My first thought when I read the blurb for Cocky Bastard was…well, this is kind of vague. The blurb gives the bare bones of the story, which was enough for me to think I had a good idea how it was going to play out. Read: gorgeous but cocky guy with an adorable Aussie accent meets a more than likely gorgeous but pent-up gal on a road trip. They fall for each other, some stuff happens, misunderstandings abound, they work them out. Ta Da.

Sweet baby Hey-Zeus! At 7% in I was IM’ing my review buddy ordering her to put down the shifter book I was sure she was reading and READ THIS BOOK instead! Don’t put much stock in the blurb, I said. This book is so much more! That being said, it occurred to me there was no possible way for a Cocky Bastard blurb to impart how funny, charming, sexy, and riveting this book is without giving away important details you absolutely must uncover on your own as you read.

Cocky Bastard begins as a road trip novel. Road trips are always enlightening because you have a lot of time to reflect on your life. They’re like being on vacation from your life even if, as in Chance and Aubrey’s case, the road trip is a means to an unknown and unpredictable end. You can suspend your reality for the duration of the journey. Which is exactly what Chance and Aubrey do. Aubrey, to forget the cheating ex she’s running away from to begin a new life in California. Chance to forget…well, we’re not sure what Chance is trying to forget as he heads back home to California. However, his intense looks, sad eyes and cryptic comments that pop up out of the blue are written so well that every time I thought I’d figured out his dilemma, I was wrong, dammit. Of course, I didn’t know that until midway through Cocky Bastard when the point of view changes from Aubrey’s to Chance’s. And then, Pow! I didn’t see that coming.

I had a crush on Chance immediately. He’s cheeky, pushy, adorable, and absolutely hilarious. He’s also amazingly perceptive and figures Aubrey out by the time they hit the first rest stop. His antics and irreverent remarks had me laughing out loud. Really. Laughing out loud. I love that he maintains a suave maturity even when goofing around. He considers Aubrey’s feelings every step of the way. The attraction between them is immediate, however, the authors do an amazing job of keeping it on a low simmer for pages and pages as the trip progresses. I like this a lot. It’s believable. With nothing to lose, since they will part ways once they reach California, Chance and Aubrey open up to each other, slowly revealing bits and pieces of themselves.

Let’s talk about Aubrey. To paraphrase Harry from the movie When Harry Met Sally;
There are two kinds of women, high maintenance and low maintenance.
If Aubrey were to ask Chance which kind she was, his reply would be the same as Harry’s,
You’re the worst kind; you’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.
Despite her quirks, I really liked Aubrey. Her heart has been broken and she is very guarded, as she should be. She is heading across country to a new town, a new job, a new life. Meeting Chance, allowing him to ride along with her after his motorcycle breaks down in Nebraska, and trusting that he isn’t a serial killer isn’t anything she would normally do. But she’s ready to take a risk because being predictable and careful certainly didn’t work out for her, did it?

I absolutely loved the wacky road trip. From fainting goats (yes, they really exist) to fake Vegas weddings, the authors were wonderfully inventive with dialogue and scenes that had me absolutely caught up in the action, laughing and sighing and hoping for an easy HEA. Ha! When does that ever happen?

When the point of view changes and we see life through Chance’s eyes, everything changes. I gasped, I smacked my hand against my forehead. And then I told everyone in the house, Leave me alone, I’m busy. The second half of Cocky Bastard had me holding my breath in anticipation one minute and wanting to strangle Aubrey the next. There were times I thought it dragged out a bit, that Aubrey was being just a tad too…confused and bitchy. And yet, I understood her actions.

Cocky Bastard is an amazingly sexy, witty, well written novel that you must read. And, it has one of the best ending lines I’ve read in a lonnnnng time!