Crazy For Your Love
(The Boys of Jackson Harbor #5)

Lexi Ryan
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Release Date April 9, 2019

A family wedding with a fake boyfriend, meddling parents, and an obsessive ex . . . What could go wrong? 

The only thing worse than being single at my sister’s wedding is finding out that my ex will be there too. Not just any ex—the guy everyone expected me to marry, the man I came to Jackson Harbor to escape.

Now I need a date, and fast. Enter Carter Jackson—the firefighter who’s dealing with an unwanted five minutes of fame ever since a shirtless photo of him saving a puppy went viral. He’s warding off propositions left and right, and he needs a fake relationship as much as I do.

Sweet and sexy, Carter is completely off-limits. See, I have a rule. A no heartache rule. Not only is Carter my friend and a known heartbreaker, but his job as a firefighter puts him in danger daily, and that’s something I just can’t handle. 

The commitment between us might be pretend, but the passion all too real. As crazy as it makes me, I have to keep Carter at an arm’s length. Even that might not be enough to spare my heart.

Crazy for Your Love is book five in The Boys of Jackson Harbor series. All books in this series can be read as standalones. 

I have been looking forward to Carter Jackson's story for a while now. He is a firefighter, and has become a media sensation due to a puppy rescue. So he is getting more and more attention he does not really want. Internally he is really struggling with guilt over a recent event and not acting like his former self. He does not want to be called a hero and get anymore attention, so when he needs a cover, he enlists Teagan to be is fake girlfriend for a night. One little white lie...

Teagan Chopra has been his friend for four years and is close to his own family. She is funny, smart, caring, and easy to be around. But now her family is descending upon Jackson Harbor for her sister's wedding, including her ex. So she needs some reciprocal help in the fake dating department and he agrees. Another little white lie...

A fake relationship for a weekend shouldn't be a big deal, right? Well, the little lies just seems to keep growing. And even though both of them clearly state they don't want a relationship and it should stay platonic, that sexual tension and chemistry keeps building and building.

There is the fact that he has wanted her for years, but she has always friend-zoned him. Situations from her past make her afraid to get involved with him. And his own personal issues make him feel unworthy as well. Both of them are carrying around some deep hurts, secrets, and guilt. And their pasts just to keep coming up and messing with them. And there are others with their own agendas intervening and manipulating situations. So the simple plan gets pretty complicated and messy.

It's a wedding party weekend full of sexual tension, secrets, lies, and questions. It gets hotter and more emotional than it should. It's hard to know what is fake or real. It's hard to know who or what to believe when everyone seems to have an opinion or agenda. And they are also their own worst critics.

Can these two learn to  trust, be honest and vulnerable, and forgive themselves in order to open up their hearts to the other? Can a friendship to fake relationship become a real chance at long time love?

I liked this installment, but I got frustrated with her backstory and all the secrecy about it. It kind of dragged out and I just did not get why she did not deal with the issues sooner. But I did like her and Carter. I felt bad that they beat themselves up so much. It is really a story about needing healing and self forgiveness before they could even have a chance at moving on. I am looking for the next book for Jackson sister, Shay! There was a little tease as to who her man might be in this one. 

Carter Jackson and Teagan Chopra have been friends for years, the kind of friends who jump in and pretend to be more when the need arises. But no matter how much Carter may wish there was more between them, Teagan consistently makes sure he knows he is in the friend zone. When Carter needs Teagan to pretend to be his girlfriend to get him out of a bachelor auction, he promises he’ll owe her. Big. She has the opportunity to collect much sooner than she anticipates though, when she learns her ex will be at her sister’s wedding. Not wanting to deal with her over-encouraging family and the ex at the same time, she enlists Carter’s help. If she already “has” a boyfriend, her family can’t push her towards her ex, can they?

I loved watching these two pretend to be lovers. Each had been hiding an attraction for the other for fear of hurting the friendship, but beneath the hidden feelings is true chemistry. Their banter and humor together keeps things light even as they are sorting through what is acting and what is the truth beneath.

As Teagan shared more of her history with her ex with Carter, I couldn’t help but echo Carters outrage that her family would continue to push them together. They each have their hang-ups when it comes to relationships and though they may want to explore more with each other, there are obstacles that have to be sorted before they can move forward. Teagan is so feisty normally, that I couldn’t help but wonder why it took so long for her to reveal the big secret she had been hiding.

This was a drama filled wedding weekend, with story elements coming from all sides. I loved the banter from the fire house, as well as the support Carter receives from his co-workers. Teagan’s bond with the entire Jackson family makes it easy for her to fall into the folds of the family. And even though I found myself frustrated that Teagan’s family couldn’t see that she didn’t want to be pushed towards her ex, they are a tight-knit bunch who really do love her.

“The whole drive from the hospital, I told myself I wanted to check on you.” Carter wraps his hands around his coffee and looks up at me through thick, dark lashes most women would pay a premium for. “But the second I walked in the door, I knew that wasn’t what brought me here. I want to finish what we started.”I bite my lip and whimper. “You’re killing me.”