Step F*@k Series

Part One Release Date : June 18, 2015

By Scarlett Ward

NOW AVAILABLE for ONLY $0.99!

Part One Synopsis

That’s all I did. A few too many glasses of wine with my best friend and the bitch convinced me to go on one of those dating websites.

 

A one-night stand.

 

A booty call.

 

And you know what? It.was.amazing.

 

I spent all night in a sexy stranger’s arms, hot and sweaty, until it was time to sneak out and do the walk of shame back to my apartment.

 

I never thought I’d see sexy stranger again, and I was totally fine with that – until my mother’s wedding.

 

She’s getting remarried, see. And sexy stranger just happens to be my new stepbrother.

 

All the wine in the world isn’t going to make this better.

Excerpt

I’m reaching for a napkin when I see that Jai is on the other side of the table, helping himself to a generous portion of the oysters.

“You know what they say about oysters,” he says. I pretend I didn’t hear him, but when I look over, he’s staring right at me.

“What?” I hiss. “You think you’re being clever? You think you’re going to impress me with that totally unoriginal line, like I’ve never heard that oysters are an aphrodisiac? That’s not why I took some—I happen to like how they taste very much and as a poor college student, I can’t afford to eat like this!”

He’s still staring. At my chest. Then the smirk returns. “Might want to pull up that dress, Janet Jackson.”

“What?” I look down. My left breast has completely popped out of the top of the dress, my nipple there on full display for anyone who happens to be looking. “Shit!” I try to stuff myself back in the dress, dropping the plate of salad and oysters in the process. “Fuck!”

“You know, they’ve got things you can paste on in these sorts of situations.” He reaches over and picks up the wayward oysters and puts them back on my plate.

“I’m not eating those,” I say. “I need to talk to you.”

I wriggle my shoulders and try to get myself as secure in the dress as I can before I hurry around to the other side of the buffet table. “I need to talk to you over here.” We go to the back of the restaurant, near the hallway to the bathroom, and I strategically place myself behind one of the columns that keeps us partially obscured from the rest of the restaurant.

“Imagine meeting you here,” Jai says, a slow grin spreading across his face. “I really had no idea. No idea at all. I knew I was going to be getting some stepsisters out of this blessed union, but I really had no clue—”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You expect me to believe that? You’re a fucking dog. A total fucking asshole.”

“I really do like the scarf. And the dress, too. You should’ve left the tit out. You’ve got great tits, you know.”

“I do NOT want to talk about my tits!”

“That’s certainly not the tune you were singing last night.”

“Do you realize how not funny this is? What a complete disaster this is? OUR PARENTS ARE GETTING MARRIED. That means we’re going to be brother and sister.”

“Step brother and sister. There’s a difference, darling.”

Michel’s Review

Debut Release of the new serial romance by Scarlett Ward is going to appeal to readers that love the forbidden romance.  I had the pleasure of receiving ARC copies of all four installments.  I was able to read these installments back to back without interruption.  This kind of story is very hard to review in each installment, therefore, I am going to give my overall thoughts of the serial as a whole and then lightly break down each installment.

Emma is getting over a bad relationship where she caught her long time boyfriend cheating.  She has trust issues and is gun shy about getting back into the dating world.  After spending six months single, her roommate encourages her to join an online dating site.  That is where she hooks up with Jai.

One wild night of passion leads to more than an awkward morning after.  It ends with a viscous bang.

The two will meet up again when they attend their parents pre wedding dinner.  This situation goes from awkward to heated in the upcoming wedding celebrations.  They can’t keep their hands off of each other.  They both fight, misunderstand the other’s intentions, and struggle to figure out how to fit in their new family dynamics.

Each installment ends on a light cliffhanger.

I think this serial should of been one novel.  The cliffhangers were not enough to keep the reader dying for more.  I found flaws in the family relationships and dynamics that just did not connect leading characters and secondary characters.  There was not enough of a build up of sexual tension to validate the romance between the leading characters.  It was more of a sex fest in my opinion.

Further more the character development was weak.  It was very hard to connect with the characters and understand their drive.

Some may say that it is impossible to develop more when the story is delivered in novella length installments.  I say no it is not because I have read so many of these type of serials that leave me aching for more.

I really had high hopes for this serial.  Sadly it did not do it for me as a reader.

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Part 1- 3 Stars

Part one covers the meeting between Emma and Jai.  It covers their one night stand and disastrous morning after.

This was a good introduction that left me intrigued and curious about what happens next.

Part 2 – 2 Stars

The leading characters, Emma and Jai , meet up once again at their parents pre wedding dinner.  They begin hackling each other but at the same time can’t keep their hands off one another.

The reader also gets an introduction to the secondary characters in the story.  We meet the family members.   I can honestly say I really struggled with the family dynamics that were going on.  It felt more like these two were with acquaintances rather than their parents.  It was very odd.

Part 3 – 2 Stars

This installment takes the family to the lake house.  They have a few days before the wedding to bond before the other guests arrive.

What happens in this installment is like two children in the sandbox fighting over the same toy.  These two bicker and irritate the crap out of each other.  They still can’t keep their hands off each other.  I found these two spent more time sneaking around having sex.  I never felt the chemistry between the two.  I also never had a grasp on who they were as individuals as well as a couple.  Their POV focused more on the sexual relationship rather than the mental relationship.

Once the wedding takes place all hell breaks loose between the two.  Assumptions and misunderstandings force Emma to disappear.  That disappearance was down right weird and out of the blue.

Part 4- 2 Stars

The conclusion to the story.  The reader finds out why Emma disappeared. Which was interesting and believable.  But what happens after that was predictable.  Emma and Jai do find their happy ending.

Series Reading Order

Part Two

Releasing June 25th

Part Three

Releasing July 3rd

Part Four

Releasing July 10th

Scarlett Ward lives in Los Angeles, California and is releasing her first series June 2015.

 

Follow Scarlett on Goodreads at: http://bit.ly/1dNiwHz