Blog Tour: Ready or Not: J.L. Berg
READY OR NOT (Ready#4)
J.L. Berg
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Born into wealth and privilege, free-spirited Liv Quinn left it all behind when she realized there was more to life than living off of trust funds and barely skating by. Since then, she’s worked and fought for everything she’s earned and never looked back at the world or the family she left behind.
Jackson Reid is starting over with a new job in a brand new city. A single father to his son Noah, he hopes the change will help strengthen the bond that has seemed to suffer since puberty reared its ugly head. What he hadn’t planned on was Liv—his exotic next-door neighbor who drives him insane with her wild, new age lifestyle, but still manages to leave him aching for more.
As challenges arise and feelings intensify, will these neighbors be able to look past their differences and find a middle ground? When love comes knocking, will they be ready, or not?
We met Liv in Ready for You as she is Mia's feisty, sassy friend. She meets Jackson, a newly relocated bachelor when he brings his son, Noah into her counseling office. But she finds out later that they are also her new neighbors. After a couple of neighborly squabbles and incidents, full out turf war is waged.
Jackson's life was free of distractions and a bit boring until he began sparring with Liv. He's a single dad and a lawyer and starting over in a new town. He is sexy, funny, sweet and a bit bossy. I adored him and loved his devotion to his tween son He is one of those guys not afraid of love and commitment, and was willing to fight for it.
Liv is a free spirit, hippie-like vegetarian with no desire to settle down. She left her life that was controlled by others to do what she had a passion for. She has trust and abandonment issues, so has big walls up and does not make it easy to get close to her.
Their interactions were initially snarky and fiery. And I loved their humor and constant attempts to one up the other. They were different in so many ways, yet also compatible. And as their feelings began to change, it was funny to see them trying to figure out how to handle it.
Olivia Prescott was mine--forever. Convincing my free-spirited hippie girl that she was taken for good might be challenging.
And once they channeled all that energy into trying to date versus outwitting the other, they fit together well. Most of the drama was not really intrinsic to their relationship except for her fear of intimacy. The majority of strife in their lives came from outside sources they needed to deal with.
This brought back the couples from the other books in this series Clare and Logan (When Your'e Ready), Leah and Declan (Never Been Ready), Mia and Garrett (Ready for You) as well as their offspring. I love this sarcastic, protective loving set of friends who act as a family unit. I enjoyed the addition of Jackson's tween son, Noah and his developing relationship with Liv. That was also an integral part of their story. It was told in both Liv and Jackson's points of view allowing us full access to their thoughts, feelings, and fears.
This was a sweet, funny, engaging read about opening up, finding your passion, taking risks, following your dreams and the importance of being surrounded by those you love. It supports the theory that opposites do attract and sometimes end up being that elusive missing piece to the puzzle.
Olivia “Liv” Prescott walked away from the expectations of her family year ago, when their expectations did not allow for Olivia to make her own choices about her future and career. For eight years she hasn’t contacted her parents, waiting for them to approach her. In the meantime, she has started a counseling practice, bought a house, and created a family with the people who love her, including her best friend Mia Finnegan.
What she doesn’t expect is to have her new neighbor turn her world upside down. Jackson Reid moved in to his grandmother’s house to give himself and his eleven year old son a new start with better opportunities. But connecting with his tween isn’t as easy as it was when he was younger, and Jackson begins to think he isn’t enough for his son anymore.
From their initial meeting, to their neighborly feud, I loved everything about Jackson and Liv. They had immediate sparks, even if those sparks were not altogether friendly in the beginning. But as Noah connected with Liv, his father followed suit. Even before they realized what was happening, these three made such a great family unit.
The other couples and families from the previous Ready books had plenty of interaction throughout. From Declan and Leah offering sleepovers for Noah, to Mia, Leah, and Clare helping Liv get back at her neighbor in a drunken night of vandalism, the family atmosphere permeated the plot and the support Liv had from her friends was constant.
The conflicts as the book progressed came from some rather unexpected places, but overall this felt much lighter than the other Ready series books. There were many grin inducing situations, and humor throughout the story. The serious moments weren’t necessarily challenges created by the characters, adding very little angst to the story. As both main characters were fully adults and usually acted like it, the story was entertaining.
It was a refreshing, sweet story from start to finish.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Click on covers for blurb and purchase information
Also available as Box set of books 1-3:
When You're Ready, Never Been Ready, and Ready for You
Currently on sale for 99 cents!
Ready to Wed is novella #1.5 that follows the couple from book 1
and also includes a short story Never Been More ready about the couple from book 2
J.L. Berg
J.L. Berg is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ready Series. She is a California native living in the beautiful state of historic Virginia. Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two beautiful girls that drive them batty on a daily basis. When she's not writing, you will find her with her nose stuck in a romance novel, in a yoga studio or devouring anything chocolate. J.L. Berg is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.
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