Book Review: Bad Dad by Sloane Howell

Em Jay says: For me, the true love story in this book is between Landon and his son, Logan.

About the Book

My son is my life. Nothing on earth matters but him.

Soon, I’ll have to send him out into society. The cruel machine that gnashes innocence and spits out the hollowed remains of a child’s imagination. It’s a place I know all too well, considering my past. I’ve worked hard to separate myself from it, but it looms in the back of my mind—waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

My son, Logan, wants to have birthday parties, make friends, play at the park—all the normal things that seven-year olds want to do. All the things I want to do with him.

I’ve put up walls around our life to shield us from danger. Giant barriers to ward off possible threats.

Cora Chapman crashes through them like a wrecking ball. She’s intelligent and hilarious with soft curves and a spark that ignites a flame deep inside of me.

There’s only one problem—she’s Logan’s teacher.

When my past wraps its tentacles around my throat and threatens to strangle the breath from my lungs, I’m given an option—fight for my family’s freedom, or die as they’re stripped away from me.

I can’t lose. I won’t lose.

My name is Landon Lane and I am a warrior.

My Thoughts

Days after reading this book and I still can’t accurately articulate my feelings about it. Overall I liked it. I think. Yes, I liked it. I like it more than I thought I would but I can’t pinpoint why.  I don’t even know how to describe the book. It’s a romance/science fiction/sports book?

To save myself going around in circles I’ve decided a review in checklist format is the way to proceed.

What I loved and what I liked:

• The relationship between Landon and his son Logan is outstanding. For me, this is the true love story in this book.
• We got to experience the story from both Logan and Cora’s points of view. I especially liked reading Logan’s parts as we get to understand how he feels about Cora both physically and mentally. We really are inside his head and in a way that I as a female reader appreciated
• I enjoyed reading about the life Landon was making for him and his son, the reasons why he acted the way he did, including all the mistakes he made. It humanised him.
• Uncle Joe is unwittingly hilarious. How he is going to make it in the real world is something I want to read more about. I hope he gets his own book.
• Knowing about Miranda. Yet I still want to know more about her and the time in Landon’s life when she was around.

What I am unsure about and what I did not like:

• Landon is a sparring partner for MMA fighters. He also fights himself and there are some very violent fight scenes. I can’t fault the author’s writing but I found it verging towards too violent for my tastes. I admit to skipping over some of the fight scenes.
• I found Cora to be weak and undeserving of Landon. Her reasons for living her life the way she had to this point felt... felt... reactionary. She was moving from one thing to another without serious though beforehand. I think she’s a work in progress and even at the end I was not entirely convinced she was committed for the long term.
• For me the ending seemed too Hollywood-ish. I struggle with the credibility of the story here.
• It’s a long book. A shorter book would have added more of a thrill to the chase.

About the Author

Sloane Howell lives in the Midwest United States and writes hot romance stories. A former college baseball player turned author, when not reading or writing he enjoys hanging out with his family, watching sports, playing with the dogs, traveling, and engaging his readers on social media. You can almost always catch him goofing off on Facebook or Twitter and trying to convince Mrs. Howell that it is "work".

https://sloanehowell.com/