqs and Bond’s set of friends have unique names lol.
I don’t usually like it when there’s a lot of sexy scenes in the story, but for this one, I don’t think there’s something I’m missing. A lot of things happened (other than the things involving bed lol), one great example was Jacqs’ issues with her family, specifically with her troubled younger sister. Also, there are times that the shifting of scenes were done in fast forward so I need to reread again because I didn’t get how she’s already in there when she’s just here, if you know what I mean? Hehe. But overall, this one’s a pretty good read.
The ending wasn’t bad at all and I guarantee that there’s no cliffhanger. I’ve just checked out the other two books of this series and each of them features different stories thus making me more excited to try them all out.
If you’re up for a hot and wild read, then Stuck in Between is a perfect book for you. Warning, definitely not recommend to younger readers *wink.
Challenges
- 2017 New To Me
- 2017 Mount TBR Reading
- 2017 eBooks Reading
- 2017 You Read How Many Books?
- 2017 Review Writing
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I’m not a big fan of love triangles, but I might try this one since you say it’s at its best! Erotic romance is a genre I enjoy, but I totally get what you mean because I prefer when there’s more than just sex scenes, too. Glad you tried this one and it worked well for you 🙂
Love triangle is a hit or miss for me, and this one is absolutely a hit. I hope you’ll get to enjoy this one too Silvia 🙂
glad the book had depth and made it all seem so real 🙂 always awesome in a genre such as this
Hehe, true. Hope you’ll get the chance to enjoy this one Lily 🙂
Love triangles can be very powerful and work only if well executed. I do not mind a three-way at all (excuse the pun… ;P), but sometimes it can be very hard to not make it predictable. I do agree that when it’s more sex than story this can ruin the whole read (believe me, it happened). Sex scenes shouldn’t be just a hole-filler (again, apologies… ;P), they should mean something and complement the story in its entirety.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’ll definitely keep this in mind!
This is very well said Fran, and yes, you’re absolutely right about everything. Most erotic romance that I’ve read before uses sex scenes as a filler thus making the whole story bland. And Stuck in Between are one of the few that I really like. Hope you’ll get the chance to try this one too 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed this one, Vanessa! I don’t think that this would be a book for me though.
Thanks Carole. Have a nice weekend 🙂
I’ve been hearing good things about this one It does sound like a good book.
Yeah it is Mary. Hope you’ll get the chance to try it too 🙂
I’ve always avoided erotic for much the same reasons and to an extent, new adult. I was tired of the lack of storyline and the focus on sex but I’m glad to see this isn’t the case here Vanessa. Love triangles are a hit or miss for me as well but it sounds as though the author did the trope justice. So glad you enjoyed this one, wonderful review sweetheart<3
Same here! I’m a YA junkie but now slowly growing a liking to NA as well as erotica. And yes, this one has a real story and not just sex which I was lucky to stumbled upon 🙂
Well I confess that erotica isn’t really for me so I don’t know
I used to hate that genre myself too and never in my sane mind I imagined myself reading one and let alone enjoy it. I guess it helps that I read through my kindle and doesn’t usually bother with the cover, so I ended up reading one. And that’s a good thing because I just discover that not erotic stories were that bad, and this book is definitely a great example. You may want to try it someday Melliane 🙂
you are right, maybe I should try more
Yay! That’s great to hear. Hope you’ll learn to like it Melliane 🙂
Erotica can be touch and go sometimes, but it sounds like this one had a little more substance!
And two guys… I am intrigued by Red, and Bond!
Naomi @ Naomi’s Reading Palace
True. Some erotica would just go on and on with the sex scenes and forget to create an actual story. But this book is far from that. And speaking of the two alpha males, I still have this stupid grin in my face whenever I remember them lol. I’m not sure if you’ll love them personally (Red is definitely a keeper) but I was more focus with the story rather than the male leads (who am I kidding? haha)
I remember when I read my first erotica/new adult which I picked up accidentally actually. And I was surprised to find I actually liked it. Since then I have a love hate relationship with them – I like them well enough but only if I get an actual story along with it. And it sounds like this author knows how to do that well.
Same here. I used to hate the genre but when I accidentally read one, I kind of liked it hehe. And yes, this one’s definitely a good one. Not just about sex, but really portrays an actual story. A very good one 🙂
Yay! Stuck in Between is highly recommended Haniya. But if you want a threesome that will leave you laughing your heart out, I recommend Julia Kent’s Random Acts of Crazy. It was the first threesome that I’ve read and it was soooo funny plus the two male leads were a hottie!
Great review. Eroticas are hit or miss with me and it’s because of exactly what you said, they can be all about the sex and forget about the actual story. To me, a story needs to have backbone. It needs to have a story that I can gravitate towards. I need to care about the characters. Otherwise, it’s all just words on paper and I lose interest, get bored, and put the book down. However, the way you explained this story and your reaction to it definitely sounds like the author took the time to give her characters personality and really developed them for the readers. The fact that you are so passionately against Bond, means that you devolved and attachment to the characters. I will have to look up this series. 🙂
You’re absolutely right about all of those Kristin. The author really took a lot of time building up the characters thus making this story not your usual erotic reads. Haven’t read a lot from this genre yet but I have to say that Blake Bennett is one of the best story teller in this genre 🙂
Hot wild read sounds good 🙂
Yes it does. Hope you’ll get the chance to try this one 😉