Dirty Little Mistake by Amber Rides

 Amber Rides – absolutely knocked me sideways with this – it was brilliant – laugh out loud funny at times and I mean proper giggle fest characters and the most fabulously ludicrous scenario ever!
I loved it!!
Brenna Cooper was desperately trying to be everything her drug addled mother was not, determined to make something of herself – she had achieved just that – she had a career with prospects, a roof over her head, good friends and a clean record – Brenna never rocked the boat, she always erred on the right side of cautious .. Until now!
Despite the rocky relationship with her mother, she never really let her go and I got the feeling that Brenna really was still that little girl waiting for her mum to tell her she loved her... unfortunately that day was never to arrive.
That news caused the straight as an arrow Brenda to kick off her sensible shoes and step onto the wrong side of the road for once, but once is all it takes.
Because a few short weeks after a one night stand with the next door neighbour, Brenda gets the news that she was not expecting – she is expecting!!!
Shit, she is floored by the fact that what she can remember of her one very drunken night with the muscle bound dimwit next door has resulted in her being Pregnant. Oh Hell!!
Insecurities run amok and she questions her abilities, all she really wants to be is a better mother than her Mum was to her – but can she?
Well that remains to be seen, because first of all she has to figure out how to tell Ian( Mr one night stand) that he is going to be a dad, without him running for the hills?
Tact a diplomacy try to make a stand but Brenna isn’t really much for taking it easy - why sidestep when you can just march on in there!!
But when she calls over next door – she doesn’t get to see Mr Muscle himself – she gets the quieter guy, Ridley, the one she would have wanted if she had been sober that night.
Brenna reaches out to the guy - Ridley James, and asks for his help in trying to get Ian (Ridley’s cousin) to fall for her.
Simple situation in Brenna’s brain – really how hard can it be... get the guy to fall in love with you and then tell him, Oh by the way I am already pregnant with your child – which bit of that was even remotely likely to be successful-huh!
Hormones!!!
Ridley is a good guy, he may not have always been a good guy, in fact his path was as far removed from the right side of the track that any one person could be.
His teenage years were everything you would hope not to encounter. Losing his parents at a young age meant he found himself in a number of foster homes but eventually his aunt gave him a home and a reason to turn his life around.
With purpose, Ridley excelled and when she revealed that she was terminally ill, Ridley stepped up to the plate to fulfil the promises he had made to her , he stayed out of trouble, and most importantly he took care of her boy – Ian, just as she had taken care of him.
Hearing Brenna’s plea means one thing to Ridley, Ian may just get the girl that he wants.
But what does he know; sometimes we get what we deserve!!
Ridley, struggles with helping Brenda bag her man, but more so, he struggles with the fact that he knows that there is just no way that Ian will be what Brenda is looking for – Ian doesn’t do relationships – Hell he doesn’t even do a return visit!!
Undeterred, Ridley tells Ian that he must take Brenda out on 3 dates. His hope is that Brenda will see just how futile her quest is and walk away from Ian –opening the door for him to step in but of course what he doesn’t know is that Brenda is pregnant.
The longer Brenda spends with Ridley the farther away her future with Ian looks, she is developing feelings for him but knows that for the sake of her child she has to at least try to make a future with its father.
I had my fingers crossed that they would see that they were pulling in the same direction – they both knew they had feelings for each other but were both trying to do the right thing – Brenna for her baby and Ridley for Ian and Brenna.
Sometime you just have to be selfish for Christ’s sake!!!
The book made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions – Brenna’s interaction with her roommate was just hilarious and when she breaks into Ridley’s home, well my sides were sore giggling.
But I have to say the twist in the tale is simply genius, Bravo!!!
I adored the first book in this series – Dirty Little Secret but I have to say that this book simply made my day!!
Hats off to you Amber, this was an absolute “strawberry” treat!
And I can’t wait to read the next book