TITLE: Rushing In (Bailey Brothers Series book 4 of 6)
AUTHOR: Claire Kingsley
GENRE: Contemporary romance
PUBLISHER: Independently published
PUBLICATION DATE: November 26, 2020
TROPES: Opposites attract, forbidden love, small town, friends with benefits
NARRATORS: Stephen Dexter, Savannah Peachwood
Rushing In is the 4th book in the Bailey Brothers Series, which recounts the story of Gavin, the youngest Bailey Brother, and Skylar, the daughter of Gavin’s boss.
I was excited to read this book because Gavin is my favorite of the brothers- charming, fearless, and hilarious. But sadly, this was disappointing after the great stories that Asher and Evan got in the previous books.
Synopsis
With his dimpled grin and devilish charm, firefighter Gavin Bailey is hot as a five-alarm fire and twice as dangerous. The youngest of five brothers, he’s the daredevil of the family. Until the unexpected strikes and he finds himself sidelined.
Skylar Stanley’s life didn’t just fall apart. It exploded. Spectacularly. Dropped by her publisher and her agent, and dumped by her boyfriend, she suddenly has no place to live and a career circling the drain. She comes home to the quirky, feuding small town she hasn’t lived in since kindergarten to pick up the pieces. And hopefully find her mojo.
Gavin would happily help Skylar get her groove back – in and out of the bedroom – except for one big problem. Her dad is Gavin’s boss, mentor, and the closest thing he’s ever had to a father.
As much as Gavin loves racing headlong into danger, Skylar is a risk of a different kind. One that he’s determined to avoid.
But the line between friends and lovers gets awfully blurry, and Gavin just might find the one thing that truly scares him.
Losing her.
Characters
In a classic case of “opposites attract” romance, Skylar is the shy girl to Gavin’s daredevil tendencies. Their chemistry is excellent, and I enjoyed how their contrasting personalities balanced each other out. However, their relationship feels superficial and poorly developed beyond their instalust. There needed to be more substance to their romance to root for them.
GAVIN was portrayed as much younger than he had seemed in previous books, with thoughts that ventured into the YA/teen category. SKYLAR was an okay character, but there were many strange aspects of her personality that I found hard to accept at face value without any logical reason. And her constant zoning out to think of possible book plots for her mystery books got tiresome and pulled away from the moment.
The rest of the BAILEY BROTHERS continue to add comedic moments and provide support when Gavin or any of the other brothers need someone to talk sense into them.
Plot
Despite the romance feeling rushed, the pacing of the overall book is pretty slow, with few significant things happening. We continue to solve the mystery of the hidden town’s treasure set up in the previous books, which was a fun puzzle-solving subplot.
I particularly enjoyed the subplot involving Skylar’s parents and their second-chance romance, which felt more believable than Gavin and Skylar’s.
The final conflict was consistent with Gavin’s character, and I appreciated how Skylar handled it. But it still felt like they skipped a lot of steps in their relationship, and I didn’t get to enjoy their journey as their romance grew gradually.
Writing
In Rushing In, the inner monologues felt more like young adult fiction than previous books. While Gavin is the youngest brother, I didn’t think this was necessary because he was in his mid-20s. However, the dual points of view helped make the book more engaging.
Conclusion
Rushing In is a great option for readers who enjoy small-town, opposites-attract, or forbidden love with the boss’s daughter kind of romance. The characters are fun, and it’s an entertaining read. However, due to the lack of romantic development and immature writing, it didn’t work out well for me.
Check out the rest of the series!
Book 2: Fighting For Us – Asher Bailey continued (second chance)
Book 3: Unraveling Him – Evan Bailey (grumpy/sunshine)
Book 5: Chasing Her Fire – Logan Bailey (enemies to lovers)
Book 6: Rewriting The Stars – Levi Bailey (forbidden love, feuding families)
Would you like to know which Bailey Brother is most likely to be your book boyfriend? Take the short quiz in this Bailey Brothers Series Guide to find out now!
Cover Change
If you’ve seen a different cover for this book and are wondering if it’s the same novel, I have included the original and updated cover below to avoid any confusion.
Where to Buy
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Rushing In
RATING: ★★/5 ᐧ || ᐧ Rushing In is the 4th book in the Bailey Brothers Series, which recounts the story of Gavin, the youngest Bailey Brother, and Skylar, the daughter of Gavin’s boss.
URL: https://www.amazon.com/Rushing-Family-Romance-Bailey-Brothers-ebook/dp/B08NTX5JKZ
Author: Claire Kingsley
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