Stiff Suit: A small town billionaire CEO grumpy boss romantic comedy

Tawna Fenske

Jun 2019 · Tawna Fenske

About this ebook

I’ve spent my whole life guarding the family’s biggest secrets. Too bad this one won’t leave my guest room.

Let’s blame that inconvenient distraction for the questionable choices I make at my brother’s wedding. Thank God for Lily Archer, who saves my rep and melts my heart in one fell swoop. It’s damn humbling for a controlling jerk like me accustomed to being in charge of everything.

But something about Lily has me unraveling like the cuffs on a cheap suit. She’s sexy and smart as hell, and makes no secret she wants me for a no-strings fling. What guy in his right mind would say no?

I’m clearly not in my right mind because I suddenly can’t stop thinking about long-term with Lily. It’s not ideal, since the family’s worst skeleton is ready to tumble from the closet in a big, dusty heap. Who the hell is in charge around here?

It’s me. And before this is over, I’ll have some explaining to do.

Ratings and reviews

Get ready for a trip back to the Ponderosa Resort and this time we get to watch James "Iceman" Bracelyn lose his cool. Poor James, being the oldest sibling of all the Bracelyn children he was always put in the position of keeping the family secrets and being the stone cold face in a crisis. He took that role to heart and unfortunately for him, it has ruled his entire life. When he is faced with Lily "Man-Eater" Archer at his brothers wedding his cool starts to heat up quickly. Too quickly in fact, to the point he can't even remember what happened and how on earth did he wind up in her bed without his clothes on. This book, oh lord where to begin with everything that is going on in this 5 star book. I won't give any spoilers away, trust me you don't want to know what is happening until you read the book for yourself, but I will say I love this series and this is by far my favorite of the 5 books. There are so many surprises, so much humor I laughed out loud on numerous occasions causing my hubby to give me funny looks, and there is heartbreaking emotions throughout. Tawna Fenske ran the gambit with this one and covered all the emotions. It's so good. I received an early copy to read and review and give my honest opinion. I loved it! I highly recommend it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

3.75 stars--STIFF SUIT is the fifth instalment in Tawna Fenske’s contemporary, adult PONDEROSA RESORT ROMANTIC COMEDIES romance series. This is thirty-four year old, attorney and eldest sibling James ‘Iceman’ Bracelyn, and geologist Dr. Lily Archer’s story line. STIFF SUIT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary. SOME BACKGROUND: A few years earlier the Bracelyn patriarch, Cort Bracelyn, died leaving his eldest son James to pick up the pieces of his billion dollar estate, an estate to be divided between his five children (Bree, Sean, James, Mark, Jonathan )all born of different mothers. The Ponderosa Resort is the family lodge where each of the now adult children lives and works. Told from dual first person perspectives (James and Lily) STIFF SUIT follows in the aftermath of Sean Bracelyn’s marriage to Amber King. Having had too much to drink at his brother’s wedding James Bracelyn wakes up next to one of the bridesmaids, having no memory of what happened the night before. Enter geologist Dr. Lily Archer, the woman with whom James will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between James and Lily, and the potential fall-out as the Bracelyn siblings are once again stunned and angered by their father’s past. Lily Archer doesn’t do relationships, in fact, our heroine has a reputation as a man-eater. Meeting James Bracelyn stirs something deep within our heroine’s heart something that will shatter when James is unable to let go of the past. James Bracelyn has no time for romance or love but waking next to Lily Archer gave our hero something to think about, something that looks a lot like a possible happily ever after. Our hero is a bit of a stuffed shirt, always working with no time to enjoy the lighter side of life. The relationship between Lily and James is a ‘friends with benefits’ of a sorts, that turns into something more. Neither one is prepared to fall in love but the heart wants forever even though the mind says something else. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. Most of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting characters. There is a struggling family dynamic between siblings who were aware of one another but never had the chance to bond until adulthood. STIFF SUIT is a story of family, friendship, secrets and lies. The premise is emotional and engaging; the romance is captivating and seductive; the characters are energetic and colorful but I struggled to find the humor throughout the story line. There are moments of fun and adventure but the overall premise is a little heart breaking and sad. James Bracelyn is the keeper of the family secrets, so much so, that is eats away at his emotions and pride. The family patriarch has done a real number on his numerous progeny, such that family counselling is the only way to understand and survive. When even more secrets are revealed James becomes the punching bag for their father’s sins and lies.

It amazes me that every single book in this series is so much better than the last one. Since the books before this were absolutely fantastic, it doesn't even make sense. I went into this book thinking there couldn't be two more mismatched people than James and Lily but after reading their story, they are so unbelievably perfect for each other. I need to learn to trust the process!! James couldn't get more uptight if he tried. Lily is fun and smart and goes for what she wants. When these two get together, it's pure magic. This story had some twists that I definitely didn't see coming and it kept me glued to the story to see how everything was going to work out. I love visits to Ponderosa Resort and I can't wait to go back!!

About the author

 When Tawna Fenske finished her English lit degree at 22, she celebrated by filling a giant trash bag full of romance novels and dragging it everywhere until she’d read them all. Now she’s a RITA Award finalist, USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risqué romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. Publishers Weekly has praised Tawna’s offbeat romances with multiple starred reviews and noted, “There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being immersed in a story filled with over-the-top characters in undeniably relatable situations. Heartache and humor go hand in hand.”

Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, step-kids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets. She loves hiking, snowshoeing, standup paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year. To find out more about Tawna and her books, visit www.tawnafenske.com.