Review: Rules of Entanglement

Reviewed by Shelly
 

Gina Maxwell is turning out a nice series that focuses on the softer (not too soft) side of MMA fighters. I enjoyed the first one enough that I gleefully looked forward to the next story. Feisty District Attorney Vanessa McGregor is in Hawaii to help with the arrangements of her best friend’s wedding. She’s on a mission to make this the best wedding Lucie could have, and nothing will make her deviate from that mission – not even Lucie’s own brother. Best laid plans, right? Living la vida loca in Hawaii, MMA fighter Jackson ‘Jax’ Maris is only concerned about two things – training for fighting and surfing. Right from the start, I wanted to stand up and applaud Vanessa’s treatment of playboy Jax.

Vanessa is as spirited as she was in the first book and I was thrilled to see she wasn’t watered down in the least. She’s got a no nonsense personality that’s genuine and leaves no room for misinterpretation, especially when it comes to her unbreakable rules about life. It was good to see that her friendship with Lucie remained strong. I can’t stand it when the supposed best friend is relegated to the back burner, almost to the point of non-existence.

When Jax made his first appearance, I was for sure that this tool was going to make me verra verra upset and I loved loved loved that Maxwell didn’t allow Vanessa to fall for his charm, good looks and the general crap coming out of his mouth. Yeah, she thinks he’s sinfully good looking, but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to bow down and fall for his blatant disrespect of her time. Let the games begin!

Now when things settle down and Jax realizes that he’s not dealing with one of his typical vapid hangers-on, the chemistry and the heat between these two is absolutely smokingly delicious. It came across really well, even with the short time frame of their relationship. I’m not a destination kinda gal but the Hawaii setting isn’t distracting from the storyline and brings up a question that I never got answered – if Lucie and Vanessa are best friends and have been since college, how come Vanessa never met Jax before? Just sayin’.

The secondary characters were entertaining and I hope to catch up with them in the next book, especially Vanessa’s sister. That should make an interesting tale if Maxwell goes in that direction.

Overall, I enjoyed Vanessa and Jax. Revisiting Lucie and Reid was splendid and I would definitely recommend picking up this story. You don’t have to read the first book to understand this one, but it would make the story more enjoyable if you did.

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: B-

*ARC Provided by Entangled

Click to purchase: Amazon

Rules of Entanglement

by Gina L Maxwell

Release Date: March 31, 2013

Publisher: Entangled