Overruled by Lana Ferguson

Narrated by Connor Crais and Samantha Summers

Standalone Contemporary Romance.

I requested an ARC of Overruled by Lana Ferguson and was thrilled to be approved for both the paperback and the audiobook. I love lawyer books, and it’s been a hot minute since I’ve read one. Opposing counsel? Yes, please! I enjoyed the listen, but I can’t say I loved anything more than the MMC and the client.

Dani and Ezra work at rival divorce law firms and find themselves in a hate-sex situation. Mostly, she hates him and he teases her. Every time they hook up, she claims it’ll be the last time—but of course, it never is. Dani is so mean to him, and he keeps pushing her buttons in this cocky, flirty way. I can’t blame her for caving.

They end up on opposite sides of a divorce case, and this part really pulled me in. I especially loved Dani’s client, and the case kept me fully invested. There was a LOT of sex in this book. Normally, I enjoy steamy romance, but the sex here was so frequent and so vanilla that I started zoning out. The scenes were well-written, but they seemed to be the only form of communication the couple had.

Ezra definitely falls first, and I adored him. He’s cocky, smirky, and always riling her up. He calls her “Sour Patch,” which is honestly perfect for her. They’re both in their thirties, but neither really acts like it, especially Dani.

Ezra has real family trauma, but Dani’s issues annoyed me more. She’s been angry at her parents for over ten years because they divorced when she was eighteen and told her they had only stayed together for her. She thought they were madly in love, but they said they’d always just been best friends. Now they’re both remarried and still close, and honestly, they seem like great parents. I couldn’t understand why she held onto that anger for so long. Ezra’s family situation is more complicated, but even he’s in his thirties and still letting his dad run his life. He had valid reasons, but he should’ve fixed things a lot sooner.

I love a good hate-to-love romance, and at first this had all the fun I was hoping for. The banter between Dani and Ezra was great, in and out of the courtroom. And I have to say, Connor Crais’s narration made it even better.

“Tell me to leave, Dani.” Ezra’s voice is quiet now, and I can feel the warmth of his breath only inches from my mouth. “Or I’m going to kiss you. Tell me to leave, or you’re going to let me kiss you.”

Likes:

The hate-to-love at first.
I loved Ezra.
How he loves to ruffle her feathers.
The divorce case they were on opposing sides of. I loved the female client.
The banter.
The sex was well written.
I liked his family story.
I liked the story of her friends’ little side “romance”.
He uses her name all the time, and it made him so sexy!

Dislikes:

I never thought I’d say this, but too much sex. While it was well written, it just got boring. Every time I thought they would finally talk, they just bone each other.
Her family trauma just kind of pissed me off.
Huge lack of communication.
The way it all wrapped up felt rushed compared to the rest of the book, even though I liked the ending itself.

The Narration:

The narration is a big reason why I enjoyed Overruled as much as I did. Connor Crais was perfect as the sexy, teasing attorney. Samantha Summers nailed prickly Dani. Their chemistry made the banter and steamy scenes even better.

The Down & Dirty:

I have mixed feelings about Overruled. I enjoyed listening to it, especially Connor Crais’s flirty teasing as Ezra. However, I never loved the FMC, which is a big deal for me when it comes to fully enjoying a romance. I found her mean to him for no real reason, and instead of being mad at her parents for over ten years, I felt like she should appreciate them more. The sex scenes were vanilla and so frequent that they got boring, which made it hard to rate the heat level. If I’m going by quantity, it’s easily over a 4. But in terms of how hot it actually felt? More like a 3. Still, I really liked the storyline, especially the cases they worked on. I loved the sexy banter, the MMC, and Dani’s client and coworkers. If you like very steamy courtroom romances, I would recommend Overruled by Lana Ferguson. It reminded me how much I love a good lawyer book.