Things Good Girls Don't Do by Codi Gary

Things Good Girls Don’t Do is a fun, sexy, romantic story about living life on your own terms, even if it means disappointing those around you.

The Story:

Katie Connors has spent her entire life living up to everyone else’s expectations of what being a “good girl” means: Good girls don’t steal. Good girls don’t visit sex shops. Good girls don’t have one-night stands. They practice good decorum, never make a scene in public, never talk back to their elders… in Katie’s world, the list of what she can do is far shorter than the list of what she can’t. Even now that her mother has passed away, Katie continues living by the standards that were instilled in her, practically from birth, but after being dumped by her longtime, cheating, lying boyfriend, she starts to wonder if all the effort she’s put into being good has been worth it.

Enter Chase Trepasso.

Chase has a reputation totally the opposite of Katie’s. He owns a tattoo shop, rides a motorcycle, dresses in jeans and t-shirts, and is considered by the small town and its small-minded people to be nothing but trouble. He knows Katie’s a good girl, not at all someone who would be interested in a guy like him, but there something about her that draws him in. When he runs into her at a local bar and finds her making a list of all the things a good girl like her would never, ever do, he can’t stop himself from offering to help check each item off of her list.

Katie knows she should run the other way, but Chase’s teasing and tempting offer set something off inside her. A need to prove that she can break rules, that she can be naughty. Sometimes. And as long as she can keep her heart out of it, everything will be just fine.

And we all know how that’ll work out, right?

My Thoughts:

This is such a fun, sassy, sexy, romantic story! I’m a fan of small-town romances, anyway, and this one has the elements I most enjoy – close friends, people you’ve grown up with, quaint traditions… but there’s also the less appealing side of small town life. Busy bodies, people who know everyone’s business – or want to – and think it’s their job to keep everyone in line and, honestly, I do wish there had been a bit less of the confrontations between Katie and Mrs. Andrews. That said, watching Chase and Katie 'do their own thing,’ despite the interference from well meaning friends, was at times beautiful, at times funny, and at other times, very hot.

The Bottom Line:

If you’re a fan of Contemporary Romances set in small towns, and if you want characters you can fall in love with and happily ever afters you can believe in, you’ll definitely want to give this story a read. It’s not too light, not too angsty, just a comfortable, feel good story.

Note: I’m not sure if this is book 1 or 1.5 in a series, but there was a short story in the Kiss Me anthology directly connected to this book. That said, both are wonderful stories and work well on their own.

Update from the author: "It's technically not a series, they are stand alones based in the same town, but you can call them Rock Canyon Romances. :)"


My thanks to Avon Books for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.