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Review
OMG, SO, SO GOOD!
Wow, what a great love story – easy, functional, funny, and so freaking hot! With all of the charm, drama, passion and romance of old-school KA, this book once again gives us a strong heroine, an amazing alpha hero, a crew of awesome and quirky friends and family, and a mystery as well! I loved every moment of it!
Hixon Drake is a small-town sheriff who, at 42, finds himself newly divorced after 19 years of marriage. He never wanted to be divorced, and he is still coming to terms with the fact that he is divorced, but his ex is a selfish, entitled witch who forced the issue, so he is adjusting to his new reality, working hard to create a good life for his three children who are also struggling with the change. The last thing he needs is any more complication, so when he meets a smart and beautiful woman in a bar and takes her home, not even their intense connection and the hottest sex of his life is enough to make him consider her anything more than a one night hook up, so going against all of his feelings, he ends it and walks away.
Greta moved to Nebraska after her own divorce to escape a difficult family situation and to get a fresh start for herself and her younger brother. She has found peace and contentment in a way she hasn’t experienced before, and she loves her small-town life. She is a hair stylist who sings in an upscale bar on weekends, and it’s there that she meets Hixon. Of course she knew who he was – the sheriff and his wife were the darlings of the town, and everybody watched as their marriage imploded – but she never thought she’d have a chance to get to know him, let alone experience the best night of her life with him. But then he left, and she never thought she’d get to feel that again.
But the pull between these two isn’t so easy to ignore. Hix finds himself drawn back to Greta again and again, and their chemistry is absolutely combustible! They are seriously on fire together and the sexy time in this book is sensational! They try to keep things simple, but their complicated lives are about to become even more so. Ex dramas, family dramas a murder mystery, and a whole town watching them with interest all intrude on what Hix and Greta have between them, and there are a lot of ups and downs as they figure out their feelings and what it is they want. Hix stuffs up – more than once – but if there’s anything better than a KA hero going after what he wants, it’s a KA hero going after what he wants while making amends for the mistakes he’s made.
Hix may not have wanted to get involved with anybody so soon after his divorce, but he accepts that he can’t stay away from Greta. But he wants simple, and he makes that clear to her. She may want more, but she gives him what he needs, and in a way that she never seems like a doormat. She is strong and she is sassy, and she doesn’t put up with any crap, and she is the person that Hix needs in his life, and it all slowly builds from there.
“Babe, you agreed to complicate it. You might as well give it all it’s worth.”
And cue the swoon because this is the KA romance that we all know and love! Super functional, natural and easy, seriously sexy, and so funny! Hix and Greta have a great dynamic and there is a lot of joking around between them, and I laughed so many times while reading. Once they get themselves sorted and on track, the drama is handled brilliantly, with no unnecessary stupid, and they are a united force – together and committed and dealing with everything around them in their own way. Awesome.
There’s a strong sense of family with Hix’s kids and Greta’s brother, Andy, all playing a big part in the story, and I thought they added so much. I loved the relationships that developed between them all, and love how their individual stories contributed to the book. The difficult relationships (or lack of) within their families are also explored really well, and I like how those situations were handled.
The mystery storyline is intriguing and surprisingly emotional, and though there is quite a bit of time devoted to the case that Hix is working, it doesn’t take away from the main storyline.
Simply put – there’s lots of stuff going on and it’s all blended together beautifully to give us a great read that is full of everything that KA fans love. On the KA scale, it’s definitely up there among my favourites.
4.5 stars!
Note – I loved the audio. I thought both of the narrators were absolutely perfect, and I was so invested in the story I listened at every available moment I had! The only downside to audio is that I couldn’t highlight like the quotewhore I am, because there are so many moments that I wanted to capture! Scenes that played out in my head that had my heart pounding – the good and the bad – moments that made me wants to swoon, dialogue that made me laugh out loud, and those steamy, dirty talking alpha moments that had me fanning myself. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a paperback when it becomes available and reliving it all over again.
Check out more awesome reads on our Kristen Ashley Author Spotlight