Best friend's ex-girlfriend. Yes! Bring. It. On...
“Last night you said that you have to act like a jerk towards me because it’s the only way for you to…” She eyed him sternly. “Finish that sentence, Reed. To what?”

Reluctance dug a deep groove into his forehead. “It’s nothing. Forget I ever said it.”

“I can’t forget. It’s been bugging me all day. I need to know what you meant by that.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sounding frustrated, he gently uncurled her fingers from his arm. “Nothing good can come out of this conversation, baby.”

Darcy frowned. “Don’t baby me. And PS? I never took you for a coward. You’ve always struck me as a man who says exactly what’s on his mind.”

Something hot and dangerous moved through his eyes. “Why are you pushing this?”

“Because I’m curious.”

“Curious? No, I don’t think that’s it.” His voice was silky now, deep and mocking. He eased closer, his arm brushing hers as he shifted so they were facing each other. “This is more than curiosity. You’re blushing. You know what that tells me?”

Her breathing went shallow. “What?”

“It tells me you know exactly what I meant last night.”

“I…” Her next words were barely over a whisper. “I need to hear you say it.” Her body grew tight and achy as she searched his face, waiting for an answer. God, why was she pushing him? He was right, nothing good could come of this. Nothing good at all.

“Don’t do this.” A warning note crept into his husky voice. “Don’t make me say it.”

Darcy’s heart was no longer beating at double time. It had skipped right over triple and was now veering into cardiac arrest territory. The air in the alcove became stifling, rippling with the tension she’d only begun to notice last night.

And now it was impossible to ignore.

Reed was standing so damn close to her. Close enough that his addictive scent was once again wreaking havoc on her senses. Close enough that all she had to do was lean in slightly and their lips would be touching.

“You’re right,” she stammered. “You shouldn’t say it.”

“I shouldn’t.” Yet even as he voiced his agreement, his hand had risen to her face, his thumb delicately sweeping over her bottom lip.

Her breath hitched. God. Her entire world had reduced to this one moment, this one man. Her lips were actually trembling from the crazy urge to kiss him.

“Fuck.” The expletive tore out of Reed’s throat, his frustration thick between them. “I want you, Darcy. I. Fucking. Want. You.”
Oh, poor, poor Reed. He's been crushing after his best friend and business partner's girlfriend for months; even when AJ and Darcy break up, he believes she's still off limits. Not that she'd be interested in him anyway--Darcy's all about relationships, and Reed's gone out of his way to show the world what a player he is in an attempt to get his best friend's girl out of his head.

But once Darcy starts to really see Reed, she can't seem to stay away from him. A purely physical relationship can't hurt, right?

Riiiight.

Reed knows he's got a lot of (self-created, mostly) obstacles to get around if he wants a real relationship with Darcy, and he's willing to work to bring them down. Patiently, unobtrusively, he manages to make her forget about every single one of the "rules" she set down to keep them from getting too close.

(Though she has no problem with them getting close enough to have lots and lots of fantastic sex, of course. The girl's not crazy, after all.)

Reed is an awesome hero. I loved his patience and the fact that he was such a great guy. The trip to the farmers' market? Fantastic. Joining Big Brothers and not even telling Darcy because he didn't want her to think he was doing it just to impress her? Seriously sigh worthy.

Plus, he's totally hot.

All together, he's one hero that absolutely deserved the girl and his happy ending.

Come on, book three--now AJ needs his HEA!

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the first one in this series I looked forward to reading this one. Having encountered Reed in first one since the club is the one thing in common for all these guys. Reed sees Darcy in a night out on the town but without AJ and she seems to be having a good time kissing someone else. Wo hold up there what is going on so stepping in he does. That is when he finds out they broke up. Having been attracted to her but not going to cross that line he is reeling from the news. They end up dancing and that was all she wrote as the saying goes. Reed also used to be a fighter and I do believe he will be in a different kind of fight now and the interesting part in reading this will see who will come out on top. Darcy wants a fling but seriously when their happens to be more than a spark when two come together and a fire is lit it will keep on burning as it happens with these two that a fling is not what will end up to be here. Nice how Aj take all this too in stride the man he is will be interesting to read about his time when it comes. She is a school teacher and at first taking Reed seriously is not easy especially since he projected the character he did. She will soon come to realize that he will mean more to her than a fling but thanks to overhearing only bits of a conversation will he blow it his chance for the real deal and them both coming out on top? This is a blazing second novel to this series with the guys from this club being so delightful to read. Any girl would want a night such as this if they had the chance and have it turn out the way it does in here.

I just really enjoyed this book. It was just really easy to get lost in this book. I just couldn’t get enough of it and didn’t want it to end. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

The story started off strong but it lost a bit of steam and did not keep my attention. It also seemed a bit predictable

Elle Kennedy's One Night of Scandal is a well-written fiery story. Good solid characters and an exciting plot.

This book sets the pages on fire and warms your heart. I loved it it's a fast read, hot as all get out and sweet.

hmmmm I am still deciding how I feel about this book. In one hand I am saying you go not go for your best friends ex. Especially if he is as nice as AJ was. There is code amongs friends and that is you never go for an ex, it isn't done and even though these two (Darcy and Reed) claimed that no they were not going there, they really didn't fight it much. However on the other hand when Reed went to AJ, he gave his blessing, showing again what a good guy he was and knew that Reed always had a thing for Darcy. Anywho I guess it was up to them, not something I would have done, but Reed needed to get over the boo hoo is me and grow the hell up, and his little game with flirting with someone so that he wont be hurt, yeah shows your maturity buddy, so not crazy about him. Hope AJ gets a much better woman.

This was hot read and I really enjoyed it.
Reed the sexy ex-MMA fighter had me drooling from the very beginning. I've already downloaded One Night of Sin to go back and read Skylar and Gage's story.

This book hooked me from the beginning. Reed and Darcy were so much fun together, not to mention hot. Reed first met Darcy when she was dating his best friend AJ, and when Darcy and AJ mutually end their relationship Reed finds himself trying desperately to resist the pull Darcy has on him. Only trouble is Darcy discovers she is attracted to Reed, and that attraction is promising all the passion that has been missing from her life so far. The two fight their mutual pull, but eventually give in to temptation. Neither wants to do something that would hurt AJ, but nor can they stop the sizzle between them. They embark on an affair, and slowly they both begin to see one another in a new light. I loved the push and pull between these two, and the way they tried so hard to respect their friend AJ. Reed was a real sweetheart, and much more vulnerable than expected. He is living with a lot of guilt for his past and wants to change the way he thinks people see him. Darcy tries to put Reed in a box, but finds that there is so much more to him. There were lots of sexy times, too, and Reed and Darcy together practically made the pages go up in flames. And bonus: This book is part of a three book series, and I can’t wait to delve into them all.

Darcy is really turned on when having sex in public or if there is a threat that they could get caught. Wow, gotta say I didn't see that coming. Darcy doesn't want a relationship with Reed. I think it's funny that they end up in one anyway slowly but surely. I enjoyed, One Night of Scandal very much.

The story of Darcy and Reed.

He has always been attracted to her, but she was his best friends girlfriend. Until now. He tries to keep his distance but she won't let him. He doesn't want to be just a fling to Darcy, but will she want anything more from him?

Overall, I found this to be an entertaining read. I don’t usually like stories that revolve around the sport of mixed martial arts but, really, the only thing that came through this story about the MMA profession was some of the references back to the way Reed and his friends acted when they were professional MMA fighters.

I really enjoyed the back and forth heat between Darcy and Reed. Since Darcy had been dating Reed’s best friend, AJ, that attraction was taboo, but it was fun to see the futility of their fight against that. The storyline was interesting and I will go back and read the first book in this After Hours series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion of it and I will definitely read more books by this author.

A scorching hot, sort of forbidden romance that you won’t want to put down, this is a great read. Loved both of the main characters and will have to go back and read the first book in this series now!

Well written, enjoyable romance. Not boring, interesting from page one.
A quick easy hot read.

Beautiful cover.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for allowing me access to this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Darcy thought that she had found the perfect man in A.J., but it turned out that friendship doesn’t necessarily equate to passion or good sex. However, his best friend, Reed, might be a different thing if he just wasn’t such a player.

Unbeknownst to Darcy, Reed had been crazy about Darcy since she first started dating A.J., yet he knew that there couldn’t be anything between them. Even if they broke up, but dating his best friend’s ex would be against the bro code.

However, when they did break up, all bets were off! Darcy and Reed discovered that they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. In some ways they were on very different pages though. Darcy saw Reed as a sexy player who couldn’t do a real relationship, while Reed thought that Darcy might be the “one.” Can two very different people with different backgrounds and looking for different things in life find a HEA together?

MMA fighter is all I needed to see. I really enjoyed Reed and Darcy’s story. They wanted to have a no strings attached relationship but how often does that work out. Someone or both parties end up catching feelings for the other and it can sometimes turn out bad. In this situation, that was not the case. Their chemistry was very hot. This is the first book of this series that I have read and I am going to go back and read the others.

Reed. Just Reed. I was so in love with him as I was reading this book, where he proved that labels are just something people think, not who you really are. This was an awesome read!

Sigh!! This was such a quick, sexy, satisfying and passionate read.

Reed is a playboy that is slowly changing his ways. His need to do so is compounded by the fact that his two best friends are truly happy in their relationships.

When Darcy and his best friend AJ breakup, the attraction he’s always felt for but hid from her boils just under the surface. Barely contained.

When Darcy pushes him to admit his attraction, the passion boils over between them. Unable to hold back, Reed and Darcy want to explore their passion. The problem? Darcy only wants a fling while Reed yearns for more. Can this reformed playboy win Darcy’s love? Or, will he only ever be a fling?

From the get go, the passion in this book exploded never once letting up. Reed and Darcy were perfect for each other.

Reed is trying to come out of the playboy role everyone has boxed him into. I love how this change manifested of his own accord. He knew who he wanted and he also new he wanted more with her. He is a sweet, strong, sexy alpha male.

Darcy is lacking passion in her life. She yearns for it and when Reed gives her a taste, she’s all in. Darcy is smart and feisty. I loved how she pushed Reed. I was a little upset that she was so blinded by Reed’s past that she kept throwing the fact they were a fling in his face though.

As for Reed and Darcy together, I was shocked my kindle didn’t catch fire. Holy smokes they set the sheets and everywhere else they got it on, ablaze!

As for AJ, I have to admit that the way he reacts to his ex and best friend’s hookup is out of the realm of believability. I also would have like to have seen more quality time between Reed and Darcy just to cement the fact that their love is based on something other than scorching hot sex.

This is the first book I read by Elle Kennedy and it sure won’t be the last!

I received an ARC via NetGalley of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you couldn't tell by now, Elle Kennedy is becoming a fave author of mine. So when I was given the chance to get into one of her backlist books, I was excited to read it. I gravitate more towards sports romance, but I was willing to try this one because I have liked the author's other books.

This one was a fun one because it's about two people that are way too into each other, but they fight it so much because Darcy used to date Reed's best friend. I was really glad that the conflict in that sense wasn't dragged on too much, and damn AJ is the most mature man every to be okay with these two dating!

The passion between these two was off the charts, so yeah there are a lot of steamy scenes in this one. If that is not your thing, I suggest you read something. If you are shameless like me and are starting to love or already love these type of books, definitely recommend this one. What I also loved about this one is that Darcy really tries so hard to make it about sex, but nope that was never going to happen with these too and Reed knows it. I love that they slowly start to open up more to each other, but Darcy still doesn't admit they are dating.

There's a little drama towards the end of this book, which stems from a lot of miscommunication between these two dummies. I just wanted to shake them and yell, "just tell each other how you feel." No worries though, an HEA is in store for these two.

I'm definitely intrigued by the other books in this series, so I might go back and read Gage and AJ's own books down the line.

*I received an eARC copy of this second look book via Netgalley and the publisher Entangled publishing. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5⭐
An enjoyable, easy, angst free read. Liked Reed a lot, but Daddy annoyed me as the book went on and that's why I only gave it 3.5 stars. Plus, it seemed more of a series of hookups rather than an actual story. But I can't deny it was still quick, hot and engaging to read.