Chelsea & Jessica Get Brazen! Private Practice by Samanthe Beck

Hey guys! So happy it's time to get Brazen again! This week we read Private Practice by Samanthe Beck!

He’ll teach her how to bring a man to his knees…

Dr. Ellie Swan has a plan: open her practice in tiny Bluelick, Kentucky, so she can keep an eye on her diabetic father, and make hometown golden-boy Roger Reynolds fall in love with her. But Ellie has a problem. Roger seeks a skilled, sexually adventurous partner, and bookish Ellie doesn’t qualify.

Tyler Longfoot only cares about three things: shaking his bad boy image, qualifying for the loan his company needs to rehab a piece of Bluelick’s history, and convincing Ellie to keep quiet about the “incident” that lands him on her doorstep at two a.m. with a bullet in his behind.

The adorable Dr. Swan drives a mean bargain, though. If sex-on-a-stick Tyler will teach Ellie how to bring a man to his knees, she’ll forget about the bullet. Armed with The Wild Woman’s Guide to Sex and Tyler’s lessons, Ellie is confident she can become what Roger needs…if she doesn’t fall for Tyler first.

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An incredibly hot guy stumbles into your house at 2 in the morning with a bullet in his ass. Do you: a) freak out?  b) die laughing?   c) seek medical help 

Jessica: Where's D: all of the above? Because I would freak if someone (hot or not) showed up outside my house at 2AM. I would die laughing if I saw that someone wasn't in life threating pain because hello? Bullet in the ass? REALLY? And then I'd seek medical help. Because I'm not a doctor.

Chelsea: Haha! Love your answer Jess. There should definitely be an option D. I am definitely going to have to say that I would freak out first because I think every single girl who lives alone would assume an intruder is up to no good on their doorstep at 2AM.

Do you have any stupid nicknames from high school?

Chelsea: LOL, I was actually called "Superstar" but not because they thought that's what I was. When I was a freshman, some of the hot senior guys thought I looked like Molly Shannon and they were constantly calling me that and asking me to do the superstar move from the movie. 

Jessica: Ugh. Yes. I don't even really know how they came up with it, but a couple of guys starting calling me Worm one day in elementary school. And it stuck. There's nothing worse than being in high school and having those guys (who were actually quite cute) yelling 'Worm' down the hallway when they saw me.  


What did you think of Ellie's character?

Jessica: I liked her. She cracked me up because of how she approached the whole situation with Tyler and just how her obsessive personality wouldn't just let her go with the flow when it came to sex.

Chelsea: I really liked Ellie a lot. She is very type A personality and while I wanted to strangle her a few times for being a little too meticulous, I think she was really strong and brave. 

What would you do if you ran into someone you knew at a sex shop?

Jessica: Probably die of mortification. I get embarrassed easily, so I would probably turn tail and run.

Chelsea: Umm.... I may be recognizable at Lovers by the girl who works behind the counter so I wouldn't be embarrassed at all. 

Motorcycles: Yay or Nay?

Jessica: A big fat YAY. I love them. I love riding on the back of them and there's just this rush of freedom that I love. I definitely want a man with a Harley.

Chelsea: Me too! I think motorcycles are dead sexy and I love the thrill being on the back of one.

What did you think of the 'Mistress Ellie' scene?

Jessica: I was DYING of laughter. That was hilarious. It was sexy and fun at the same time! I would never have been able to keep a straight face. It just goes to show how comfortable she was with Tyler already and I really liked that.

Chelsea: That scene was hilarious! I loved how brazen Ellie was and the way she dominated Tyler so easily. This was definitely a time when her need to control came in handy.

The first Brazen feature Jessica and I did was a Samanthe Beck book and I loved it so when we had the opportunity to read Private Practice for this week, I was super excited. This book was funny, sexy, sweet and romantic. I genuinely loved everything about this book, especially Tyler and Ellie.

Ellie has just come back to her small hometown to open her own medical practice and look after her father, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. She also has another agenda; to win over her childhood crush and build the dream life she's always wanted. However, she hears that good ol' Roger likes his sex a little wild and little miss Ellie has no idea what wild sex is. When the town sex God, Tyler, shows up on her doorstep, she makes and arrangement with him to teach her everything she needs to know. What she doesn't anticipate is the feelings she develops for Tyler.

I really liked Ellie a lot. She is smart, brave, caring, loyal and she cracked me up with her obsessive attitude. It is clear from the beginning that her relationship with her dad has always been strained and it has definitely shaped her views for the future. She has this idea of a perfect life with a big loving family in her head and she thinks that Roger is the man to provide that. While I liked Ellie, I wanted to shake her a few times for being so obsesses with a life she built up her head with Roger and not seeing what was right in front of her with Tyler.

I freaking loved Tyler, like I need a Tyler in my life. He is sexy, smoldering and mysterious. However, he is also sweet, smart, hard working and a really good guy. I liked that he was the town bad boy but he really made something of himself and became successful all on his own despite his upbringing. He is immediately taken by Ellie and she really makes him want and feel things that he's never wanted before. I liked that he took the opportunity that Ellie gave him so that he could prove that he could be the guy for her. 

Ellie and Tyler together was phenomenal. They have that chemistry that really jumps off the pages and makes you want to keep reading. I liked the way Tyler handled Ellie's obsessive nature and the way he opened her up and brought some spontaneity in her life. I was cracking up at some of the scenes with them between the sheets. It is just so easy with Tyler and I could see that Ellie was falling for him long before she realized it. Beyond the sexy times, I loved how protective Tyler was with Ellie and the way he made her feel okay about the life she was dealt and the relationship with her father. He understood her like no one else could. I also liked how supportive Ellie was of Tyler's dream and how encouraging she was with his business. No other woman had cared or shown interest before and not many people believed he could be the success he was but Ellie was 100% in his corner.

I also really liked the side characters including Melody, who became a really good friend to Ellie. She was everything Ellie wasn't in high school but she wasn't a mean girls. She was sweet and kind and I really liked her. While Roger wasn't the guy for Ellie, he was still a nice guy and I liked him too. Overall, this was such a great read and I loved the characters and the writing and the plot. It had me swooning one minute and laughing the next. It was a true romantic comedy and definitely one that I would re-read. 

Woooo! Another 5 star read! I'm on FIRE! I adored this book so much! Beck blended the perfect amount of steam and romance, which made for a really enjoyable read. I'll admit this did have some predictability to it and the storyline wasn't one I haven't read before, but that is all irrelevant. Beck's added humor and her characters will draw you in and leave you smiling for hours.

Pacing: I felt it was really well-paced. I love how fast Brazens are to read. I do wish we would have had a bit more at the end. I actually am one of those people who like epilogues because I need good closure.

Storyline: As I stated, it's pretty predictable and one that's been done before, but that's a non-issue for me. I loved that Ellie was brazen enough to proposition Tyler the way she did. The girl has guts! I liked the added humor that Samanthe added to the story too. Ellie was such a great heroine.  Having just returned to her hometown to help take care of her less than pleasant diabetic father and open her new practice, she has just heard the news that her long time crush Roger is no longer engaged to his glamorous girlfriend Melody. She overhears a conversation between Melody and a friend about how Melody just wasn't adventurous enough sexually for Roger. This really gets Ellie's brain turning. If SHE could be sexually adventurous enough, maybe then she'd be the one to snag Roger's heart. She enlists the help of Tyler Longfoot, a sexy, dark-haired, guy she remembers from high school. He was a few years older than her, but his reputation certainly precedes him. However, things start to really escalate as Tyler and Ellie realize they are attracted to one another.

Characters:  Ellie is just one of those heroines you have to laugh at. She is determined and willful, but she also looks at things from a very analytical perspective. She is very literal, so it's hard not to laugh at how insistent she is her and Tyler go by this Wild Woman guide she bought to help make her more adventurous in bed. She has everything planned out, so naturally she gets frustrated when Tyler tries to get her to loosen up and just FEEL. I felt bad for Ellie. This guide is all about how to pleasure a man, but what about HER pleasure? She is so wrapped up on how to rock Roger's world that she doesn't even pause to consider her own needs. Thank goodness Tyler is not a selfish lover!

I really loved Tyler. He's not the same guy he once was and he is really getting his life on track and what he wants out of it. He's not interested in being the playboy anymore and is looking for something real. Ellie is using him to be better for someone else and feelings for her or not, that's got to be a hit to the ego. Tyler is determined though. The more time he spends with Ellie, the more he realizes he actually likes her... and he's going not letting her go without a fight. I liked how he stood up for her and how he thought her Wild Woman guide was ridiculous. She knows how to take care of a man and he really does a great job of making her feel beautiful and sexy as is.

Final Thoughts: I highly recommend this one if you're in the mood for a short, sexy, fun read. I really didn't see the Roger twist coming until I read one scene in particular and then I was laughing because... really, Ellie? You didn't figure that one out? I love that she's a little naïve, because it really makes her that much more endearing as a character. I loved watching her struggle with what she thinks she wants versus what she actually needs...

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Join us next time as we discuss Laura Kaye's One Night with a Hero!