Format: E-book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Academy, #1
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Charlie Burns
Heroine: Ever Carmichael
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 29, 2017
Started On: July 28, 2018
Finished On: August 27, 2018

Disorderly Conduct by Tessa Bailey is the first novel in The Academy trilogy. Released in August of 2017, the story is told in the first person, in the viewpoints of the hero Charlie Burns and heroine Ever Carmichael. Charlie and Ever cross paths with each other at a bar, where instant lust is what happens. However, before things head to the point of no return, Ever states that she wants nothing serious, which suits Charlie just fine, because he doesn’t want any entanglements that could deter him from the future that he is working hard to achieve for himself.

However, with sex as explosive as it happens between Charlie and Ever, it is difficult for emotions to not get involved, even when both of them believe that love is not for them. Ever’s dream lies in making it in the culinary world while Charlie’s ambition is to become a cop, then a lieutenant like his older brother Greer, and move onto become a bureau chief like his father. It is family legacy that Charlie wants to be part of, and a woman doesn’t factor into his long-term plans.

Ever’s aversion to commitment stems from her childhood, where her mother had drummed into her the woes of letting a man take over a woman’s life. The one-month rule is what her mother taught her in order to avoid messy emotional entanglements. However, when her mother changes her tune and tells Ever that she wants her to be happy, Ever decides its time to end things with Charlie in order to find herself someone who will want long-term. But then things do not go exactly according to to plan and its not long before the lines between friendship and love becomes blurred.

Ever was sweet. But I think her fault lay in not understanding that she was wading into the dating scene for all the wrong reasons. Sure, Charlie deserved the anger for trying to sabotage her efforts, but just like Ever had the best of misguided intentions at heart, so did Charlie when it came to winning her affections.

Both Charlie and Ever had issues. Ever, owing to a mother who had taught her to steer clear of heartache and vulnerability by avoiding commitment, and Charlie by a father who had brought up his sons letting them believe that they were the one at fault for his wife walking out the door and never coming back. I loved the letters that Charlie sent to Ever to win back her affections. The letters were phenomenal.

While Tessa Bailey’s trademark scorching sex scenes were very much a part of this story, I believe that the fact it was written in first person detracted a little from the enjoyment factor. That being said, I am so looking forward to reading Greer’s story. The only reason I am trudging through the second book in the series is because I do not want to miss out on any tidbit that might involve Greer, all because I love me a grumpy hero.

Recommended for fans of smutty reads and fans of Tessa Bailey. There are few authors who can do smut better than Tessa!

Final Verdict: Tessa Bailey writes an emotionally evocative debut welcoming readers to the Academy series. Charlie & Ever will continue to steal bits & pieces of your heart throughout.

Favorite Quotes

“Charlie.” He’s inside me. Thick and solid. “Oh my God. Big man.”
Confident hands grip my knees and drag them wide, levering me down even farther. “Move, Ever. I’m sick. I’m sick from needing this. Needing you,” Charlie rasps against the side of my neck, baring his teeth and pressing close. “Move up and down on it. All over it. Make me better.”

My climax is even fiercer this time around. I turn my head, whimpering and moaning against Charlie’s stubbled jaw, my legs stiffening, pressing me back against his lap, taking him so deep—so deep—that he follows me onto the other side. My name is growled over and over into my hair, his fingers still stroking between my legs as heat blooms where our bodies join, signaling his release. For a brief period of time, there is nothing else. A gilded space with no sound or responsibility. An experience singular to Charlie. To us.
His laugh is as rich as the chocolate we’re cleaning up. “Come on, Ever. I know you don’t like gifts, but let me do something for you.”

A fluttering occurs in the general direction of my chest. Oh. Ohhh no. This is bad. I’m not going to pretend I haven’t gotten a little attached to Charlie. He makes me feel safe. We have fun, with the little time we allot ourselves. His lop-sided smiles are the highlight of my day. But now he’s starting to feel guilty about leaving after sex. Have I projected my sort of attached-ness and he’s just responding out of decency? Legend has it, that’s how the decline starts. Decency. Then decency turns to responsibility. Also known as The Mistress Kiss of Death.
This is why the one-month rule exists. Leave them before they leave you.

I’m breathing like a bull as I tunnel my tongue into the tops of her slick folds. Right at the top, where the center of the storm lives. Eyes closed in euphoria, I slide the tip of my tongue down through her lips, like I’m making a credit card transaction. One that definitely got approved—’cause, damn, she goes wild. So fucking wild. I’m not talking screams or begging. No, this unicorn of a woman climbs me. She throws both of her thighs over my shoulders, giving me all her weight, which I gladly accept, using the wall to keep her leveraged. Then she does a little scooting shimmy to bring herself right up against my mouth, turning my cock into a goddamn crowbar.

“No one moves like us, Ever. No one talks to each other without words like us. Don’t you know that?” He grits his teeth, thrusts his hips and . . . sweet Christ, he’s inside me to the hilt. My other leg shoots up and clenches around his hips, giving him my full weight, and it doesn’t faze him at all. He’s too busy moaning with his head thrown back, the tendons of his neck stark and sexy and male. “I’ve been dying for you. Dying. You don’t know what it’s been like.”
“Yes, I do.”

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