FREE ON ALL PLATFORMS!

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK  |  Amazon CA  |  Amazon AU

B&N  |  Kobo  |  Apple  |  Books2Read  |  Paperback

 

---

---

Blurb

Wyatt Calloway isn’t a good idea. 
I didn’t pick up my life and move to this urban beach city to spend my days swooning over a rich bad boy who rides a motorcycle and seems to always get his way with just a flash of that smile. I’m here to get to know the brother I’ve never met. Try and create a family when I’ve gone so long without one. Maybe find a place where I belong. But I can’t seem to get him off my mind.

Hannah Morrison isn’t a good idea. 
I’m back in town just for the summer, and my priorities are to spend time with my little sister, check in with my family, and make sure things aren’t really as bad as they seem. But somehow, the new girl becomes my focus. She’s got a ton of baggage, and she doesn’t understand why she’s really here. But I’ll do anything to make her feel like she belongs. Even give her promises I’m not sure I can keep.

Welcome to Hermosa Beach

 

 

Add to Goodreads

 

---

Review

4.5 stars

The first book in the Hermosa Beach series, this is a dramatic and beautifully emotional story with wonderful characters and an opposites-attract romance that completely owned my heart. I loved it!

Hannah’s idyllic childhood came to an abrupt end when her parents died. She went into the foster system until her beloved older brother became old enough to become her legal guardian, but his tragic death when she was 12 meant that she was all alone in the world, trapped at the mercy of whichever foster parents she happened to be housed with. Now she’s 20 years old and still struggling to find her feet and make a connection with somebody. So when she receives a message from someone who tells her that he is her half-brother and he invites her to his home in Hermosa Beach for the summer, she is just desperate enough to go, and she soon discovers a world that she never could have imagined.

Her brother, Lucas, is wealthy… ridiculously wealthy, and though he is the product of an affair between his mother and Hannah’s father, he welcomes Hannah with open arms into his home, introduces her to his friends, and supports her as she finds a job and tries to figure out where her life is going.

Everything about my life screams that I’m lacking in the things Lucas seems to have in abundance.
Like money. Confidence. Complete comfort in his own skin and a belief that he deserves to take up space in this world.

Wyatt is a good friend of Lucas’ and a Hermosa Beach local, but he has been living away from home for a few years. Now he’s back in town to catch up with friends and spend time with his younger sister, and all it takes is one look at the new arrival in town for him to be completely smitten. Things don’t go according to plan when Hannah is instantly dismissive, and then when he learns that she is Lucas’ sister, it complicates things a bit, but he can’t stay away from her. He knows she has had a difficult life, and that all she has been through has left emotional scars, but nothing can stand in the way of all that he’s feeling.

I also wonder if I’ll ever recover from the way she makes me feel when she looks at me with those soft eyes that are both so world-weary and so trusting at the same time.

I loved watching Hannah and Wyatt come together. He’s so gentle with her – he moves slowly, not rushing anything, but at the same time he doesn’t hide the way he feels. He’s there for her in all the ways, supporting her and encouraging her to come out of her shell and start to live, and their romance is so gorgeous.

“If I know anything about you, he adds, his hand holding me lightly at the side of my neck, his fingers singeing my skin, “it’s that you’re probably deserving of an amazingly happy life more than most people I know.”

He makes me feel precious, treasured, like I’m something priceless that he needs to protect.
And it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve felt.

At the same time, Hannah is building a relationship with her brother, and she’s making friends of her own, and I loved seeing her find her strength and embrace her new life. You can see the shift in her as she finds her confidence, her sense of humour starts to come through more and more as she teases and jokes around, and I loved seeing her start to flourish.

But the people that she is coming to care so much for have a secret, and it’s one that has the potential to shatter the delicate trust that she has built. It’s heartbreakingly emotional, and I loved that even though we sort of knew where the story was going, the way it unfolds was not predictable, and I read with my emotions completely caught up, desperate for Hannah and Wyatt to find their happy ending.

“Do you have any idea what I feel when I look at you? How enraptured I am with you?”

I loved this book. It’s beautifully written, and the romance is sweet and sexy with so much heart. I was so easily swept up in it all. In the midst of all of the emotion we’re introduced to a big group of family and friends on Hermosa Beach, and there are some really intriguing characters and complex dynamics there. I’m really looking forward to getting to know them more as the series continues.

Such a gorgeous read – 4.5 stars.

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

 

 

Hermosa Beach

 

---

About the Author

Jillian Liota is a Southern California native currently living in Kailua, Hawaii. She is married to her best friend, has a three-legged pup with endless energy, and acts as a servant to two very temperamental cats. 

Jillian has authored ten novels in contemporary and new adult romance, and has had her writing praised for depth of character, strong female friendships, deliciously steamy scenes, and positive portrayal of mental health.

Website  |  Facebook |  Facebook Group  |  Newsletter

Goodreads  |  Instagram |  Bookbub  |  Amazon  |  Twitter |  Pinterest  |  TikTok