"Rocky Road" by Becky Wade

[reviewsbyerin]

 


Jude Camden is a calm, cool, and collected FBI agent who is used to holding his family together. Free-spirited perfumer Gemma Clare is also used to holding her family together, especially since her father's incarceration. Now her cousin Cedric, who has continued in his illegal dealings, is about to sell the secret recipe for their family's centuries-old bestselling perfume. Jude, who has been keeping an eye on Cedric, approaches Gemma about an undercover operation to finally get Cedric behind bars where he belongs.

Gemma harbors resentment for the role the FBI played in convicting her father but letting Cedric go free years earlier. However, for a chance to save the family legacy, she's willing to let Jude pretend to be her boyfriend in order to catch her conniving cousin. But she's not willing to stipulate to all the rules that Jude would like, leading to some interesting compromises.

While Jude and Gemma pose as boyfriend and girlfriend, Gemma is also helping her great-grandmother remember her WWII romance by tracking down her diaries and other mementos. When the stories Gemma is uncovering don't line up with family history as it has always been told to her, she begins to suspect there are secrets lurking beneath the surface.

This second book of the Sons of Scandal series is a wonderful blend of romance, humor, suspense, and faith. I laughed out loud so many times and also hung on the edge of my seat as I listened to the audiobook. I loved staid Jude with his very controlled life being slowly undone as genuine care for Gemma swept over him. Gemma's family is a riot and it was fun to follow the multigenerational relationships and banter.

Though Rocky Road could be read as a standalone, characters from the first book do make an appearance, and I think you'd enjoy it more if you read Memory Lane first. I look forward to the conclusion of this series and seeing how the threads between books tie together.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.