Review of ‘Just One Reason’ by Jaime Clevenger

I’m a big fan of Jaime Clevenger, but I’m disappointed to say that this was my least favorite Paradise Romance novel. There were still good things here I enjoyed, but it just didn’t hold up especially compared to book one, ‘Three Reasons to Say Yes’. You could read this book without reading the others in the series, but part of the happily ever after for characters from a previous book is in this one. I believe you would get the most enjoyment by reading this series in order.

I loved the beginning of the book. We are in medical romance territory and I could not be happier. We also have a potential doctor/resident and age-gap romance of nine years going on. Unfortunately, the medical romance feeling lasted less than half the book and I think the plot kind of lost its way after that part finished.

I loved the character of Terri. She was a take no prisoner power femme that was only a shade or two away from being an ice-queen. I thought I was going to feel the same about Sam but instead, I felt constantly annoyed. She was always whining about how she had it so tough having a job, she was good at, that saved lives and would give her 40 million dollars. Oh poor Sam, how can anyone handle such awful circumstances? I mean, come on now.

The romance had chemistry which leads to the characters having an intense sexual attraction and connection. The sex scenes are light BDSM-ish. I liked that there was a good variety of sex scenes and I even liked that the characters talked about their sexual histories and about getting tested. The problem for me was that I could not connect to the sex scenes. It was not the light BDSM I had an issue with, it was that I did not like the power femme as the submissive and Sam, who was so scared of Reed’s kid that she almost peed her pants, as the dominate.

I totally get how people can be one way in life and another in bed, but I just saw these two as being the complete opposite of how they were written and I could not get into the scenes. I didn’t find the characters believable in those roles. I’m not saying every reader will have this issue, but personally I did, and because I did I could not connect with the sex scenes that should have been really hot instead.

While the characters have good sexual chemistry, I did not feel an emotional connection. Besides being attracted to each other and having good sex, I did not see why these two would get to the level of a serious relationship. And while the book was a good length, Clevenger fast forwards the ending to give the characters an instant HEA. We are talking Uhaul and even worse after only a few pages. I understand why Clevenger wanted the happiest of HEA ever, even when the characters were not there yet, I just wish she would have let the characters grow together more organically first.

After an explosive start to my summer reading, I seem to be in a rut of books that are just good or average. I’m getting tired of complaining about things and I really want to gush over a new book. Anyway, while I did have problems with this, I would still recommend it to people who have read this series. If you are new to the series I would suggest reading book one, ‘Three Reasons to Say Yes’, instead. 3.50 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.