Three years have passed since Finley O’Connell found love and heartbreak in the form of alluring, yet secretive psychology professor, Cabel Jones. Now a twenty-two-year-old graduate student, Finley hardly has time to fulfill her role as Cabel’s young new wife.But when a voluptuous blonde bombshell from Cabel’s past arrives to fill a teaching position on campus, Finley feels immediately threatened. Jane Adams wants Cabel Jones back and will stop at nothing to rekindle romance with her former flame. Jealous and betrayed, Finley falls into a perilous trap that may cost Cabel his life.
*Contains Spoilers*
Well this sequel definitely had some twists and turns that I did not see coming. Mr. Jones & Me is the sequel to Me & Mr. Jones, that I reviewed a while back, by Lindsay Marie Miller. This novel takes place after Finley has graduated from college and married Mr. Jones, her undergrad professor. In the first novel, Finley and Cabel's lives were threatened when Cabel's Uncle wanted to run for office and needed Cabel and his twin brother, Seth, to stay quiet ... in a permanent way. Now, three years later, they thought they were safe, but sadly, they were wrong.
Readers already have relationships with Finley and Cabel from the first book and this sequel builds upon those connections a little bit more. Finley is attending graduate school and working full time which has put a strain on her new marriage. Readers can relate to this because complications always arise in relationships. This makes Finley seem more down to earth. However, Cabel's relationship with readers becomes a little rocky when a woman from his past shows up... a woman he was engaged to.
Meet Jane: beautiful, intelligent, and completely psychotic. She believes that she and Cabel still have a chance and will stop at nothing to win him back. She even teams up with her father to kill Cabel and Finley for more political reasons. But instead of killing Cabel (here's where the spoilers begin) she kills her father and physically attacks Finley, forcing her to miscarry. Now this woman is totally insane, but she does force certain truths into light. Truths that Cabel had been hiding from Finley since the moment they met. This doesn't work in Cabel's favor when it comes to garnering trust from the readers. Especially since, big spoiler here, Cabel is dead. The man that Finley is married to is Seth, Cabel's twin. Now this really complicates everything the readers thought they knew. Suddenly, there's a huge trust issue with Cabel and I don't know if the rest of the book rebuilds it. Though it was a brilliant twist by the author, I don't know if I could forgive my husband for lying to me since the day we met so I'm not sure how Finley could forgive Cabel.
However, the biggest emotional connection with readers in this book comes from the blossoming hope of a baby. Finley's pregnancy is a complete surprise to the couple and it creates a larger problem in terms of danger and Jane. When Jane causes Finley to miscarry it is a severe blow to the emotional level of this novel. It goes from happy and full of hope to complete despair. It becomes another battle that Finely and Cabel have to overcome. It's hard and it's hard to read about, but Miller does a good job in bringing the novel out of darkness.
Mr. Jones & Me does certainly focus on Cabel a little more than Finley, as the title suggests and I think readers who enjoyed the first book would enjoy this one. However, it tackles some bigger issues than the first book and doesn't have the same 'feel.'
Rating: 3/5 Cups
Read the Review of Me & Mr. Jones:
