Use Somebody by Beck Anderson Published by Omnific Publishing Publication Date: October 8th 2016
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Jeremy King, Hollywood über-agent to the stars, knows that sharks gotta swim. He’s one of them, after all. He’s never met a deal he couldn’t strike or an argument he couldn’t win. LA is his kind of town—they both never stop moving.
So when his friend and client, movie star Andrew Pettigrew, invites him on a “man-cation” to the wilds of Idaho for a little fly-fishing, Jeremy’s not so sure. He might not have cell service. There’s no way there’ll be any supermodels to woo. And his idea of the great outdoors is a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway in his Tesla Model S—moose definitely do not factor into the picture.
Fitting then that because of a moose, he meets Macy Shea Summerlin, the best fly-fishing guide on the South Fork. Jeremy’s surprised and tantalized, but Macy isn’t having any of his alpha male posturing. She gives as good as she gets, and she knows how to throw a mean right hook.
As the two of them get tangled up in each other’s lives, both Jeremy and Macy must come to terms with winning and losing and letting love in. And Jeremy has to find the answer to his own question: Is he simply “using” Macy or could he really “use” someone like her? Find out in Use Somebody, book 3 of the Fix You series.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from TRSoR Promotions in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
When I first “met” Jeremy in FIX YOU (Andrew and Kelly’s 1st book) there was something about this Hollywood agent that I liked. He wasn’t slimy and you could tell that he truly had Andrew’s best interest at heart. Needless to say, I was excited when I discovered Jeremy was getting this own story. I wanted to know exactly what kind of woman was going to bring this guy to his knees. I definitely wasn’t expected a fly fishing guide to be that person.
Jeremy meets Macy when he’s taking a guy’s weekend with Andrew and company. He rarely takes time off and begrudgingly agreed to this trip for his star/best friend. But when he see Macy, there’s something about her that calls to him. Makes him stick his foot in his mouth more times that he wishes and brings out a base need to protect her. He isn’t sure why, because she’s surly, but he has this desire to get around his gruff exterior and force her to use his first name and to let him inside. It takes a lot of work of Jeremy, something he normally doesn’t have to do when it comes to women, but it makes him appreciate Macy that much more.
Macy was a hard woman to like. Her standoffish attitude was a little hard to work around and often had me wondering why Jeremy was trying so hard. I think the essence of Macy was somewhat lost in translation because there was something about her character that words just couldn’t seem to convey. She was at peace fishing on the river and I think she would have packed a more powerful punch if I could see her (I had this vision in my head of Brad Pit in “A River Runs Through It” and the peace and calmness he always seemed to have when fishing. But I needed that visual of Macy in the same way).
The relationship between Macy and Jeremy left me unfulfilled. The insta-love like relationship just didn’t seem to work with them. Macy was too prickly and the majority of their relationship too antagonistic to believe that they were in love that quickly. To me, Macy would have required a slow building relationship. Trust would have to be earned and she wouldn’t give that up too easily, given the life she had lived. No matter how wonderful Jeremy was and the things he did for her, he’d have to work long and hard for her.
USE SOMEBODY was a good read, but I needed more relationship building between this couple to believe their HEA when it came.
Use Somebody is Beck Anderson’s
newest Hollywood standalone!
Now Available!
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2d4HqXd
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2cZYI6E
iBooks: http://apple.co/2cKTpKn
Nook: http://bit.ly/2cHJW3j
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2cmzriH
Excerpt
I look at the wide fresh scar on the palm. “And how did you do that again?”
Her face clouds over for a moment. Her brows knit together, the eyes go down to the counter, her lips press into a thin line. Then she looks up at me, transformed, a smile on her face and a shrug on her shoulders. “Stupidity.” She tilts her head, waiting for me to tease her or laugh it off.
I don’t. “No, Macy, really. How did that happen?”
“I already told you, I was helping a guest gut a fish and gutted my hand instead.”
I lean closer to her. “Then how come every time I ask your face looks like somebody ran over JT over there?”
Her smile drops. “I do not.”
I point the loaf of bread at her. “No, don’t lie. I hate lies. Your face tells a different story, even if it’s just for five seconds, until you paste the fake-girl smile on. Something bad happened.”
I swear her eyes well with tears. Then she shakes her head no, tosses her hair, like she’s shaking the memory to the edges of her mind, or clearing the etch-a-sketch of a horrible image. She’s still for a moment.
“Lots of bad stuff happened. Life happened. This?” She holds the palm up. “This is nothing. I cut it gutting a fish. End of story.”
It’s clear from her tone, clear that she’s not trying to lie. She’s trying to get me on board with the approved story. Trying to protect herself by putting another witness in her court. Another witness to stand up for her.
If that’s what she needs right now, so be it. “Fine. Don’t tell me now. But don’t lie. I fucking hate liars.”
She seizes on an opportunity to change the subject. “Mouth! You, Mr. King, need a swear jar.”
She jumps up and starts rifling through the cabinets. In the cabinet to the left of the oversized Subzero she succeeds. “Aha!”
She pulls out a mason jar and plunks it on the kitchen island. “Put a buck in there.”
“What?” I’ve cracked an egg and use the shell to separate the white from the yolk.
“You owe the swear jar a buck. Out on the river, I’ll keep track for you. At the end of the night, you come home and put your fine in the jar.”
It hurts me to hear the strain in her voice. I answer, help her forget our earlier discussion. “Who gets the jar at the end of the week?” She’s trying so hard to lighten things up, steer the conversation far away from her. Her wounds.
“Consider it an extra tip to your favorite river guide.”
I point to the back pocket of my jeans. “Wallet’s in there.”
She smirks. “I don’t think so. I’m not touching your butt.”
I hold my hands up. “I’m covered in egg. Just grab the wallet.”
She rolls her eyes and comes over to me. The weird scruffy dog lifts his head up, watches her. She stands behind me for a minute and lingers. I smell her and feel her warmth against my back. I take a breath in through my nose and try to exercise some restraint. “Fine.” She quickly snatches the wallet out of my pocket and pulls a bill out.
It’s a twenty. She frowns. “No, it’s a buck for the jar.” She pulls the billfold wider and thumbs through the bills.
“What?” I’m back to cooking. I don’t look up. I know exactly what.
“There’s nothing smaller than a twenty in here, Mr. King.”
I keep my head down. “Guess a twenty will have to do.”
She huffs and plucks one out, stuffs it in the new swear jar. “You are a piece of work.”
“So I’ve been told.”
About the Author:
Beck Anderson is a two-time Rita© finalist and author of four novels including the Fix You series and The Jeweler. She’s also a wife, a mom, an educator, and a walker of a small, bossy dog-slash-evil genius.
Find her at
authorbeck.com, on Twitter:
@BeckAndersonID,
Pinterest,
Facebook, and
GoodReads.
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