One Wicked Night by Kelly Jamieson - A Review(-ish)

Kaelin Daume is a good girl. She moved back to tiny Mapleglen, IL when her dad got sick and took care of him until his death. She's an attorney, and smart and pretty. She's also a nice girl. But on the inside, Kaelin feels somewhat hemmed in by her existence. She knows that she wants more, but can't seem to work through the inertia that is keeping her in place to get it.

Recently, Kaelin has been planning her best friend, Avery's wedding. Avery and Kaelin grew up together, and Avery wants to be married in Mapleglen, even though her life is now in L.A. So Kaelin agrees to handle the details so that Avery's mom, who can be a little bit over the top, doesn't blow the wedding up into something Avery doesn't want.

Kaelin has always been drawn to Avery's family, particularly her brother, Tyler. Two years younger than Kaelin, Tyler has always been a bad boy. He's a successful businessman now, but that's no thanks to his parents, who threw him out of the house when he was seventeen. Kaelin knows why Tyler was thrown out, she witnessed the threesome between Tyler, his best friend, Nick and Tracy, a girl from high school. In fact, she can't seem to stop thinking about Tracy tied up and those things that Tyler and Nick were doing to Tracy. Now, Avery has demanded that Tyler be at her wedding, so he's swallowing his resentment towards his parents and showing up, Nick in tow.

Tyler always had strong feelings for Kaelin, but knew that she was way too good for him. So he resorted to teasing and tormenting her to keep her at arm's length. unbeknownst to Tyler, Kaelin and his best friend, Nick, have always kept in touch. So Kaelin is aware that Tyler is coming back, and she knows it's going to be difficult for him. But as soon as he arrives, the sparks start flying between the two of them. Both are still attracted, but Tyler still thinks he's not good enough for Kaelin. Plus, he's quite sure she'd never understand about his relationship with Nick, which is much more than just best friends. They're lovers.

Tyler is wrong. Kaelin still wants him, and is totally fine with his relationship with Nick. Now the question becomes, what will Kaelin do to make Tyler understand how much she wants to be wicked with him.

This book wasn't without its issues. The author had a ton of dynamics going on within the story. There was a small backstory between Tyler and Avery's parents, which was never really addressed. There was the Tyler and Nick dynamic, which was touched on, but not really fleshed out. There was some sort of a fight between Tyler and Nick about work, which was never really delved into. Kaelin had an ex-boyfriend who had unresolved feelings for her, who cameoed as an annoyance, but was never really expanded upon. Then there was the dynamic between Tyler and Avery AND between Kaelin and Tyler. There was many moving parts, and unfortunately, it drew attention away from the main story, which was intended to be the relationship between the three protagonists, Tyler, Kaelin and Nick.

I think the story would have been better served to have fewer dynamics, and more focus on the growing relationship between the three. While Kaelin is pretty well fleshed out, most of Tyler's past is "told" rather than experienced, making him seem mostly like a big jerk because the reader didn't really understand his motivation for being so nasty. For his part, Nick just seemed to be a really nice guy, who inexplicably loved Tyler, even though he really wasn't that nice to him.

I will say this, Ms. Jamieson writes really lovely sex scenes, well orchestrated and emotional. But the interpersonal dynamics between the characters really made it hard to invest in their happily ever after, and the book ended with me still not convinced that Tyler was worthy of either Nick or Kaelin. While this wasn't my favorite menage book by any means, I'd definitely give Ms. Jamieson another shot. I think she's got an effective voice for romance, but hope that the next book I read by her focuses more on the romance and less on creating a big whirl of extraneous drama.

Final grade: C