Title: Bad Behavior (Conduct #2)
Author: Jennifer Lane
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense
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Synopsis
Grant Madsen’s got issues. He’s still battling his Mafia family and doing everything possible to keep his loved ones safe. With the cruising season coming to an end, he has to find another job soon or he’ll rejoin his father in prison. And he’s trying to convince his rebellious teenage nephew to stay away from their criminal relatives (you can imagine how that’s going). But worst of all, Grant’s parole officer has mandated that he attend therapy.
The only saving grace is that they’re couples sessions with his girlfriend, Sophie Taylor, a fellow parolee who’s struggling with a few issues of her own. Sophie desperately hopes her past with Grant’s brother won’t destroy her future with him. There’s a sleazy professor at work who revels in sexually harassing women in the psychology department. And her father still hates Grant.
Their psychologist has his work cut out for him.
When Grant’s ruthless father hints at a plot to get out of prison, Grant must use everything he’s learned in therapy and beyond to try to stop him. It’s a race against time -- and a race to rescue Sophie from the Mafia’s clutches once again. But this time McSailor and Bonnie refuse to play victims. This time the cuffs are coming off.
~MY REVIEW~
“Sometimes I feel like a normal person. Sometimes I forget I’m on parole, that I’m not really free.”
(Thank you to Jennifer Lane for providing me with an ecopy for review.)
In Bad Behavior, Grant and Sophie still have a lot to work through as they learn to deal with the loss of Logan and the constant threat of the Barbari family. When they are ordered to attend couples counseling, the two set out on a journey of sharing their past with each other. Unknown secrets and horrific past events come to light that make these two realize just how much they don't know about each other.
Grant has a past that makes him vulnerable and hesitant to open up in therapy. With the help of Hunter, their psychologist, Grant worked to confront his demons and open up to Sophie about the horrors of his childhood. A process that took the whole book to accomplish, but when it did, set him free. Even with the meddling of his family, Grant was able to overcome his father’s sadistic hold over him and to find himself.
All the while he was also watching over his nephew Ben and trying to keep the young Barbari on the straight and narrow. As he learned to be an uncle to Bean we got a glimpse into Grant’s compassion and his potential to be a wonderful father. The relationship between those two has me smiling and laughing throughout. And when push comes to shove you see the wonderful growth in Ben. One that had me wishing for a story of his own. :)
As for Sophie, I have to say that although the story was about both Grant and she I felt as though the focus wasn’t on her. This book, to me, was about Grant and his journey in healing. Sophie was there to support him throughout and to help him see the good in himself but didn’t have the problems that Grant had. She did have her own issues but they were quickly resolved and the focus turned back to Grant.
The thing that made this book so difficult to read was that practically the whole book was spent inside the Hunter’s office. I understood that they needed the counseling but it felt kind of bland to read after a while especially because of Sophie’s hand holding. The way she always rescued Grant made it a bit annoying. I felt like Grant needed to be able to take this next step for himself, without the rescuing. I think it would have been better if the two had some counseling sessions separately.
So all in all this was a good book. I will read the final book to see what comes of these and encourage you all to read the series!
Happy Reading!
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