Book Review: One Good Reason by Julie Johnson

One Good Reason by Julie Johnson is the third book in the Boston Love series. It stood well on its own, since I did not read the previous books. There was enough information about the reoccurring characters to catch me up quickly, but I liked the characters enough that I want to backtrack and read them all.

After a childhood spent begging for scraps on Boston street corners Zoe Bloom has clawed her way to a successful career and has a safe place to call home. She knows exactly what she needs to survive, friends and family are a luxury she can’t afford.  She can barely juggle her own problems; she certainly doesn’t have time to handle anyone else’s crap. Parker West has always avoided responsibility, but when a crisis forces him to return to Boston, he has no choice but to stop chasing adventures, at least for now. As soon as things are back in order, he fully intends to sail off into the sunset, at least until he crosses paths with Zoe. For the first time in his life, Parker doesn’t want to run. In fact, when it comes to Zoe… he may want to do something he’s never done before.

One Good Reason is a well paced contemporary romance with a side order of suspense. Zoe is a survivor and the only person she really trusts is the guy that has been by her side- her brother in everything but blood. She considers herself a loner and not exactly a nice person, but she has a marshmallow center that she just will not admit to. Parker is certainly a spoiled rich boy, but he loves his family and has a good heart under all the money and good looks. I found the balance between the characters, and the way they both came to own their failings (eventually) was very well done and kept me eager to see what happened next. A fun and entertaining read with some significantly steamy moments. I think the action was well paced and kept me guessing, but it was really the characters that kept me so interested.

One Good Reason is a wonderful contemporary romance with a nice dose of intrigue. I liked the characters, including the secondary characters, and felt that this was just about perfect for the genre. I greatly enjoyed the read and have already downloaded the first book in the series, because of how much I like the characters.