i was waiting for a good grovel but Chelsea just kept on forgiving him so easily all the time so ugh. i guess i just want more grovelling scenes, for me, specifically. and if anyone knows me, y'all know im spoiled when it comes to grovelling scenes. her BIG family. Six kids. Kinda rolled my eyes at that ... then again "McQuaid" - good Irish Catholic name. Of course there would be six kids... Why, I hear you ask, do you not have six kids then, Maura? Well, I never said I was a "good" Irish Catholic, now did I? She reads me loud and clear, and rolls her hazel eyes. I grew up with three older brothers. And I live with him. She points at Stanton. There’s literally nothing you could say that I haven’t heard before.

He shrugs. You’ve gone way beyond the strong silent type and are approaching selective mutism. What gives?She takes a big breath and rushes out, He didn’t just take my best friend and my best lingerie... he left something behind, too. Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and am knee deep in a damn compost pit.

But whatever right? Cause when he was with Chelsea and the kids . . . that’s THE BEST part! He got them out of trouble, gave them advice, took care of them, accompanied them to One Direction concert, and a lot more. The kids were my everything. Rory (9), Rosaleen (7), and Regan (2) were my favorite. I want her – this fearless, stunning woman. And I want the kids. Those perfect, awful, amazing children – whom she loves with every inch of her soul. I want them to be mine. Mine to hold, mine to protect and teach. Their joy, their laughter, their love. I want to come home to it, bask in it, be the reason for it.although i really liked this book, i just found the romance a little meh. i didn't really feel Chelsea and Jake's chemistry in the beginning because of the OW drama and how he was still down to hook up with OW just because he hadn't had sex in 2 weeks. this drama was unnecessary because it's never even discussed and Jake never thinks about the OW again later on, like it never happened. and honestly, i wasn't interested in their romance until he broke up with her at the end because he was all like i don't deserve you, you and the kids weren't part of the plan, im a bad man because im defending an abuser blah blah blah. i liked Jake's relationship with the kids and his character development more than the romance. There will never be anything sexier than watching you—with your muscles and tattoos—braiding a six-year-old’s hair.” Now these children, they are complete handful, but they also show that the juice is worth the squeeze. This isn't the life Chelsea or Jake planned for themselves, but these kids add so much value and depth to them. They make them better people. I was so impressed with each of their characters and the development behind their personalities. Sustained made me feel so much that certain peeks and pivotal moments of the story made me sob, juxtaposing perfectly against the witty thoughts and dialogue. Jake's inner struggles are heartbreaking and beautiful and essentially captured my book heart, my attention and raised me angst levels to perfection. It's a story I highly recommend to all who love romance stories laced with depth, oodles of witty personality and characters that have the overwhelming capacity to make us feel an array of emotions. Unlike most defendants, I chose to testify. They had to know what happened. They had to understand that I couldn't be blamed. That it was all her fault.