Title: Sustained by Emma Chase (Legal Briefs #2) 
Genre: New Adult Romance
Synopsis
A knight in tarnished armor is still a knight.
When you’re a defense attorney in Washington, DC, you see firsthand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand.
Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be.
Then Chelsea McQuaid and her six orphaned nieces and nephews came along and complicated the ever-loving hell out of my life. Now I’m going to Mommy & Me classes, One Direction concerts, the emergency room, and arguing cases in the principal’s office.
Chelsea’s too sweet, too innocent, and too gorgeous for her own good. She tries to be tough, but she’s not. She needs someone to help her, defend her…and the kids.
And that — that, I know how to do.
Review
Sustained is the second book in the Legal Briefs Trilogy by Emma Chase. Please find as follows my Spoiler Free Review for Book One – Overrulled.
Sustained was a rather interesting plot, of course we have Jake the Lawyer and obvious playboy character but we also have Chelsea who is now the carer of her 6 nieces and nephews after her brother and his wife die in a car accident. This was interesting because I’ve read Contemporary Romances with children before but not the Auntie taking care of them and not six?!
The parents of these children die in the book, we don’t hear about it explicitly but rather as Jake hears it on the news as he is passing. Then we forget about it until we meet Chelsea a little bit further into the book. I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to experience this a bit more so it could have had more of an impact but the story revolves around Jake predominately so we of course experience it later on.
Now I have to mention the kids straight of the bat, the book follows Jake as he fights basically becoming a father figure to these kids. He is fine with being there as a friend but anything more terrifies him. Emma Chase dealt with the children aspect very realistically in the sense that they were a handful, they were each dealing with the after effects of losing their parents in different ways and they got in the way of any romantic moments which may arise between Chelsea and Jake. Of course a romance isn’t going to be smooth sailing with 6 kids running around the house.
The plot itself follows a steady pace, the book is easy to get into and the characters like-able. I liked how we also got to see Stanton, Sofia and Presley featured throughout this book in numerous occasions so we can also see where their lives led to following Overrulled.
Jake Baker… Well as mentioned he is very much a playboy turned family man but there is depth to his character. Jake’s life wasn’t all plain sailing, we learn more about his history throughout the book, in moments he shares for example with Rory and the mistakes he also made. I enjoyed Jake’s narration but he could be so frustrating. As a lot of cases with New Adult Romances, you could cut out so much drama if the characters just talked to one another, but no everyone has to do things to tip toe around what they actually want.
There is one time in particular I was so annoyed with Jake’s character, when he drove drunk to Chelsea’s house. The home of the six children who just lost their parents in a car accident. I mean come on?!
In terms of the children only one major thing annoyed me about them and that was the names. Whilst some think their names add to the quirkiness of the parents, the names simply annoyed me because all six children were names R names. All I kept thinking everytime one child was mentioned was ‘this is like the Kardashian Family.’ I have nothing against the Kardashians but all these R names were just annoying. Mix it up a bit.
Chelsea herself was a like-able character. She upended her entire life to move from California to take care of her brothers kids. She kept it together but at times would burst under the pressure and this was so nice to see. Emma Chase made it relate-able rather than Chelsea being this ‘super-mom figure’ and being able to handle everything. She struggled.
Sustained was a 3 star read for me. Emma Chase writing is easy to get into, her characters relate-able but at times annoying and some of their decisions questionable. Whilst I enjoyed this book, it’s not really one that hit me and would stick with me. It’s unique in the sense of including six children but other than that the romance wasn’t so gripping that I was left with the desire to read this again. I gave Overrulled also a 3 star review and would say that Jake and Stanton are very much similar in terms of characters, the only difference being Jake seems to sleep with anything that walks whereas Stanton is a little bit more picky.
Useful Links
Goodreads | Where To Buy | Emma Chase
Have you read any book by Emma Chase before? Let me know which in the comments or your favourite New Adult Read! I’d love your recommendations on others to try.
