Title:  Return of the Jerk
Series:  Sweet Life in Seattle #2
Author:  Andrea Simonne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  September 17, 2015
Publisher:  Liebe Publishing
My Rating:  4  stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Steamy and fun, an irresistible story of one woman’s obsession and the jerk-like object of her unrequited love…

Wedding cake baker Blair Thomas loves her life. Her business is thriving, her Seattle condo has a great view of the water, and her refurbished ‘65 convertible Mustang “Isadora” is the coolest car ever. She barely even thinks about that jerk she married five years ago. The one who abandoned her after four months of marriage. The one who left a note on her pillow saying, “See you later, babe.”

Seriously, who does that?

So what if she was once obsessively in love with him. He’s her best friend’s older brother and for years he barely even knew she was alive. He never loved her, and he only married her because of a drunken mistake. At least she’s over him.

Definitely over him.

The only problem is Blair never got around to divorcing him so technically they’re still married. And after five years of traveling the world—Nathan “Road” Church—has finally decided to come home. He arrived on Blair’s doorstep this morning, and now he’s in her bathroom taking a shower. The nerve of him! Oh, and did I mention he’s still hot? Blair doesn’t know what to do.

The jerk has returned.

Read on for my thoughts on Return of the Jerk.  Notrue spoilers, promise.

Blair never, ever expected to find the jerk, her husband in her home… naked in her home.  After all these years he’s finally shown up again.  Too bad she never got around to divorcing the idiot man.

Nathan and Blair had such a messed up relationship.  She’d loved him forever it seemed.  And he’d just taken off with a post-it note for a goodbye.  So yeah – quite a marriage they had.  She was so sure that she’d gotten over him, that his leaving had been the final closed door.  Yet, here he was, as hot and sexy as ever and she… she was tempted again.

Return of the Jerk is written in different points of view.  When we finally get Nathan’s point of view of the events in his and Blair’s lives the feeling toward Nathan shifts, changes more than just a bit.  And then we learn what he’s been doing these years away – yeah, a whole different twist to the same story.  I know I’m being vague here, but in order to avoid spoilers I have to be.

Let me say this then.  Return of the Jerk is an intense, twisting, winding story of two people who should work fine together – if they can ever get themselves together enough to air out the past, come clean and simply tell the truth to each other, the whole truth and let the hearts fall where they will from that point on.

Told through laughter, humor, tears of sadness and frustration and a deep burning desire and love for each other that time has never changed.  I would recommend this story to any reader who enjoys a story that goes below the surface to the deep, dark places that people will fall into.  It’s a story of redemption, of love reclaimed.  We, the readers, simply have to go through the journey with Blair and Nathan to get to that true happy ever after.

*I received an e-ARC of Return of the Jerk from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available in paperback and for the Kindle