Book Review: Overruled (The Legal Briefs #1) by Emma Chase

Overruled
The Legal Briefs #1

Published:
April 28, 2015

Publisher:
Gallery Books

Source:
ARC from Publisher for a Honest Review

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GR's Summary: 

Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author of the Tangled series, returns with the first installment of the Legal Briefs series! 

A Washington, DC, defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing—with his southern drawl, disarming smile, and captivating green eyes, he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him, and women want to be thoroughly cross examined by him. 

Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan. 

Until the day he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart, the mother of his beloved ten-year-old daughter. Jenny is getting married—to someone who isn’t him. 

That's definitely not part of the plan.

 *** 

Sofia Santos is a city-raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions. 

But when Stanton, her "friend with mind-blowing benefits," begs her for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi, to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves. Her head tells her she's crazy...and her heart says something else entirely. 

What happens when you mix a one-stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage, and a gun-toting Nana? 

The Bourbon flows, passions rise, and even the best-laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart.

The Legal Briefs Series:

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Lindy's Thoughts:

After reading Ms. Chase's Tangled Series, I was thrilled to learn that she was coming out with a brand new series; The Legal Briefs.  Overruled is the first book in the series, and is told from the dual perspectives of defense lawyer team, Stanton Shaw, and Sofia Santos.

Stanton grew up in the quaint, one stoplight town of Sunshine, Mississippi.  He was a football star for his high school, and his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, was the head cheerleader.  Right before he goes away to Columbia for college, he and Jenny are in for quite a surprise when she discovers that she is pregnant.  Stanton offers to give-up his scholarship, marry Jenny, and stay in Mississippi.  However, Jenny doesn't want him to sacrifice his lifelong dream.  Therefore, they come to an agreement, in which, Stanton will pursue his law degree, and then once he is a lawyer, the three of them will be a family.

Life rarely goes according to plan.  Stanton is extremely busy as a law student, and even though he talks to Jenny and his daughter, Presley, frequently, he is unable to visit them in person all that much.  Stanton and Jenny eventually agree to have an open relationship, where they are both able to have flings, but will not speak to one another about it, and when the time is right, they will get married and become a family.  Fast forward to ten years, and Stanton is involved in a hot and heavy friends-with-benefits arrangement with his co-worker, Sofia Santos.  Stanton is shocked and very upset when he gets an invitation to a wedding for his ex Jenny to another man.  He convinces Sofia to go with him to Sunshine, and help him win back the affections of Jenny and break up her soon to be nuptials...

Overruled was told in Ms. Chase's humorous, real, raw, and relatable style.  This story kept me entertained, made me laugh, and have a good time!  l Iove the way the author write's casual conversation in Overruled.  It came across as authentic, and in such a way that I felt like I was listening to my friends speak.  I loved the main characters, Stanton and Sofia.  While at times, Stanton aggravated me for the sheer reason that I felt like he wanted to "have his cake, and eat it too," I realized that he was a bit clueless and unaware of his own feelings, as well as Sophia's.  Stanton was very charming, charismatic, intelligent, a loyal friend, and dedicated father to Presley. Sophia was strong, gutsy, ambitious, and went toe to toe with her male  counterparts.

The pacing of the story was steady, and the plot entertaining.  There were a lot of laugh out loud moments, a few interesting plot twists, and a ton of intense, and heated sexy times!  The next two stories Sustained and Appealed are going to be about Stanton and Sophia's co-workers, Jake and Brent.  I loved these two as secondary characters, and am excited to get to know them better in their individual stories.  All of you Tangled fans will be excited to know that Drew Evans makes a few appearances at the beginning of this story!  I adore when authors use crossover characters, and I was thrilled to catch up with Drew, and hear more about his life with Kate. 

    

My Rating:

I give, Overruled, by Emma Chase, 4 Scorching Hot, Laughing Out Loud, Fun and Entertaining Stars!  This was an excellent beginning to, The Legal Briefs Series, and I'm ready for more!!!

Mikki's Review:

In 2013, I fell in love with Emma Chase's writing style. It's been almost two years since I met Drew Evans and Katherine Brooks. They still hold a piece of my heart and I have reread the Tangled series a couple of times. When I heard that Emma Chase was writing a new series I was extremely happy. She writes sexy, fun and romantic novels that keep me glued to my seat from beginning to end! 

Overruled is the first installment in Emma Chase's new Legal Brief series. In this book, we follow defense attorney Stanton Shaw and his co-worker and ''best friend with benefits'' Sofia Santos. Stanton is a charmer. Even Sofia can't deny that their chemistry is intense. She never hoped for something more with him until Stanton receives a wedding invitation from his ex. Stanton has a life plan, but when Jenny, is ex-girlfriend, is putting a stop to his plan  he runs back to their hometown to make sure that everything goes his way. As days go by, Stanton tries to win back Jenny, but he gets in all kinds of trouble when he brings Sofia along for support. What happens next was not part of his plan. But Stanton soon learns that even the best plans have a way of changing in the most unexpected way.

The Legal brief series started off with a bang! Sofia and Stanton are two characters that will make you smile. Their POV's are extremely entertaining. Stanton was an irresistible jerk. I loved him one minute and hated him the next! There are some parts of the books that I just wanted to slap some sense into him! He made me laugh, he made me want to throw my ereader at the wall, but most of all he made me swoon! Gah!!! He was such a good dad, friend and boyfriend. Sofia was a doll!! I loved everything about her. She's confident, strong and determined. She's exactly what our irresistible jerk needed in his life!

Sofia and Stanton have an incredible chemistry! I have to admit that I would have liked to read about their first encounter and see how this intense chemistry started. It was nice to see their relationship and friendship grow. Sofia was his best friend just like jenny was. I found a lot of similarities between these two ladies and I can see why Stanton fell for both of them.

Once again, Emma Chase wrote a series that has phenomenal supporting characters! I loved Jenny, JD, Presley, Jake and Brent! They are such fun and lovable characters! They made this story a fantastic reading journey from beginning to end! Let's not forget my favorite part of the book .... Drew Evans is back!!!!! My favorite jerk is super awesome like always! LOL!!! Jake and Brent will be getting their own books. I loved the strong friendship that unites Sofia, Stanton, Jake and Brent. They are amazing people! I can't wait to read about the ladies that will steal Jake and Brent's heart! 

Rating:

I give Overruled, by Emma Chase, 4 fun, steamy, romantic, page-turning stars!

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About Emma Chase:

By day, Emma Chase is a devoted wife and mother who resides in a small town in New Jersey. By night she is a keyboard crusader, toiling away the hours to bring her colorful characters and their endless antics to life. She has a long standing love/hate relationship with caffeine.

Emma is an avid reader. Before her children were born she was known to consume whole books in a single day. Writing has also always been a passion and with the 2013 release of her debut romantic comedy, Tangled, the ability to now call herself an author is nothing less than a dream come true.

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