Dotted Lines is live!

This is the fifth and final book in the Runaway series, a beautifully emotional, sweet and sexy second-chance-romance and an absolutely perfect finish to a series that has completely captured my heart.

 

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Blurb

Clara Saint-James is completing a journey started by an old friend. She’ll return a Cadillac to California, a place she’s avoided for more than a decade. But it’s time for closure and to put old ghosts to rest. And it’s time to find out if the feelings she’s cherished for the boy from her past are just fanciful memories—or if there’s a chance they are real.

Timing was never on her side, especially when it came to Karson Avery. The two of them lived in a junkyard as runaway teens, and though she wanted more than his friendship, he always belonged to another—until that one night when he was hers.

When Clara finds Karson living in a small, coastal town, she’s not surprised the beautiful boy from her past grew into a stunning man. His smile is as captivating as ever. His eyes have the same roguish glint. But timing is still working against her.

Clara must decide how far she’s willing to go to battle for Karson’s heart. Or if it’s time to let him go and surrender to the dotted lines that have always kept them apart.

 

 

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Review

5 stars!

OMG, what a beautiful book! And what an absolutely perfect finish to a series that has completely captured my heart. This book landed on my kindle and I dropped EVERYTHING to read it. I’ve been desperate for Carla and Karson’s story, and it was everything that I was hoping for – a beautifully emotional, sweet and sexy second-chance-romance, and I adored every moment!

Carla and Karson are the final two to have their story told from a group of runaway teens who found a home and family together while living in a run-down old junk yard. The car that Karson lived in has made its way across the country as each of the group have driven it from one to another, finding love along the way, and now it’s the last leg of the journey, Carla’s turn to drive the car from her home in Arizona to Karson in California, and it’s a reunion neither of them saw coming.

“Is it really you?”
“It’s me.”
“It’s really you.” A slow smile spread across his face, wider and wider.
It hadn’t changed. There, on the face of a man, was the smile from the boy I’d loved.

(Gah! That quote literally made me squeal out loud in delirious glee.)

Carla and Karson have both come a long way in the 12 years since they’ve seen each other. Carla is now the single mother to an adorable five-year-old son, August, and Karson has finally dealt with his demons and has found success and has settled for the first time in his life. But neither of them have found true peace.

This book takes us back to the days in the junkyard to meet Carla and Karson as teenagers, and we get to see first-hand what was hinted at in the last book, when the two friends become so much more to each other. They keep their feelings for each other a secret, but what they shared was significant and life changing, even though it was brief, so when they see each other again 12 years later, it’s every bit as spine-tinglingly amazing as I was hoping.

I was so damn glad to be sitting across from her. And so fucking sad that I’d missed so much when maybe…
Maybe I hadn’t had to miss it

I was feeling everything with these characters. Their deep emotional connection, the spark of attraction that instantly flared back to life, and the longing that they felt for each other. But timing has never been on their side. Will their ties from the past, and their short time together in the present be enough to help them find a way forward together?

This is such a gorgeous story. I read with a huge grin on my face, and my heart was pounding in anticipation through most of it, just waiting to see how it was all going to play out. And OMG, it was perfect! The characters are amazing (Karson!…….. *dreamy sigh*), I loved their strong bond, I loved their immediate reconnection, I loved that there was a touch of drama to their reunion, I loved the sense of ‘rightness’ to them being together again, and I absolutely loved the honesty between them as they figured everything out. It’s a short read and the story moves quickly, but I totally didn’t care, reading it in one sitting and lapping up every little moment and smiling like a fool the whole way through.

“I’m not going to hold back. I’m not going to take this slow. I’ve missed too many years with you, and I am not going to waste another second. You’re mine. August is mine.”

And to top it all off there is an epilogue set way into the future which gives us a glimpse of each of the couples, so we can see the important roles that they still have in each other’s lives. It was just what I needed to get closure for these characters, and their stories that I have loved so much.

If it makes you smile every time you get behind the wheel, then maybe you’ll remember that you made me – us – smile through the hardest days. You deserve a lifetime of smiles. So take that car, drive it, and be happy.

Beautifully written as always, with all the feels. I adored this one. 5 stars!

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Runaway

 

 

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Excerpt (and it’s absolutely perfect!)

I climbed out of the car, walking on unsteady legs to his side to help him out. Then with my son’s hand in mine, I stood in the driveway and let the sun warm my face. The sound of the ocean was a gentle whisper on the air. The scent of salt and sea hit my nose.

Aria had lived on the Oregon coast for years, and though the smell was similar, there was something sweeter in the Elyria air.

Karson had always said he wanted to be close to the ocean. He’d wanted to learn how to surf. I was glad he’d gotten that wish.

The sound of a door opening caught my attention and I turned, just in time to watch a tall man with dark hair step outside. A short-trimmed beard shaded his sculpted jaw. He was wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts slung low on his narrow hips. His green T-shirt stretched over his broad chest and clung to the strength in his biceps. His feet were bare.

Karson.

My heart skipped.

He’d grown up. Gone were the lanky arms and legs. Gone was the shaggy hair in need of a cut. Gone was the youth from his face.

This was Karson Avery, a man who stole my breath. But he’d done that at nineteen too.

Those beautiful hazel eyes studied me, then darted to the car as he came toward us. A crease formed between his eyebrows as he took it in. Then they moved to me and that crease deepened.

My stomach did a cartwheel. Please recognize me.

If he didn’t . . . I clung to August’s hand, drawing strength from his fingers. It would break my heart if Karson had forgotten me. Because in all these years, he’d never been far from my mind.

Karson’s feet stopped abruptly and his entire body froze. Then he blinked and shook his head. “Clara?”

Oh, thank God. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Hi, Karson.”

“I can’t believe it.” He shook his head again, then his gaze shifted to August. “Hi there.”

August clutched me tighter and murmured, “Hi.”

“Is it really you?”

“It’s me.”

“It’s really you.” A slow smile spread across his face, wider and wider.

It hadn’t changed. There, on the face of a man, was the smile from the boy I’d loved.

The boy I’d loved before his life had gone one direction and mine had gone the other.

And between us streaked those dotted lines.

 

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About the Author

 

Devney is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Washington with her husband and two sons. Born and raised in Montana, she loves writing books set in her treasured home state. After working in the technology industry for nearly a decade, she abandoned conference calls and project schedules to enjoy a slower pace at home with her family. Writing one book, let alone many, was not something she ever expected to do. But now that she’s discovered her true passion for writing romance, she has no plans to ever stop.

 

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