Caveman and Mancave: Wild Men Books 1 & 3, Jo Raven

Dark and aggressively brooding Matt needs help.  His kids are both afraid of him and don't like him, he's in a podunk town, he's angry, he's lost.  It doesn't help that his attitude is seriously terrible and can't keep a nanny to save his life.  But if he's got any choice in the matter it sure as hell won't be the little girl he just slammed the door on.

Octavia is light, responsible, sweet, determined, and the kindest soul you could ever hope to meet.  She hasn't had an easy life but she won't let her family's hardship drag her down.  In need of a job to finance her goals she finds herself on the doorstep of the town a-hole, ready to apply to be his nanny...but gets one glimpse of the bear of a man before the door is slammed in her face.

The unfortunate encounters pile up and before either of them can blink Matt is claiming that she's his nanny.  He can hardly believe he made the claim but it turns out that she's just what his kids need.  He's denying any of his own need for her, though.  His past is keeping him from opening up to her but there's no shadow dark enough to keep out Octavia's sunshine.

There was unexpected drama pulling them together along with their incredible attraction to one another.  The story was far more dramatic than I was expecting.  I can't say that I loved the clipped voice of the book.  It would have been okay if it were just Matt's POV that read with short, terse sentences and thoughts but it was Octavia's POV too and having her thought and sentence structure be the same as Matt's didn't feel right.  I also had a hard time with the lack of relationship development.  They didn't get to know one another, it was just Octavia's generous heart healing Matt and his children's damage as well as some really hot sex and a ton of external drama making Matt feel proprietary and protective.  Aside from that I don't see them truly knowing one another.

Overall, the story was intense from start to finish.  Octavia and Matt have the potential to be exceptional partners for one another.  Love, healing, redemption, and incredible steam.  3 stars.

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Their family has resettled in a new city with so many happy moments confirming their decision.  Octavia is fulfilling her educational goals, their family is growing, and Matt's professional life owning a garage with his brother Kaden is shaping up to be everything he's ever wanted.  When a call from their past comes they don't hesitate to offer aid and rush back to Destiny.  What awaits them isn't what they expected.  Family drama of many kinds threaten to derail their happiness and while Octavia wants so much to heal everyone, Matt sees the darker side of things and just wants to protect his family.

Evan Morales needs help.  He's in an untenable situation with work and home and Matt is a friend he can count on.  Ross, Octavia's bully of a half-brother, is getting out of prison but she can't shake the feeling that if she doesn't step in he's on the road to a terrible fate.  Mary is slowly pulling away and neither Matt nor Octavia can figure out what's creating the distance between them and their little girl.  Both Octavia and Matt are having a hard time figuring out which way is up when everything is crashing down on them.

The solutions to a lot of the issues were pretty much right in them but it took nearly 3/4 of the way in to the story for them to see it.  There was a lot of sexy times which helps to keep Matt and Octavia strong and connected but they were also so scattered that they couldn't see the forest for the trees sometimes.  A lot of the book left me feeling like they were repeating the same things over and over when new information was revealed and I was glad the book wasn't any longer because I don't think I could have waited any longer for them to come to the conclusions that were staring them in the face.

Despite the voice still being clipped for both MC's their happiness is more apparent.  Things are settling and they're coming to a sense of peace by the end that I really enjoyed.  I'm actually looking forward to reading Evan's story and Ross' story should the ever be written.  3 stars.

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