Collision Course

This book was amazing

4 1/2 STARS! Sexy, sinful and sweet all rolled into one! With the latest book in her Body Shop Bad Boys series, Marie Harte brings us Lou's story. He's always been the smooth-talking pretty boy around the garage who gets women without even trying, so it's interesting to watch him find a woman the he's attracted to who won't give him the time of day! This entire series has been a really fun interaction of a group of tough-guy friends/co-workers who are more like family. The characters were both very easy to like, we were drawn into their sexual tension from the start and the surprises we uncovered along the way made for an intriguingly sweet read! Mechanic Lou Cortez enjoys life. He has a huge close-knit family that he adores, he not only has the job here at the shop with the boys, but he also gets to enjoy putting his creative side to work in his side job. When a beautiful woman walked into the shop a few months ago, he was intrigued ... but she wouldn't even look at him. What's up with that? Women always love him! Florist Josephine Reeves obviously noticed Lou, but she has better things to do in life than fall at the feet of a man who goes through women like water. He doesn't give up though, and when happenstance brings him into the flower shop while she's working, she finds herself giving in and actually agreeing to coffee. She can't deny that he's attractive, and he turns her knees weak with just one steamy look ... but she has a lot counting on her with a whole other side of her life that he knows nothing about. Can she really give in to simple lust and have a fling without it ruining her plans?

Good read

Lou Cortez is an ace mechanic but also loves to draw and paint cars. He is a sweet guy that has always had a way with the ladies, but once he meets florist Josephine, Joey, to get his sister who had been dumped, he can't get her out of his head. Joey has had her mistakes thrown in her face by her parents since she had her son, Brandon, at fifteen. Joey's father makes snide comments and makes her feel like a failure because she didn't follow his dreams for her, but instead works as a florist. She is not into letting people in her life, because of Brandon, she lives to get him what he needs and make sure he's happy. They have a very close relationship. Joey doesn't tell men she dates about her son, but Lou finds out about him on accident from one of Brandon's friends, who just happens to be Del and Mike's son. I liked this book, it wasnt my favorite of the series because i felt like it was missing something. I also felt like the the chemistry wasn't there between Lou and Joey. Joey was a very mousey character that didn't stand up for herself and weak. Joey had a hard time making a life for herself with her son until she had enough and decided to move out. Lou wanted nothing but the best for Joey and her son showing how dedicated he was accepting her son with no questions even when the father showed up wanting to get to know his son. Received ARC in exchange for honest voluntary review from NetGalley

✦Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: COLLISION COURSE by Marie Harte Publication Date: January 2, 2018 Genre: Contemporary Romance Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna Rated 4 Stars A nice quick read that kept me wondering how things would turn out. I enjoyed the friends and family surrounding Joey and Lou while the couple discovered how to mesh their lives together. This is a hot and sexy contemporary romance, with realistic life issues. I will admit that the climax scene bothered me…if I were Joey – I would have kicked Lou’s butt to the curb until he thought long and hard about his preconceived ideas about her. It was still an enjoyable story. *Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lou Cortez is a mechanic at Webster's Garage AND an artist auto painter at Hellers. The boys at both are his buds/family. Family is first with Lou as he help to raise his 5 sisters and bunch of female cousins. He and younger cousin J are the only males as the Mom and Aunt's male mates don't stick around. They are a tight knit latino clan. He's also VERY easy on the eyes and female companionship is effortless but short lived. Josephine "Joey" Reeves is a hard working single mom florist who just made shop manager. She handled Dell's wedding flowers and met the Webster crew working with Dell, the boss. There was inst attraction between Lou and Joey but she's staying well away. As a single mom and living in her parent's above garage apartment she has NO time for relationships. Her parents make her feel guilty for her one mistake that resulted in her son Brandon. His Dad, Felix, rich kid controlled by his parents ambitions, signed over all rights to Brandon when he was born. She's managed to pretty much pay her way in life, raise a well behaved 8 year old and get a college degree by sheer determination. I really respected her. She is an awesome roll model with a level head considering how life has treated her. Lou decides he's gonna push it with Joey and really try for a relationship with her. He over and over shows he's a thoughtful, considerate, nurturing person to the people in his world. He starts with Joey but ordering flowers for is sister Stella, who just got dumped by her duche drummer boyfriend, to help her feel better. I really liked Lou as a person. He's scary in appearance being massively big, tattooed and Latin but he shows by his actions he's a marshmallow inside. I love that kind of hero. I found myself pulling for these two to make it. There is REALLY HOT chemistry between these two also. My one critique is the crisis scene was weak and out of character I though. But I loved the resolution and Felix's character in the end of the book surprised me. Thank you Sourcebooks and Marie for the NetGalley ARC of this story. Marie's stories always satisfy and I love how the characters of her previous series make appearances in the story.

3.75 stars-energetic and enjoyable 3.75 stars--COLLISION COURSE is the fourth instalment in Marie Harte’s contemporary, adult BODY SHOP BAD BOYS erotic, romance series focusing on the men and woman who work at Webster’s Garage. This is mechanic and artist Lou Cortez, and single mom/florist Josephine ‘Joey’ Reeves’ story line. BODY SHOP BAD BOYS is a spin off from Harte’s McCauley Brothers series but you do not have to have read the original series to follow the current time line. A number of the characters cross-over between the two series. Told from several third person perspectives including Joey and Lou COLLISION COURSE follows the building relationship between mechanic and artist Lou Cortez, and single mom/florist Joey Reeves. Several months earlier Lou first noticed Joey through their mutual friendship with Del-aka Delilah Webster-Lou’s boss, at the wedding between Del and Mike McCauley. Fast forward to present day wherein Lou will come face to face with the woman who has starred in his fantasies and dreams. Enter Joey Reeves, the woman with whom Lou will fall in love but a woman who battles between her head and heart as it pertains to both her personal and professional life; and the secret she keeps from the man with whom she is falling in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Joey and Lou, and the fall out when Joey reveals the truth about her past, and the son Lou never knew she had. Nine years earlier, a then fifteen year old Joey Reeves found herself pregnant; abandoned by the baby’s father; and all but ostracized from her friends, high school acquaintances, and the two most important people in her life-her parents. Joey has fought an uphill battle to become the some-what independent woman and mother who fiercely loves her child beyond the life of her own. Lou Cortez doesn’t do relationships, and with five sisters and thirteen female cousins our hero is determined to remain single and childless for the rest of his life but his attraction to Joey finds Lou wanting something more with a woman he believes is keeping secrets from the man that she loves. I struggled with our heroine’s ‘need’ not to tell Lou that she has a nine year old son. Their relationship was exclusive with no promises for the future but the couple begin to develop feelings for one another, and in this, Joey’s ‘need’ to keep secret the most important person in her life, was a set up to fail. There are also some issues as it pertained to Lou’s views on motherhood-his own mother’s lifestyle shaped the man who has a difficult time seeing anything other than black and white. His ‘prickly’ attitude about women and motherhood is a little bit sexist but perhaps understandable under the circumstances. The relationship between Joey and Lou is slow to develop as Joey struggles to control her growing love for a man who may or may not welcome a nine year old in his life. Throughout the story Joey hesitates to tell Lou about the child she gave birth to at fifteen years of age. The longer she procrastinates the more likely someone will accidentally spill the secret she struggles to keep. Lou will endeavor to come to terms, and accept that the woman he loves has a nine year old child- but his abrupt reaction will push our heroine out of his life. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. Lou likes to talk to dirty and take control in the bedroom.

I love Marie Harte!! This is a book in the Body Shop Bad Boys Series, and we finally get Lou's story. Lou was the casanova who had a whole bunch of woman in his life, but not the ones you are thinking of, these are family members and he feels responsible for them and they also count on him, but they are a close family unit. He has never taken a woman to meet them and it is finally that time. Lou had met Joey when she was doing the flowers for Del's wedding and he was instantly attracted even though she was not like the woman he normally went for. Joey was a single mother, but Lou did not know that yet. Even though Joey tried to fight her attraction to Lou, they finally gave in and it was combustible. Loved reading about previous characters and their input. Read it my friends you will be glad you did. Enjoy! 1 like

Joey isn't in the market for a man, the last one she let in did a number on her heart and left her a single mother of an amazing boy. It also left her with no where to turn, so she has spent the last nine years depending on her parents, and now she has finally become financially stable enough to make it on her own, and while her parents are proud they still can't seem to get over the mistakes she made in the past... and it hurts like hell. She knows she screwed up, but she has worked hard to overcome it all, and she is ready to put it all behind her and move on, embrace the new opportunity she has created for herself and her son... nothing is going to hold her back now. So, when a gorgeous playboy mechanic comes sniffing around, she is ready to send him packing, she doesn't need another man to derail her life... but even her best effort to keep him away doesn't seem to work. Soon a friendship of sorts starts up between them.... and then come the fireworks, and Joey isn't so sure she is prepared for all of that!! Lou Cortez falls hard for Joey the first time they meet, but she doesn't seem to notice that he exists, nor that he is interested... and it baffles him. Normally all he has to do is smile, and the ladies are willing to follow him to the ends of the earth, this one though doesn't seem charmed by his smile, sweet talking, or good looks. He just wants a chance to show her they can be good together, she on the other hand doesn't want a damn thing from him, so he is just going to have to get creative if he wants this one... there has to be a way to lure her in! Collision Course is a sultry little page turner that is sure to have you swooning like a fool and madly in love all by the second chapter... the moment you meet Lou you won't know what hit you!! Ms. Harte's Latin Lothario will wander onto the page, your heart will melt, and your knees will be left permanently weak... yes ladies he is that good! He has impeccable manners, a good heart, can be dirty when the moment arises, and will stop at nothing to see to it that the woman he cares for has everything she could ever want or need. While he normally has the women falling at his feet, Joey doesn't seem to be falling for any of the sweet words he's whispering, and he has no idea how to handle that, but boy is it fun to watch him try and figure it out. This story is one that I have been anxiously waiting for, and I have to say it was WELL worth the wait, it ranks right up there with my favorites from this author. I guarantee readers will love this one, it's got everything you could want in a story...and so much more! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.

4.5 Stars! I don’t know how you can’t love these Bad Boys from Webster’s Garage. Marie Harte created a group of guys that’s every good girls dream! Tall, built, tatted and while they look like bad boys, they have a heart of gold. Lou is the smooth talking pretty boy of the group who draws women without even trying. He’s from a big family, mainly consisting of woman. He loves his mama, his grandmother, his many sisters and he takes care of all of them. If anyone knows women, it’s Lou. That’s why it’s so entertaining that he has to chase Joey. Joey has not had an easy life. She’s the good girl that made the mistake of listening to her smooth talking boyfriend and got pregnant at 14. The boyfriend walked away, the parents barely supported her and never let her live it down. 9 years later, after putting herself through school, she’s finally seeing her hard work start to pay off. Although she’s attracted to Lou, she knows the smooth talkers are nothing but trouble. I love to see when a guy has to work to get the woman he wants. Especially when that guy has never had to work for it before. I really enjoyed Lou’s pursuit. Joey resists him, but not for so long that it gets annoying. When Joey decides to not mention her son, I understood her reasoning but it also had me nervous for Lou’s reaction. Especially when Lou later admits he doesn’t want kids. I wasn’t thrilled with his reaction to dating a single mom, but I also thought the author did a good job of explaining why he felt the way he did. I love this series and I really hope Heller is next! ARC provided by NetGalley.

It's not the mistakes we make, but the lessons we learn that make us who we are. Lou and Joey know that first hand. Honor students at the school of hard knocks are quick learners in heartbreaking scenarios. Marie Harte hits the freeway of love, as she navigates through bumpy roads and some killer views. Lou and Joey know that love is not always smooth sailing, nothing worth having ever is. However the rewards outweigh the heartache. Collision Course is a tempting uphill battle that speeds it's way into the heart.