Emma Lee Bridges is back in her tiny hometown for the first time in years. Not even twenty-four hours after hitting the landing strip, she’s already forced to face the boy she loved and left behind.

But Jackson isn’t exactly the boy she remembers. Now the sexy owner of a successful mechanic shop, he takes one look at Emma and wants her back—permanently.

The sex between them is downright flammable, the chemistry they share as wild as ever. And this time around, Emma has to decide if she wants to run or stay for good.

Title: SHE LIKES HIM BAD
Author: Scarlett Scott
Series: standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Year of release: 2011, August 5
Format: eBook
Source: Bought via Jasmine Jade eBookstore

First line:
Paradise, Georgia. Emma couldn’t believe she was back after twelve years.

Memorable Scenes:
- the scene in Jackson's kitchen > wait a minute! Did my iPhone just spontaneously burst into flames?


QuickScore-Verdict:
My first encounter with Scarlett Scott's work wasn't a pretty one but that has definitely been set straight with this book. The promise I saw in her writing has definitely been fulfilled. For a novella to completely work for me it needs certain tropes: friends-to-lovers, troubled marriage, reunited love etc. This one had reunited love and therefore worked in the limits of the small page-count

The banter between hero and heroine again shone through. And Scarlett Scott knows how to crank up the heat in the sex scenes! One thing I missed was some sort of epilogue. It's not that it was needed to complete the HEA but I'm an epilogue-addict and love to see the ‘how are they doing further down the road’-scenes.

SHE LIKES HIM BAD is a short and very enjoyable novella that was written with likeable characters that were fleshed out pretty well for such a short story. Moreover the mix between humor, characterization and heat was well balanced and that's just the way I like 'em.

Favorite Quotes:
Do not, she urged her inner vixen, look at the way those blue jeans fit his lean legs. Do not notice how he’s filled out in all the right places. Or how freakin’ handsome he is as a man rather than the boy you once kissed. And above all do not look at his mouth or you’ll think about…
Too late. Her gaze dropped to those sensual lips that were quirked into a crooked grin. She remembered that grin. She remembered those kisses.

The sexual tension was back. She was incredibly aware of him. She could smell his cologne and it made her want to press her nose to his neck and inhale deeply. Maybe lick his skin.

She had only a matter of seconds to try to talk some sense into her wicked, sex-with-Jackson craving brain.

Damn. What was the protocol for morning kitchen sex? (Jackson)

When he stood, he wanted to say something intelligent. Something to make her melt. “What are you doing here?”
Shit. He raked a hand through his hair. Not exactly setting the world on fire with your charm, are you, Jackson?

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Enjoying Emma Lee Bridges standing half-naked on my doorstep, apologizing to me? Hell yes, I am. I thought the day would never come.”
“I’m not half-naked,” she protested.
He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “I’m pretty damn sure I can see your nipples right through that shirt. Lord knows I’ve been thinking about sucking them ever since I opened the door.”

“The man I am today is far more ready to be your man than the boy I was twelve years ago, Emma. Time is a beautiful thing. It makes you stronger, makes you learn.”