ARC REVIEW Cowboy Tough by Stacy Finz

Dry Creek Ranch #2, Jace, Cash, and Sawyer are still trying to figure out how they can keep their ranch in one piece and still have enough to pay the taxes which are coming up and on top of all that Jace is up for re-election as Sheriff and this time he has competition. Jace also needs a new babysitter for his boys, even though the oldest, Travis, is old enough to watch Grady they don't always play nice. Charlotte is on the run from her fiance with the help of an organization that specializes in her situation she's trying to get as far away from him and San Francisco as possible she only made it as far as Dry Creek. Charlotte's former fiance cost her everything and now she has to start over. When Jace earns her trust enough for her to confide in him he talks her into staying at least for a little bit and file a restraining order. Charlotte helps around the house, watches the boys when they need it, helps out with the re-election campaign, and she start to find something to help her make money, refurbish and upcycle stuff she found at an old barn. She is well on her way to falling in love with the town, the boys, and Jace now she only needs to stop worrying about what her ex-fiance is going to do when he finds her.

Overall, it was another fabulous read from Stacy Finz. Wonderful characters love Charlotte heartbroken but resilient, Jace hesitant to start a relationship with a woman who has up until now been a city girl and one who might leave him and his boys and they have been through that before he can't do it again. This a a wonderful romance, Stacy Finz has a way with words, she pulls you in and makes you feel like your part of their family. I am really looking forward to Sawyer's book and finding out about what happened to Angie. 

ARC REVIEW Cowboy Up by Stacy Finz

 Dry Creek Ranch #1, New series I'm so happy. This was a good read, just like so any other Finz stories you have witty banter, complex characters with enough baggage in their past and present to make them interesting, quirky side characters, and hunky cowboys. This is a great start to the series with wonderful character introductions and vague background on the other two cousins who live on Dry Creek Ranch.

Jace, Sawyer, and Cash are cousins who inherited the ranch from their grandfather, the Ranch was already starting to go belly up when they got it now they are arguing about keeping it or selling the main bulk of the land off. Jace and Sawyer are against it Cash on the other hand is being realistic about the three of them running the ranch. Jace who is also Sheriff with two boys, Sawyer who is also a writer, and Cash former FBI and just recently moved to one of the cabin on the property. He needs to fix up the cabin to liveable conditions because he just found out he has a daughter, Ellie, from a one night stand 12 years ago. 

Across the creek from Cash's cabin is another cabin which is occupied by one of Jace's best friends, Aubrey, who walked out on her fiance two weeks before the wedding. Aubrey is now the town pariah, apparently her ex-fiancee is covered in teflon because shit don't stick to him it's "all her fault" and now rumors are going around that her and Jace had an affair and that's why she left. Aubrey isn't telling the truth about what really happened because she doesn't want to hurt a very dear friend who came back from his military service without his legs, the truth that his wife was the one cheating with Aubrey's fiance and she caught them. Aubrey is having to deal with snide remarks, vandalism, and clients canceling jobs.

Aubrey and Cash don't start off on the right foot but soon he has her coming over to help decorate his daughter's new room to make her feel more at home in her new home. While Aubrey and Cash do this slow seduction friends to lovers thing Cash is also trying to build a relationship with a preteen Ellie who thinks he never wanted her in the first place and keeps thinking that she will be going back to Boston. There is also some funny business going on around town that has pulled in Cash to help investigate.

Overall, another great story from Stacy Finz. I liked the romance between Cash and Aubrey and the building of a relationship between father and daughter. I look forward to the other books in the series.

ARC REVIEW Tempting Fate by Stacy Finz

Nugget #10, I don't know if I ever said it in one of my reviews but I know I thought that I wouldn't care if Raylene ever got her own HEA, but I'm glad she did. She's the person everyone loves to hate and she finally meets someone who sees behind all the shine and snootiness and saw the head strong determined woman who regrets everything she did to the town she once loved; especially hurting the two people who loved her the most and now she's lost everything. She can't forgive herself because the town won't forgive her. I think this is one of those books that is best when you've read the other books in the series, but Raylene does have some flashbacks of her worst moments that fill in the blanks, or you can read Getting Lucky and Falling Hard those are the two with her story in them.

Gabe Moretti runs a business with Raylene's half brother, Logan. Logan asks Gabe to keep an eye on Raylene since she's not the most loved person in Nugget he wants to make sure she stay out of trouble and had back-up if she needs it. Gabe has heard the rumors about Raylene and it's not hard for him to believe it all but he finds it hard that the people from a the town that so far has been welcome and inviting can hate someone so much. Raylene has two things she wants to accomplish after Logan and Annie's wedding before she can finally move on from Nugget and never look back, find the gold her ancestor buried and sell off the last remaining plot of her family's land. After she finds her gold and sells off the land she can give the women's shelter she's been volunteering at the money they need to stay open and finally have enough start up money to start her own horse training ranch. But she has to find the gold first and Gabe insists on helping. Little things keep happening that raises suspicion that Raylene isn't the only ones out there looking for the gold.

Overall, this was a really good read. It was emotional not only between Raylene and Gabe but between her and the town she did some pretty low and horrible things and you can tell how much she regrets do them it really showed how much Raylene had changed since the beginning. The end was very exciting. I was surprised by how quickly the whole town flipped on their feelings for Raylene but hate isn't the opposite of love and they all loved her once they just needed something to love her for that was enough to forgive her of her past sins.   

ARC REVIEW Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn

Chance of a Lifetime #3, I have been impatiently waiting for this book since the characters were introduced to each other in the first book. This can be read as a stand alone but I really recommend reading the first two books to get the whole picture. This is written in third person with alternating perspectives of Greer and Alex. I loved this book the story and the characters so emotional.

Greer, Kit and Zoe buy a lottery ticket never expecting to actually win, so far Kit followed her dream and bought a house and fell in love, Zoe quit her job and went on an amazing path of self discovery and fell in love too. Now it's Greer's turn who was finally able to follow her dream and go back to school. She's almost got her degree when they tell her she short credits for art.

Alex Alverin, Kit's older brother, is a world renowned photojournalist his plan to come to his sister's wedding and then take off again has to be revised when his debilitating panic attacks get worse. With the urging of his agent and Greer, who caught him in the middle of one during the wedding, he takes some time off. But he won't be idle on his time off Greer recruits his help with her art credit. Greer's only hope to get the art credit she needs is to take a photography class subtly using Alex to get the teacher to agree was aggravating but easy. Greer also gets Alex to agree to go see a therapist while he's here. Alex was always attracted to Greer but the more time he spends with her the more the attraction builds into something more, and vise versa, and the more he learns about her the more he's tempted to try and stay. Greer may have fallen in love with Alex but she knows him to well and is just waiting for him to leave again. Alex's fears are so deep rooted he doesn't know if his love for Greer is stronger than his wonderlust. 

Overall, this is my favorite of the three. Both of the character's histories play a part in why they act they way they do and how their budding relationship gives them a new perspective and allows them to look at their lives differently and finally be willing to change for the better. There is such deep emotion and fear that Kate Clayborn really puts you through the ringer with this one.   

ARC REVIEW Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn

A Chance of a Lifetime #2, It was on a whim that Zoe, Kit, and Greer bought a lottery ticket and even more surprising that they actually won. Kit bought her dream house and was renovating it, Greer went back to school, and Zoe quit her as a corporate lawyer and was going to travel but she kept procrastinating when it came to planning the trip. One lonely night Zoe realized just how much guilt she carries around, guilt about so much from her past so she decides she's going to do something about it. In a jar on little slips of paper she wrote the names of people, people she thinks she has wronged in some way and she is somehow going to right the wrongs. First up the O'Leary family. The O'Leary's lost their son to a medication that was supposed to help him get rid of his opioid addiction instead it killed him. Zoe was one of the corporate lawyers who worked on behalf of the pharmaceutical company. Zoe feels guilty because they didn't get the justice they deserved, just a settlement check. 

Aidan O'Leary feels a certain amount of guilt too. He feels guilty he wasn't there for his brother, that he didn't life closer and couldn't take care of him better. But he wants to do something in memory of his brother, he wants to buy the childhood summer camp they use to attend and turn it into a rehab place for addicts. The only catch is that the current owners are only willing to sell it to a family. Aidan first wants nothing to do with Zoe but than he realizes she could be useful and proposes, proposes a fake marriage. Zoe agrees but to something a little bit more believable a fake engagement. For six weekends they are to pretend to be engaged while the owners hear the plans each couple has in store for the camp. After the first disastrous weekend Aidan realizes he's making this harder than it needs to be, he's partially aggravated because he realized Zoe was trying so hard and he wasn't cutting her any slack and also because as much as he doesn't want to like her he does. 

The relationship between them is slow burning they agreed that they needed to get  to know eachother better in order for the plan to work, they never meant to fall in love. In this fake relationship they both learn alot about each other and themselves they come to a few realizations about themselves. Overall, this was a nice read. The characters are flawed and you really get to see them grow and learn. It is a bit of an emotional read especially at the big reveal moment. Aidan and Zoe are good for each other they really do help each other relieve the guilt they are feeling and come to certain realizations about doing what you want to do and not living for someone else. I'm picky about my first person POV, but Clayborn does an excellent job with it I got completely absorbed in the story. It's not necessary to read the first book of the series but with how close Kit, Greer, and Zoe are it's nice to have the back story, well Kit's at this point. I was hoping this was Greer's book but we only have until November for her book, so I'm excited. 

        

ARC REVIEW Forever Home by Allyson Charles

Forever Friends #1, First time author for me, Allyson Charles, writes an adorable Rom-Com about a driven Real Estate agent/Mom who finds an abandoned dog and her litter of puppies and how her life is forever changed after that. Isabelle Lopez is a hard working mom trying to support her daughter and save enough money for Anna's college education. Izzy works so hard she often feels guilty about choosing work over her daughter especially when the Mom Mafia aka PTA president guilt trips her. (The whole Mom Mafia thing reminded me of the movie Bad Mom.) Brad is a fun loving guy who runs an animal shelter/rescue and lives paycheck, or in this case fundraiser to fundraiser kind of guy; he's content where he is and doesn't worry about the future. The romance was a fun opposites attract kind of thing, Izzy and Brad balance each other out well. Because Brad is the way he is I kept thinking he was a lot younger than he was he acts like he doesn't have a care in the world and that made him seem really immature to me as opposed to Izzy who life is nothing but stress.

Izzy's newest client is curious about selling his property, but wants to know if anyone is interested in buying it before listing it. Izzy is out scouting the property when she hears an animal whining from inside an abandoned apartment complex. After breaking in she finds a mother dog and her six pups starving; Izzy never owned a dog or even considered herself a dog person but she knew she couldn't just leave these poor guys to fend for themselves. After getting them in her car she drives down the street to the animal rescue place, but worried about the fact that she broke into the apartment and she was just going to drop the dogs off in the back. Bradley Cohen catches Izzy before she can leave and after explaining what she did Brad sees a great chance to bring in some extra money for the shelter. Brad wants to honor Izzy with an award but she's against the idea. Brad gets her boss in on it and her boss, Liz, sees free advertising for the real estate agency. 

Izzy's daughter Anna flips when she finds out about the dogs and as much as Izzy keeps saying she's not going to adopt one; she ends up adopting two, the mother and one of the babies. Brad likes Izzy from the start but getting her to go on a date is even harder than getting her to agree to accept the award. Izzy is attracted to Brad but she doesn't think she has time for a relationship on top of everything else, not to mention she doesn't trust men very much. After one very steamy kiss Izzy agrees to a date. Everything seems to be going well except for that one looming secret that Izzy knows but can't tell Brad and when he does find out Izzy left to pick up the pieces of her heart. Unless Brad gets his head and his heart on the same page.

Overall, it is an adorable read, between Anna and all the dogs, the amusing side characters, and the easy romance between Izzy and Brad this was a very enjoyable read. Being a new author to me  Allyson Charles definitely made an impression, her writing style is easy to follow and easy to get sucked into. I will definitely go out of my way to read the next books in the series; especially if it's Gabe.          

ARC REVIEW Beginner's Luck by Kate Clayborn

This is Kate Clayborn's debut novel, really? Damn girl you are good! The feel and the flow of the book makes it feel like she's done this for a long time. It was entertaining and emotional and Kit and Ben are so cute together. The secondary characters are just as good. Kit's best friends Zoe and Greer, at the best friends a girl can have. Ben's Dad, Henry, and Sharon even the kid River they add so much to the story it wouldn't be the same without them. At one point the story did seem to slow just a little but that could have just been my impatience to find out what was going to happen next.

They never really knew whose idea it was, or even why but Kit, Zoe, and Greer nonetheless still bought that lottery ticket and won. They all had dreams of what they wanted, Kit's dream was to have a real home, some place she could settle and put roots down. After her hectic childhood and constant moving she wanted a place she could finally call her own. Six months later she finally takes the plunge and buys the house of her dreams, it's a fixer upper but she doesn't care just more ways to make it her own.

Ben Tucker was suppose to be taking time off work to help take care of his dad who he fell and injured himself but Ben's best friend and business partner asks him to do one job while he is there. The company they work for is looking to recruit this metallurgy scientist who also just happens to live in his home town. Ben is so good at his job he thinks it will be easy. He realizes just how ill prepared he is for this when he walks in and realizes Kit is the scientist he's looking for and then blows it even more when she realizes he's never even read her work.

Not off to a good start but when Ben gifts replacement handles for her cabinets at work he found his in, well at least a way to spent more time with her since his Dad owns a salvage yard and has plenty of antiques and original pieces she needs to fit her house. Ben and Kit are both hesitant to start anything because they both know it would be temporary since she's not going to take the job and Ben still plans to go back to Texas. In spite of that they can't stop spending time together, pretty soon Ben admits his love. Kit's life starts to fall apart, first an argument with her brother then she finds out the company Ben works for still wants her and is willing to extort her boss to get her to work for them and she thinks Ben was behind it all and used her, top it all off with a medical emergency with her Dad and Kit pretty much mentally and physically exhausted and heart broken. It takes two to mend a broken heart but who will give in first?

Overall, so good, it had me bawling at the end. The characters were all so real and I loved the nerdy side of Kit and how she wanted to do work on her own. But one question, Did Ben ever go back and finish the chandelier or did he seriously just abandon it? 

ARC REVIEW Hope for Christmas by Stacy Finz

A little bit of Christmas Reading for your ever growing TBR list...

A Nugget Christmas story, book 10, more like novella. If you know the series, and you know the second book Finding Hope you can probably glean from the title what this one is about and you would be right. My big take away from the story was, YAY Clay wasn't a complete ass in this one. He was very sweet and understanding of the whole situation.

Emily has lived with the fact that her daughter is gone for the last seven years. She has started over remarried with a new baby and two step sons who adore her and a devoted (although kind of an ass sometimes) husband. As they get ready for the babies first Christmas Emily receives a disturbing letter about her daughter, and a couple days later a disturbing phone call. Clay is pissed and just like everyone else convinced it's just a sick joke, but Emily has hope, she's never going to give up on her daughter.

Overall, a very emotional story and so sweet. I absolutely love this series and this is a nice conclusion to Emily's story.

ARC REVIEW Falling Hard by Stacy Finz

Book 9 in the Nugget series by Stacy Finz stars the intelligent Annie Sparks whom we first met in the last book along with Logan Jenkins the illegitimate son of Ray Rosser, the convicted murder and no good sonovabitch of Nugget who died in prison. Logan didn't even know who his biological father was until he was contacted by a lawyer about being named in his father's will. Logan out of curiosity went to the ranch that use to be his father's, it now belonged to Gia Trendwell, he didn't care about any of that he just wanted to  know more about his father. Annie moved on to the Rosser ranch when she walked out on her boyfriend. She had enough with lazy moochers who did nothing but waste her time and this included her brother who continually made bad decisions and cost their parents lots of money and this time collateral on the farm they could not afford to lose. Annie wanted nothing more than to help Gia's tree farm succeed especially the part of the plan that helped women get back on their feet, learn money management and business.  

It was just suppose to be temporary, it was just suppose to be a fling until he left to San Diego and then Annie would get on with her life wherever that was heading and that was it. Annie and Logan never intended to fall in love, but they did and hard and neither of them knew how to handle that. It's hard enough trying to figure out where your relationship is going when moocher brothers cause problems and then there is Raylene, Logan's half sister who if you've read the other books you know how she is, getting in the picture just to rock the boat and stir up trouble for Logan. Logan, omg, he's such a freakin' sweetheart; even though it's "casual" he ends up buying Annie new boots because she needs them and a pair of cowboy boots just because he knows she'll like them. Logan is the opposite of what Annie normally goes for but he is exactly what she needs. Logan is the opposite of his father, he was raised by a good man and it shows he even goes out of his way to help Raylene after she acted like a twat.

Overall, this is another great read. I love this series it is one of my favorite small town romance series and they just keep getting better and better.

ARC REVIEW Riding High by Stacy Finz

Book 8 already! Wow! Riding High bring together Gia Treadwell who we meet in the last book as a financial genius who was swept off her feet by a scheming con-man who stole a butt load of money and ruined her professional reputation. And although the grand jury acquitted her the FBI still has her in sights to find her ex-boyfriend swindler who has disappeared with the millions he took. Flynn is a former FBI turned private practice lawyer/rancher and his family has been leasing the land she bought for graze land. Flynn, although he knows innocent until proven guilty, can't help but be sceptic about Gia's intentions. Flynn is soon confused by what he's read about her and how she acts, then again she pulled a rifle on him the first time they meet. This book also reinforced why I dislike the character Clay so much. There is a side story (which is typical for this series) of Clay and Emily, no spoilers, but he continues to be a complete ass.

Gia needed to get away from everything in her old life and to finally do something she really believes in, that is why she liquidated all her assets to have enough money to buy the ranch. Gia is now earning her money in day trading, going back to where she started. Unfortunately the FBI is still trying to pin her down so she can give them information on her ex to the point of harassment. She hires Flynn to help keep the wolves at bay, it isn't until then that he starts realize there is so much more to Gia then he ever thought, so much more than she ever let anyone see when she was a celebrity. While Gia tries to get her new homestead up and running and earning money and starting on her special project she is falling in love with Flynn, even with as gun shy as she is about trusting her heart again Flynn is a good guy and she can't help but fall in love. Flynn is taken with her beauty, impressed by her intelligence and despite trying to remain impartial he can't help but stand up for her and stand by her and fall in love with her.

Overall, another great Nugget Romance! P.s. I really do dislike Clay.      

ARC REVIEW Heating Up by Stacy Finz

This is book seven in the Nugget series by Stacy Finz. As usual I really enjoyed this one, I loved the main characters and the story. (Love Firemen!!!) The end of this one was predictable something similar happened in my hometown when I was little and remember my Dad telling me about it. But that doesn't take away from the story or the romance between Dana and Aidan. Aidan is the brother to Slone from the last book. Aidan's girlfriend of many years breaks up with him because he's doesn't want to marry her, so to get away he moves to Nugget joins Cal Fire as one of their arson investigators. Dana Calloway was introduced to us in one of the prior books she's a real estate agent who briefly dated Griffin but it ended when he finally got together with Lina. Dana swore off men especially since she tends to fall for the ones emotionally invested in other women, her fiance dumped her when the woman he really loved divorced her husband and then there was Griffin.

I love that Dana is shy, she a great real estate agent but when it comes to socializing with other people she gets very unsure about herself and doesn't know how to act. I love that Aidan is the opposite he's quick to make friends and has no problems in social situations. I especially like how Aidan was able to draw Dana out of her shell and make her feel like part of the gang make her feel welcome and show her that people are interested in talking to her about real estate and such. There was an unexpected side of Sloane to overprotective little sister who turned out to be kind of a bitch, but that's okay I forgive her.

Dana's house catches on fire and has nowhere to go. Aidan just moved into Tawny's old house and has an extra room, he feels bad for Dana and offers her the spare room. Dana turns the house into a home. Aidan realizes the reason he never married his ex, the only thing he has to do is convince Dana he really loves her and that he's not just settling for her. All the while trying to find out who the firebug is that is setting fires around Nugget.

Overall, I really did love this one it was nicely paced and the characters are fantastic. I adore this series.

 

ARC REVIEW Borrowing Trouble by Stacy Finz

Nugget, California book 6, already can you believe it! This little town is really securing it's way into my heart with every book. This one was a treat, and constantly was making me hungry with all that talk about food. I have been patiently waiting for Brady's story/backstory since he first appeared, I mean he's a hot tattooed southern boy who knows how to cook, rwar! I love Sloane she is such a girlie girl but a tough as nails when she's in uniform. When it first introduced Sloane in the last book I figured, I assumed, she was leaving LAPD because of a sexual harassment charge with a superior and being ostracized by fellow cops. Well I wasn't quite right. She was being ostracized but not for what I thought it was something much more. Brady's backstory finally comes out and honestly I had no idea what to expect from him and was kinda wishing it hinted more to it in other books, foreshadowing.

Sloane McBride had to leave LA, she was being threatened and feared for her life. The tiny town of Nugget was just what she needed but she wasn't sure if she could transition to small town life without dragging her problems with her. She doesn't want to get to comfortable afraid she's just going to have to pick up and move again. She doesn't realize how welcoming, understanding and protective Nugget is of it's citizens especially those who need it. Sloane is fitting right in when she unintentionally starts a youth program for some of the outcast kids at the high school. Brady Benson ran from his troubles too, he is in hiding from a potentially dangerous situation. He happened upon Nugget and stayed, keeping his past and who he was back in LA a secret finding it amusing every time one of old timers came up with another hypothetical backstory for him.

Trouble finds Sloane and Brady easily enough between the skeletal remains found in town and both Sloane and Brady's respective troubles finally showing up. Even though Sloane is a cop and very much able to take care of herself Brady has an urge to protect her, thankfully Sloane is smart enough not to argue with him; with a bunch of brother and her dad, all Chicago PD,she knows what battles to pick. Brady's crazy ended up kind of anti-climatic but Sloane's more than makes up for it.

Overall, I love these two. I enjoyed the gradual falling in love and acceptance of it. New character, Sloane's brother!! *excited*          

ARC REVIEW Harvest Moon by Sharon Struth

This is book two in the Blue Moon Lake series. From what I can tell it is not necessary to read the previous book or even the novella in between them, The past events are pretty much summarized and put into context so it isn't necessary to read the other books prior to this one. It is a small town romance series and i usually like those but I couldn't connect with the characters in this one. Trent and Veronica are perfect for each other. Trent needs redemption and he finds his chance in wounded soul of Veronica who just coincidentally turns out to be the same woman he fell in love with online.

Veronica meet Trent online, but unbeknownst to either of them, for personal safety they never revealed real names. So when they meet in person they have no idea who they were to each other. Trent has slowly fallen in love with the woman, and Veronica even though she is dating someone else at the beginning of the book feels guilty for having feeling for a man she has never actually meet.

It is explained to us that in the past Trent was an asshole, but is now mending his ways a recovering alcoholic and divorced from his poisonous wife he is trying to make up for his past misdeeds. In doing this he quit his big corporate job and became the marketing manager for his brother new winery, goes to AA meetings and to make amends to his biological mother volunteering as a self defense teacher for the community center. Veronica is a quintessential librarian, very vanilla. It's all because her final year in college she was date raped, and being raised the way she was she never told anybody, she let it fester inside her and for years she has been hiding this. Until her niece approaches her about a boy who is making her uncomfortable and basically assaulting her. Veronica tells her niece what she needs to do, what she never did and that's tell someone also as an added security she agrees to take self defense classes with her. Veronica soon has to deal with the emotional baggage she has been carrying around all this time and with she finally confiding in her sister and her online friend she slowly begins the healing process.

Overall, this was a sweet kind book, the healing Veronica goes through and falling in love with Trent was good. But that's all it was good.

ARC REVIEW Line of Scrimmage by Desiree Holt

Line of Scrimmage is book two in Desiree Holt's Game On series. If you couldn't tell by the cover it's about a football star (duh) and a woman who has written off all football players as playas after a really bad experience. In that aspect it's a typical trope but as this is Desiree Holt nothing is just typical. Desiree Holt is one of the best when it comes to erotica, this story is tame compared to some of her other stories, but a good read none the less. I'm not big on football in any aspect; unless it's Susan Elizabeth Phillips and her Chicago Stars universe. When it comes to sports romance I'm more of a baseball/hockey kinda girl. With that said I really enjoyed this one. I loved the characters and the story.

Jake Russell and Erin Bass had one hot night. An instant undeniable attraction had both of them acting out of the norm. But the next morning Jake wants to talk about starting an actual relationship and Erin blows him off. She tells Jake there's not need to pretend he want a real relationship he got what he wanted and so did she, there is no need to prolong the inevitable. Jake is thrown for a loop that she thinks that unlike some, most, of the other guys in the NFL he has never been one of those guys. He is hurt and upset that she would think that about him, but instead of staying and trying to change her mind he leaves. The common link between Jake and Erin is Jake's sister Ivy who is also Erin's best friend. Ivy arranged for them to meet knowing they were perfect for each other and now Ivy is confused that what should have been a perfect thing between to people is now just not there.

Some time later, Jake is playing a fantastic first game of the season and out of nowhere bam, he gets injured. He got hit so hard it took him out for the rest of the season, and it's the type of injury that just might take him out of the game permanently. In need of around the clock care Ivy hires the perfect person.

Erin is living on the remains of her last paycheck; the spa where she use to manage changed owners and fired everyone. Ivy offers her the job of being the personal assistant to a very important client of hers and man who needs help around the house and make sure he gets all the care he needs and keeping unwanted people from harassing him. Erin is hesitant but her dwindling bank account and a very generous salary has her accepting the job. Unaware that her new boss is the one man she turned away, for fear of losing her heart to him.

It's a rocky start for Jake and Erin, she wants to quit but she isn't heartless enough to leave Jake without someone to help him. Erin is good for Jake, she helps him in the healing process the stages of grief. Jake is just as good for Erin he has her realize not every football player is a womanizing douchebag like her ex. It's no surprise they fall in love as quickly as they do. Jake never forgot how Erin made him feel that night and how she makes him feel now, but he's afraid now of not being man enough for her. Erin knew she could easily lose her heart to Jake and that is one reason she pushed him away at the beginning but seeing him through this life changing event and learning more about him and his past and everything he has done makes falling in love easy. Because now that she has him she won't let him push her away, no matter what.

Overall, this was a good read. There was a lot of character development with Jake, there's definitely more to him than meets the eye. Erin pretty much is what she appears to be, her big revelation of her painful past was not that shocking. The story overall was enjoyable.