3.5 stars
This is my first book by the author, Susan Amanda Kelly. Bend the rules is the second book in the Big Mike and Minnie series. This book reads as a stand alone. The characters Big Mike and Minnie appear in this novel with only a few spoilers from book one.
I found Mary hilarious. She was a finicky, ex-con with an affinity for numbers. She's very passionate about her causes and doesn't stand down easily.
Crash Coolidge is ex-military, ex-biker with that lifestyle engrained in his soul. He's a hard man that frightens everyone, everyone except Mary.
Once I got into the story, I enjoyed it. However, I felt like the beginning and some parts of the end were clumsily put together. I recommend this novel because it is fun and has a really strong female lead. She has her hangups, but she is tenacious and knows what she wants. Minnie's character, although secondary adds to Minnie's growth as a character.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me this free book.
Enjoy

Mary is trying to rebuild her life after having a bit of a melt down which caused her to lose her job and go to prison. Crash is the hardened security consultant "bad boy" who doesn't play by the rules.

A cute "opposites attract" read with quirky characters. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters. The situations that Mary finds herself in are unrealistic, but not so much that you don't enjoy the book. Kelly did a good job of having the characters compromise to make their relationship work..

This was such a fun read I just loved it. This is the second book in the series and was another super read. I really liked Crash and Mary were great characters you cannot help but like and root for these two. This book will have you laughing out loud at times. A super read I would definitely recommend it.

What a fun book! I had never heard of this author before but I'm so glad that I had the chance to read it. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

The idea of the story really appealed to me, however I found it really difficult to get into the story. I only managed to read a third of the book before I gave up and read the last 2 chapters. Seemed to have lots of repetition and moved along at a slow pace.

A good read. When ex-biker and hard man meets Mary, an accountant - sorry a senior accountant - they are like yin and yang. He's all hard muscle, hard eyes and unfeeling; she's all soft and curvy and cuddly. He wants to kill people - she wants them to be polite and do things 'properly'. Together they make a formidable team, with their deaf, smelly guard-dog, and Mary's bad tempered next door neighbour, who commits the major sin, to her, of not recycling.

The book is black humour, very sexy and I found it a page turner.

This book plays it so much straighter that the two stories before it. Don’t get me wrong, it still has it moments of pure comedic mayhem, but the bulk of the story draws directly from romantic suspense. I loved that Crash got to be the hero in this one. And Mary, while nowhere near as squirrelly as Minnie, does justice to the position of un-trained sidekick. I especially enjoyed the cameo appearances of Big Mike and Minnie. I’m already looking forward to the next book to find out more about what Rocco’s really up to.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.

This was a straightforward chick-lit type of book. If you are an avid chick-lit reader, this book may well rate on the 4 - 5 star level. The writing was good, concise, easy to follow.

Basic Plot: (Senior) accountant Mary gets tangled up with Crash an ex-biker/ex-thug who is investigating truck heists. He is your standard bad boy type and Mary is a bit of a goody two shoes, although she has had some crazy behavior in her past. There is an immediate physical attraction on both sides, that later turns into more. While Crash is trying to find out who is hijacking trucks Mary acts as his bumbling sidekick.

Pros: The thing I liked most about this book was that Mary was not your standard love interest in terms of appearance. She wasn't the typical blue eyed, leggy blonde, size 2. She was described as being short, curvy, with curly dark hair. This was a nice change and Crash seemed to appreciate her curves. Also, Mary seemed quite comfortable in her size and went so far as to carry around cake, lol.

Cons: For me it was a little too typical. I am not a big chick-lit/romance reader, but when I do read books like that I prefer them to have a bit of an edge/twist. Or I'm reading it to a take a break from more serious or darker books. This book served the purpose of being a good break from my typical murder and mayhem. Lastly, I didn't care for the way Crash spoke to Mary. At times it was very condescending and chauvinistic.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves this genre or if you need a change of pace book with solid writing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters and dialogue was wonderful, the situations hysterical and the story was just flat out good. I would definitely recommend this book. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I usually start my reviews with what the book is about first and then what I thought about it at the end. But this book was so freaking hilarious I have to tell about that first. It's sexy with an ex biker and a full figured accountant that talks ways too much. I had never even heard of this author before but the info on Netgalley sounded good so I requested it. I am so glad I did. I have never laughed so much while reading a book. Action, suspense,and sex. Also several secondary characters that are just as entertaining and a smelly, deaf dog.
Mary is a senior accountant for Vitruvius Specialist Security Solutions’ and barely gets by. Crash is an ex biker, ex military and is hired by Mary’s boss to find out how a trucking company is being high jacked. Crash is rough, rude, and sexy. They are partnered up together and while Crash is undercover as a truck driver, Mary gets caught while he is being high jacked. A man gets killed, now the boss of the high jackers wants Crash and Mary dead. Crash convinces him to let him work for him to keep Mary safe. But Crash is playing to take him down but they have to figure out who he is first. Can Crash get the job done and keep the girl?

Sweet as sugar, indeed. Well done, I enjoyed this book immensely! There were so many surprises and the two main characters had me hoping things would work out throughout the entire book. An unlikely union, yet a wonderful and fun story to read as all the characters and the many relationships develop throughout the entire book!

Mary Holmes is living on the edge; she can just about afford to live as long as a large part of her diet consists of wedding cake left over from happier times. She really needs to do well in her temporary job as it’s her one chance to escape from the hell her life has now become since her spell in prison. She likes to be in control, which means she is horrified when Crash Coolidge requests that she be his assistant on his mission. I totally loved this book, I found myself smiling when I was reading it. I just loved the way Mary and Crash were so totally different yet made chaotic magic happen. Hope there is another one soon. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had actually read this novel previously before finding it on netgallery. I really enjoyed this novel. The heroines antics and narrations are hilarious! I really appreciated that the author described her as a full woman that was both confident and assertive. She didn't take any crap from Crash who had no choice but to include her in his plans despite the danger. I loved that he protects her and makes an honest effort to make her happy. Such a sweet and cute novel.

Mary Holmes is fresh out of prison for stalking her ex-fiancée and is determined to try and secure a permanent job as an accountant at Vitruvius Security work out. She has just completed a report into a shipping company whose shipments are being hijacked when Crash Coolidge 'crashes' the meeting.

Love blossoms between Mary and Crash and they become a formidable team determined to crack the case.... There is danger, mystery and violence as the pair delve deeper into the dark depths of crime. There are plenty of laughs along the way as Mary is so girly and naive in many respects and Crash is the polar opposite and yet they work together!

I thoroughly enjoyed this arc thanks to netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mary Holmes (an excon and accountant at Vitruius Specialist Security Solutions) and Crash (Marvin) Coolidge an ex-military an hired hitman are both assigned investigate (Ivashin Freight) a potential problem for the company. Mary, who previously suffers from excessive weight, low self esteem, and a number of other things is not find of Crash'. He is rugged and rough with a filterless mouth.

Mary instantly becomes rebellious and plots on a way out of the destination and overtime becomes consumed with solving case and in the journey of a lifetime.

This book stood out from most romance novels have read because of the characters and their intake on real life events They were realistic, funny and made the story memorable.

Many women could easily relate to Mary's character, in defence to her life and life-changing issues. Crash's instincts and survival abilities were impeccable and made him the kind of man that most women dream of.

Thank you Susan Kelly for providing this wonderful read!

This book is very fun! A lot of girls fall for the excitement and fun of a bad boy, but quickly realize we cannot change them and have to move on. I always tell my father in law that I got the bad boy I always had a crush on, but he had turned good before I got him. This book is very much the same and I was so happy to come along the journey. She reminds me so much of myself, naive, cute, and loving. She deserves all the happiness she will hopefully receive in life. What an adventure she has already gone on.

I definitely recommend this book.

Mary Homes, used to have it all, at least that’s what she thought. She was engaged to be married to a wealthy man, had a great job, used to dress to the nines, yep she had it all in her organized, color coded life. Then the shit hit the fan. He breaks the engagement, she tries to talk to him repeatedly, even showing up in her wedding dress at his office. Does that sound a bit crazy, apparently, since it landed her in jail with a reckless endangerment indictment. Now she’s served her tiny jail sentence and she has nothing. No clothes, no great hair products, but lands a job as an accountant for a security company, called Vitruvious Security. Then one of the heads of the company assign her to work assisting Crash Coolidge. He will be working undercover in a truck crash heist ring. This is when her life takes a turn for the worse. Not only is Crash sexy as hell, but he’s disorganized and he always looks disheveled, something she is not. All of a sudden Mary is doing things like taking shoes off a corpse, running from the bad guys who want to kill her, and falling for this tough as nails guy. Plus she adopts a deaf, smelly dog in the gated yard where they almost get killed. How has this become her life!
This was a funny, romantic, with a bit of suspense type of story. I truly enjoyed it!

RATING 4.5 STARS

Bend the Rules is book two in the Big Mike and Minnie series by Susan Amanda Kelly. Susan is a new to me author. I think one of the first words that comes to me when thinking back over this book is that it’s just delightful. The synopsis really does say it all and I don’t want to spoil anything for you. But, I hope I can say something that will convince you to give this book a try.

Since I haven’t read the first book, I didn’t know that Big Mike and Rocco own and run the Vitruvius Specialist Security Solutions. They have a client, Ivashin Freight, that has been experiencing hijackings regularly. They don’t want to involve the police so they have gone to Vitruvius for help.

Mary Holmes considers herself to be a work in progress. She was raised in high society. She was engaged to be married when her fiancé dumped her. Mary might have lost her footing for a bit in the aftermath, which might have landed her in prison. Now she is trying to start over. She is nearing the end of her probationary period at Vitruvius as their accountant and has been given the assignment of presenting all of Ivashin’s financials. Mary is determined to win a permanent place at Vitruvius with her stellar presentation. Only there was an extra person present at the conference table. Someone she hadn’t counted on, and also someone that was destined to change her future forever.

Crash Coolidge is Minnie, Big Mike’s girlfriend’s big brother. He was raised in a motorcycle gang and thought he would take it over one day until his father chose someone else instead. Now with his future uncertain, Vitruvius has asked him to come on board to help them solve Ivashin’s hijacking problem. One look at the buttoned up, prim and proper accountant and he was hooked. And, she smells like sugar. He’ll take the job offer on one condition, that the sexy accountant can be his partner.

Crash admits that he’s a bad man, that he’s done bad things. He hasn’t slept in days. But when he’s with Mary, he feels different. She feels like home. He knows she deserves better, but he can’t help himself.

“Mary tried to right the world one small piece at a time.”

Mary had lost everything, including her self confidence. But she never gave up. Crash gave something back to her. He made her feel beautiful, petite, sexy. He seemed to love the nerdy parts of her as much as he did the wild side of her he brought out when they were in private, the parts she might have not even known were there!

“He stared into her eyes. He smiled. For her. She knew she was seeing a Crash nobody else saw.”

Mary and Crash find themselves caught up in the middle of something much more dangerous than they ever imagined. But Mary is determined to help Crash in every way. She will not be left behind. She can see the darkness in Crash battling with the new Crash that has been emerging when he is with her. She is not going to let the darkness win him back. Because when Crash has her in his arms, he feels like home.

This really was so much fun. Mary stumbled and tripped her way right into my heart, as well as into Crash’s. This was surprisingly suspenseful. I thought it would just be a rom-com but there is a lot more to it. And you won’t know who the bad guy is until the very last.

This was a truly fun, sweet, sexy and suspenseful, enjoyable read. Crash and Mary are the types of characters you can’t help but to love. I hope you’ll give it a try.

This is the first book I have read by this author and was thoroughly entertained by it. Mary and Crash are quite engaging with Oscar and the pages just flew by. Romantic suspense with an oddball twist is probably how I would describe this book. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Quirky, offbeat romance with mystery/suspense. I don't know why I love these types of stories, maybe because there are so few authors that can write them, but I just do. I absolutely hate a sappy romance. I absolutely abhor a serial killer mystery. I want humor and interesting characters in the romance/mystery books I read and it must have a happy ending. "Bend the Rules" does all that and it, well, bends a lot of the romance, romantic-suspense rules too. Since this is the first full length book from this author, I'm not sure where this series is headed, but I want to go along for the ride. If you enjoy Janet Evanovich, this is a book for you.

Mary Holmes is just out of prison for stalking her ex-fiancée and is determined to make her job as a senior accountant at Vitruvius Security work out. It has to, there is no other alternative. She provided background for the potential clients and is all set to deliver a stellar, magnificent presentation on a shipping company whose shipments are being hijacked when the meeting is hijacked (pun intended) by a hot hunk named Crash Coolidge.

Crash is a man searching for what comes next in his life. His father dumped him from the "family business" (wink-wink-nod-nod) and he has traveled cross country to be near the only family he has that matters, super-model sister, Minnie. The prospect of a job with Vitruvius Security is not entirely a welcome one. He and boss, Rocco have had their differences in the past, but Minnie wants him to stick around, so, what the heck. From the moment he lays eyes of ample-size Mary, he is more than intrigued, both with her and the job. He just needs to figure out how to keep this sexy body of curves close.

After Crash convinces Rocco that he needs Mary's talent for seeing patterns, she is assigned to his team, and her well ordered life rapidly derails. Mary finds herself encountering people and circumstances she never dreamed could be real outside her television. This job is proving to be hazardous to her health and Crash is proving hazardous to her heart.