FOOLPROOF (Drexler University #2) by Jennifer Blackwood- a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 26, 2015

A summer of seduction…

Jules Carmichael needs to get her life together. Pronto. School’s been hell, there was that tiny stint in rehab, and worst of all, she’s lost her cushy summer job. The only available work is at Office Jax, home of horrid 90s music and the biggest jerk on this side of the galaxy…

Recovering from a brutal break-up and taking a hiatus from college, Ryan DeShane has just discovered the “6 Ultimate Steps to the Perfect Summer Fling.” It’s a brilliant distraction, and Jules is a tantalizing target. But the “steps” work a little too well, because he and Jules are definitely, uh, flinging. And it’s only a matter of time before Ryan’s foolproof plan starts to seriously unravel.

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REVIEW: FOOLPROOF is the second installment in Jennifer Blackwood’s new adult, contemporary Drexler University erotic romance series. This is former business student Ryan DeShane and pre med student Jules Carmichael. Although FOOLPROOF is the second installment in the series, it can be read as a stand alone.

Told from alternating first person points of view (Jules and Ryan) FOOLPROOF follows the building relationship between two twenty something university students Jules and Ryan. Off for the summer break, Jules and Ryan will find themselves as co-workers at Ryan’s father’s retail office supply store-Office Jax. What follows is a nasty introduction between two people whose immaturity and indecisions play a major role in their respective dysfunctional family visits, work habits, and previous relationships. When Jules tries to befriend the boss’s son, she gets snarky attitude and a cold shoulder in return. This is going to be a long summer!

The relationship between our couple begins combatively but their attraction to one another is immediate. Ryan is unhappy; his life is a mess; his girlfriend cheated on him with his roommate: and he has to spend the summer working for his dad. Enter Juliette (Jules) Carmichael-a feisty pre med student who doesn’t take any crap from the boss’s son. With her future all but planned out by her parents, Jules is on the verge of self-destruction and walking away without a backward glance. The $ex scenes are erotic, spontaneous and little bit risky! When Ryan uncovers an article about the ‘6 Ultimate Steps to the Perfect Summer Fling’, he will use this to his advantage only to have Jules discover that perhaps everything about their relationship has been based on a lie and a magazine article.

There is a playful banter between Jules and Ryan throughout the storyline-one using 90s music as the basis for many a comment or text. Ryan’s father likes to play 90s music in the store and our couple use this for fun and mutual enjoyment.

The secondary and supporting characters include Ryan’s father and uncle who battle one another over Ryan’s future; Jule’s mother whose need to control her child’s future pits mother against daughter; and Blake and Payton (the couple from book one UNETHICAL)-Ryan and Jule’s best friends. The world building focuses on the friendship between our couples; family disappointment and support; as well as a summer spent falling in love. In the end, Jules and Ryan’s future plans will have changed and we watch as our couple learns that if you want something, go for it, because in the end, ‘you are the key to your own happiness.’

FOOLPROOF is an imaginative and realistic storyline with a little bit of humor, romance, sex and fun. There are moments of heartbreak for two adult children whose parents see failure and disappointment; blended with a building romance between two lost souls who have found one another when they needed it the most.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy