The Pucking Wrong Man is C.R. Jane’s fourth installment in her Pucking Wrong series, and it is all kinds of messed up as indicated by the title. Trigger Warnings of all kinds should be observed when it comes to this series, but especially this book. You may be asking yourself, “Katie, why are you reading this if you know it’s a walking trigger warning?” Which, completely justified. Let me share a brief synopsis and then we’ll get into the cringe-y stuff.
Camden James is 31 and a star hockey player for the Dallas Knights. He is a good guy with a soft spot a mile wide for women and children after having grown up with his mom being abused by his stepfather. He volunteers in soup kitchens and donates a fortune to charities. He escorts his elderly neighbor Geraldine (who is a hoot and living her best life) to the ballet and falls head over heels for Anastasia after watching her perform. He is super possessive and it manifests in some spectacularly inappropriate ways that bring that “good guy” designation into serious question.
Anastasia is only 20 and has had a hard life – one that would have broken most people. Her mom split and left her with her abusive, alcoholic father. Her father broke her leg badly in multiple places by stomping on it when he was drunk and delusional. The foster family she was placed with was even worse – the parents allowed their son to literally torture her while under their care. As a result, she has chosen to live a very hardscrabble, hand-to-mouth existence. She sleeps at a homeless shelter, works the late shift at a 24-hour diner, and cleans the dance studio for which she performs. She really only feels alive and happy while she is dancing, but it is excruciating for her since her leg was permanently damaged by her father.
The things that Camden does to when her over are so far outside the realm of acceptable behaviors, that I don’t even know where to start. Oh, wait, yes, I do: he literally pays someone to hide drugs in her belongings so she will get permanently thrown out of the homeless shelter she is staying, all so he can save her from sleeping on the street. He also gets her fired from her job at the diner. WHAT. WHO WOULD DO THAT? And that is just the surface level crazy. I mean, sure, he moves her into his very posh apartment, but not before putting her through a couple of days of hell first – and it’s not like she was in a good place to begin with. Camden is being encouraged in these behaviors by his teammates and friends, the “circle of trust.” They’re just as crazy as he is (being the first three installments of this series).
Remember the stepbrother I mentioned? He’s blackmailing Anastasia over some photos he has now that she is in proximity to money. In addition, he is stalking and harassing her. Camden decides he is going to solve that problem for her and his solution is so extreme that I still have trouble believing that those were the words I read. He literally feeds him to Geraldine’s dogs.
Do I find any of this romantic? Hard no. Am I interested in seeing what insanity C.R. Jane cooks up next? Unfortunately, yes. Thank godtopus for Kindle Unlimited, okay? It somehow removes the guilt about paying for this stuff.
I’m not going to give The Pucking Wrong Man a star rating. I don’t know how to star it. It’s technically well written (good grammar and spelling, and follows its own logic), but it’s also crazy cuckoo banana pants and filled with behaviors ranging from questionable at best to deeply traumatizing. Everyone in this book is in desperate need of therapy. And medication.