TRAILER PARK HEART
by Rachel Higginson
Released – 23 October 2018
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Blurb
Trailer park born and raised. It’s my legacy. That’s how my mama lived. And that’s how her mama lived. It’s the life I was born into and it’s the life I swore I would leave the second I was old enough to make it out.
Only legacies have a funny way of sneaking up on you. An innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications in my plans to escape.
Seven years later, I’ve resigned myself to this small town and the roots I’m tied to. Nothing could make me leave. And nothing could make me spill the secrets that keep me here.
Until he walks back into town with a chip on his shoulder and a stupid hunch nobody else in town has been smart enough to follow.
Levi Cole is my opposite. Born on the right side of the tracks with family money to spare, he’s the kind of black sheep that can afford to be rebellious—because his family will always pay for his mistakes. He’s also the only living heir to Cole Family Farms, after his brother Logan was killed in duty seven years ago.
He sees something in my life that he thinks he has a right to. But he’s wrong. And obnoxious. And he needs to take his stubborn good looks and that intense way he looks at me and go back to wherever it was he came from.
I know better than to trust men like him. I was born and raised in a trailer park, I know nothing good happens to girls like me—girls with trailer park lives and trailer park hearts. Especially from gorgeous, kind, pigheaded men like him.
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Review
4.25 stars!
As a new high school graduate, Ruby can see her future and her dreams are nearly in her grasp. She just has to make it through the summer and she’ll be ready to escape her tiny town and her life on the wrong side of the tracks. However, “an innocent decision the night of high school graduation led to a series of complications” and Ruby never ends up leaving.
I had been a nightmare my senior year of high school, bound and determined to get the hell out of this town and never return. But life has a funny way of laughing at our best laid plans.
Seven years later, Levi Cole, the guy who made her teenage life difficult, walks back into her life. Ruby has a secret she plans to take to the grave but Levi has a way of getting under her skin and the closer they grow, the harder it is to keep hidden. It’s a secret that will crush everything Levi and Ruby are building, breaking hearts every which way.
Trailer Park Heart is an emotional and angsty love story about regret, growth, and love. It’s intense, complicated, and heart wrenching at times but the love that blooms between Ruby and Levi is beautiful and healing.
One decision changed Ruby’s life forever. Everything she wanted was ripped away but she made the best out of the hand she was dealt. Looking back, she wouldn’t change a thing and I understood why she kept her secret. I could see her fears play out and I think I would have had same apprehensions. I really liked Ruby but there were times that I felt she was immature for a twenty-five-year-old. The way she reacted to Levi in certain circumstances frustrated me but I could understand her trying to protect her heart. She grows a lot through the story though, and I loved watching her mature and open up to new possibilities no matter how difficult they may be.
And then there was Levi. OMG, he is really something. I actually think he stole the show. He is sweet and swoony, caring and sincere. He challenges Ruby and accepts her for who she is. He knows what he wants and I love that he goes after it. He wasn’t going to back down until he explored the connection he has with Ruby, and what a connection it is.
It’s a slow burn romance as the spark between them grows. Their relationship changes as Levi breaks down the walls Ruby has built around her heart and life. The banter and chemistry add to the sexual tension and I knew when Ruby gives in to the inevitable they would be hot together. It was one of those times I wanted to shout, “finally!” and I was so excited even if my stomach was in knots over what was going to happen when the truth finally revealed.
This story is intense and when the big secret is disclosed I felt everything. The pain, hurt, betrayal, and sadness made me sick even though I knew it was coming. I understood both sides but I really felt for Levi, especially when we learn what was going on in his head years ago. I believed the feelings and the way things played out, and even if there was a lot they had to work through, I loved Ruby and Levi together and I couldn’t stop the smile spreading on my face.
Overall, Trailer Park Heart is an intense, angsty, emotional journey that will break your heart before it puts it back together, and you can count on Levi and Ruby to do just that. I loved it!
“I’ve never wanted to be friends with you. Not when we were kids, not when I came back to town. And not even now. I have always wanted more. Always.”
* ARC generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
Teaser
He stared at me, unspeaking, unmoving. The hurt in his eyes and the frown on his face devastated my already broken spirit.
“And I don’t even know what to tell you,” I cried some more. “Because my mistake led me to Max and for that reason I can never really regret it. But I hate how I hurt you. I hate that my mistakes meant pushing you away. I hate that I finally know how I feel about you and it’s too late.”
His eyes flashed with something so intense I gasped for breath. “How do you feel about me?” How could he ask me that now? How did he not know? How had he not always known? “Don’t make me say it,” I whispered, my voice dragged over gravel. “It hurts too much.” “Ruby,” he pleaded, his voice just as fragmented. “Say it. Please.”
I didn’t bother brushing away the tears, there were too many of them, my grief was too heavy. “I love you,” I whispered. “I’ve always loved you. I’ve just been too afraid to say it.”
To admit it.
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