All That Jazz
A Butler Cove Novel
Natasha Boyd
Publication Date: March 22nd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
There’s something totally inconvenient about falling for your best friend’s brother. Especially when he’s turned into a pompous, arrogant, albeit annoyingly sexy a-hole that you’d like to punch or kiss to death at any given moment.
The summer she turned eighteen, Jazz Frazer accidentally lost her heart to Joey Butler, after a favor that blurred the lines from friends to lovers.
For three years they’ve pretended there’s nothing between them anymore. Jazz is finally ready to move on with the rest of her life. She’s looking forward to the end of college and fulfilling her dream of travelling the world. She’s determined that experiences and relationships will be fun, casual and easy. After all, she learned the hard way that men just don’t stick around anyway. But when her best friend gets herself into a relationship with a celebrity, Jazz has to do the one thing she never thought she’d do, call Joey and ask for help.
Repeatedly thrown together, Jazz tries everything she can to protect her heart and not fall back in love with Joey. But when Joey finally admits that Jazz is the one he’s always wanted, all bets are off.
Contemporary, friends to lovers, second chance romance. 17+ for strong language and sexual situations.
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Natasha Boyd has been on my author watch list for a while. I had never read her books but I have heard quite a buzz surrounding her stories. So when All That Jazz popped up on my radar, I was ready to give her books a go. Needless to say, I enjoyed what I read and I need to know more about her other books, especially the series this one spins off from. This book is an achingly sweet second chance romance, one where two people who grew up together learn that there might just be something more. I loved how Natasha takes Jazz and Joey and shares the angst and drama in a real way that is both age appropriate and believable. The story being told in present day and then in the past when Jazz turns 18 allows the reader to better understand the situation that we find our two main characters in. Jazz deals with everything you expect a teenager to deal with. Her sass and personality exude from the pages of this story and her frank analysis of life is both refreshing and shocking. I loved watching her mature and cheering her on to finding who she is. There are high moments and low moments, both in the relationship between Jazz and Joey and in Jazz’s own personal life. The story explains the budding romance but it also delves into a heroine who learns to save herself and fight for the life she wants. Parts of her story are hard to swallow and other parts make you want to bask in the glory of it all. The romance was sweet and these two are brilliant together, but the watching these two learn to trust themselves was the best part of all.
I love the people we meet in this story. We see parents, families, and best friends. There is a community of loved ones around these main characters that gives the story a well-rounded environment for the story to grow naturally. I loved watching how things unfold in the past allows the reader to understand the present. When I started reading, I was dying to know what happened and when I read it all for myself, I was stunned by everything that happened in a short amount of time and the consequences of those actions. Love is hard. And a love worth fighting for requires your heart and soul. It has the power to break you and leave the pieces jagged and shattered. All That Jazz does a great job of sharing that very thing with the readers. Joey and Jazz are brilliant together and apart. I loved reading their story and hoping from the sidelines that love would win in the end.
I can see the struggle on his face. He’s made such a big deal about my sunburn, he’d literally be defying his Hippocratic Oath by denying me relief.
I actually find myself taking perverse pleasure from his discomfort. Why not make this fun? “Fine.” Taking a deep breath, I lock eyes with him and slip my dress strap down on one side. His eyes track the movement. Then I reach for the other and I see his jaw harden.
I sigh and wink at him. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Doctor Butler.”
He meets my eyes, one eyebrow arched, his mouth twisting. “You did always make me want to play doctor, Miss Fraser.”
It takes nano seconds for his words to register and scalding shock to flood my system, and then eons for the surprise to ebb and release my tongue. By that time, Joey has cleared his throat and rolled up his sleeves. He squeezes lidocaine into the palm of one of his strong hands, then uses the other to swing a chair out to sit on.
I swallow some saliva back into my mouth. I didn’t expect him to flirt back.
“Shift around,” he says gently. “So your back is facing me.”
I do as he asks. The sound of the zipper on my sundress going down seems to reverberate around the room like a Boeing engine.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speechless before.” He chuckles, warm and husky just as the cold cream hits my skin. “Is there anywhere else that hurts?” he says into my ear.
Is he serious right now?
The iciness of the cream steals my outrage, and I inhale with the uncomfortable sensation. Then I moan in relief.
Finally, annoyance surges in the wake of his suggestive comments. What the hell is he playing at? Did he seriously just say that? I almost want him to repeat it. Actually why the hell not? “Did you just say I make you want to play doctor? Like sexy doctor? Like, ‘let me examine you’ suggestive weirdness?”
“Shut it.”
“No. I won’t.”
“I preferred you speechless.” He swipes more cooling lotion on my back.
“So let me get this straight. You don’t want me, but the second you hear I’m seeing someone else you start coming on to me?” I keep my back to him though I know he’s done. And feel, rather than hear, his body shift away from me. My zipper slowly rises. He’s quiet.
I scoot around on the seat until I face him, my bare knees knock against his rough jeans. “Coz that’s what you just did, isn’t it?” His eyes are cloudy and brooding and locked on my mouth. His skin is flushed. Why does he have to be so Goddamn sexy?
“I never said I didn’t want you.”
Holy—
I swallow. Speechless for the second time in the space of five minutes.
“But,” he adds. “This—us—just wasn’t advisable.”
I process his words.
What a complete jackass.
Abruptly I stand up in front of him, my dress straps are still down, it makes me feel half undressed. I’m practically standing between his legs I’m so close.
Looking down at him, I narrow my eyes. “Actually, Doctor. I do hurt somewhere else.”
He winces almost imperceptibly. His eyes flick to my chest.
My heart? Is that what he thinks?
Oh, no fucking way.
“Actually …” I lean down and grab his hand and slide it up my dress and between my legs.
Joey expels a shocked breath.
“It hurts right here.”
His blue eyes flare dark as the surprise and arousal stuns him.
I press his hand against my underwear. “Feel like soothing this ache?” I hiss.
Natasha Boyd is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romantic southern fiction. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and has a background in marketing and public relations. Eversea, her debut novel, was a finalist for Contemporary Romance in the 2013 Winter Rose Contest, won the 2014 Digital Book Award for Adult Fiction and is a LIBRARY JOURNAL self-e selection 2015. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Georgia Romance Writers and Island Writer’s Network in coastal South Carolina where she has been a featured speaker on book marketing. She lives with her husband, two sons and the cast of characters in her head.
Natasha grew up in South Africa, Belgium and England. She now lives and writes full-time in the USA.
Her work is available in English, Italian, Turkish, German, and Indonesian.
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