Shaken (Twisted Fox 2) by Charity Farrell

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

Published on: 22 September 2020
Type: standalone, series, HEA
Description: enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance
Author: Charity Ferrell
Read: 14 September 2020
Shelved: 15 September 2020
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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

A see yourself out note isn’t how you want to celebrate the morning after your first one-night stand.
The first time I meet Archer Callahan is when I block him in a parking spot.
The second is a fender bender.
The third is at a bar, drinking away our problems, and finding our way to his bed.
I never expected to see him again.
That changes when a month later, he’s introduced as my brother’s new business partner.
In need of a job, I’m hired at their bar, much to Archer’s dismay.
We hate each other.
We’re off-limits.
But every time we’re together, flashbacks of that night shake through us.
We push, we pull, until one of us breaks.

Add Shaken to your Goodreads to-read list!

Also available in THE TWISTED FOX SERIES:

Book 5 – Last Round (Silas and Lola’s story) *PREORDER*
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Review

Georgia Fox is a good heart, optimist, and fun-loving gal but has an uncanny way of attracting herself into embarrassing situations like a fly to honey. She is the epitome of clumsiness and “Murphy’s Law” scenarios that I’ve currently encountered. No matter how much she tries, she somehow gets entangled with Archer Callahan too many times and in the oddest of situations that one would think Fate was playing a good joke on them. Georgia somehow ended up with Archer/Chase later realizes that Archer and her would be connected more than just one night.

Archer Callahan (aka “Chase Smith”) is a disappointed man. He’s been let-down by his family too many times. He wanted nothing to do with the family business, let alone with his disappointing father but had to work there…until one day, he decided that he had enough. He traded-in being kind to being career-driven. He just learned to be the worst person and show it to the world. He wanted a simple and quiet life. He discovers later that it’s not mean to be and his partner and good friend, Cohen, is the brother of Georgia who he had slept with!

Throughout the years, I’ve learned the easiest approach for convincing people to leave you alone is for them to dread your presence. No one wants to hang out with the brooding bastard.
— Archer, Shaken

The chemistry is very intense and passionate – love/hate going on as early as the very first chapter! I love the banter that goes on between them! There were a lot of “coincidental meetings” for Archer and Georgia in the book. These meet-ups are the ones I look forward to since these are the absolute funniest part of the book. I snicked, chuckled, and laughed my way through their volleying remarks. Both of them seems to be keeping score each time!

Georgia doesn’t take anything that Archer throws at her “sitting/lying-down”. She stood up and defended herself, even as she gets distracted with all is stature (very tall, I might add). On the other side, Archer, as he gets riled up, also gets distracted in his mind on what was going on between his brain and Grace.

All joking around aside, both characters do have their own “issues”. During those low points, they ironically also bumped into each other. Their own histories are sad – definitely family issues. It is rare but they did try their best to be resilient and “move-on” with their issues and from their attraction. There is a lot of “pushing-pulling” going on …most on Archer’s part. It’s a lot of gut-wrenching confessions and more fights. I agree with Georgia’s friends that she needs to think of putting herself first at the end of all this.

The story spans weeks or sometimes months, which is nice and realistic to make the characters grow and realize how they are denying themselves the happiness that they both deserve. The story takes readers into Archer’s world with his new business and later his strained interactions with his family and the legacy that he has to face.

Georgia is a brave, and a very forgiving person – a saint! She is a big fan of second chances and is always on the positive side of life. She takes on the same attitude with Archer by giving so many chances to fess up but each time, he goes off and throws it to her face due to his fear and insecurities. She is also responsible for having Cohen and their mother work things out in the end..she’s a pure joy to read up about!

The thing with me is, my heart survives a beating. It can get fractured in every way possible, nearly destroyed, and I’ll still pick up every piece. I”ll gather them one by one and then hand them over to someone even more reckless.
— Georgia, Shaken

Archer’s story and background were not fully realized till far closer to the end – with why he’s been putting himself “down” with being with anyone. There was no way to have Archer “leap” into a relationship due to his “heavy past” and it all goes really full-on gut-wrenching each time. His ‘defeatist attitude’ is a downer and there are so many times that I wanted to “shake” him out of that slump of “doom and gloom” attitude. Ironically, his story unfolds later on before Georgia, and what she discovers about him that she realizes how best to help Archer in the end. Thank goodness!

She is the calm to my storm.
— Archer, Shaken

The ending is beautiful. It took some time but that’s the reality with people who needs to get over things by themselves with their support system in place. For Archer, Georgia was the support system that he needed. She is a great woman to keep “fighting” for them, even if she feels that Archer has given up countless times. (Those are the times I just get so angry with him!) Without giving anything away, I am sure the readers will agree that the Charity did a great job of ‘weaving’ their story beautifully in the end.

Love is when you want to wake up every single day and prove to the other person that you’ll work on being a better person than you were the day before — a better love, a better friend.
— Archer, Shaken

I recommend this book for readers who love enemies becoming lovers, second chance romances, and hot steamy chemistry! I really appreciate the length and build-up that will ensure the characters really dig deep to mature and grow for each other – to be better versions of themselves to their loved ones in the end.

About Charity

Charity Ferrell resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her boyfriend and two fur babies. She loves writing about broken people finding love with a dash of humor and heartbreak, and angst is her happy place.

When she’s not writing, she’s making a Starbucks run, shopping online, or spending time with her family.

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