ICYMI, Delicate Escape by Catherine Cowles is live!

The second book in the Sparrow Falls series, this is such a gorgeous read! A small-town romance with heartwrenching drama and suspense, and the sweetest, most beautiful love story. These characters owned my heart, and I loved this book so much.

 

Amazon  |  Audio

People Paperback  |  Alt Paperback  |  Hardback with both covers

 

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Blurb

Trust doesn’t come easily when you’ve been running for as long as I have, which is why moving in with a man I barely know is such a bad idea.

Shepard Colson is all golden-boy charm and devastating good looks. But I know what it’s like to be taken in by easy smiles and the promise of forever—I have the scars to prove it.

Only the handsome contractor won’t stop coming by the bakery and prying little truths from my lips.

Those amber eyes of his seeing far too much. And when all the secrets come crashing down, he’s determined to keep me safe. Even if it means moving into my rundown cabin to do it.

Now, Shep isn’t just rebuilding the walls of my home, he’s working his way into my heart. Suddenly, he’s everywhere: shirtless in my garden or in a towel coming out of my bathroom. And my resolve is no match.

Only it’s more than his golden looks. It’s him. The way he watches for my wounds but tells me I’m stronger than anyone he’s ever known. And I can’t help but fall.

But I should’ve known better than to think I could be happy. Not when a ghost from my past still has me in his sights. And when he finds me, he’ll do anything to tear my life apart, even if it means
ending it for good…

 

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Review

5 stars!

The second book in the Sparrow Falls series, this is such a gorgeous read! A small-town romance with heartwrenching drama and suspense, and the sweetest, most beautiful love story. These characters owned my heart, and I loved this book so much.

Thea is relatively new to Sparrow Falls, having moved there are having her life literally torn apart in the most brutal of circumstances by her abusive ex-boyfriend. She is living in hiding with a new identity and she keeps very much to herself, not inviting attention and doing her best to live under the radar.

Shep is one of the Coulson siblings that make up the heart of this series – a mix of fostered, adopted and biological brothers and sisters who are extremely close and all up in each other’s lives. He is a local contractor who is an absolute sweetheart, and he’s pretty much instantly smitten with Thea when he runs into her at the bakery where she works.

Shep makes his interest very clear, but Thea has huge walls up. When she needs his contracting skills, she’s too afraid to even let him into her house. But Shep is patient. He recognises Thea’s trauma and he slowly and patiently works to make her comfortable, build her trust in him and get past her walls. He becomes her friend, and as he learns more about her and what she’s been through, she slowly starts to let him in.

“Everything about you screams that you’ve been fighting alone for too damn long … You need someone to help carry the weight for a little while. I might not be able to fix everything, but I can help carry the load.”

As the full truth of Thea’s past is revealed, Shep becomes beautifully protective and he goes all out to look out for the girl that he has fallen so hard for. It’s a slow burn as he gains her trust, making her feel safe, respected and valued, and the romance between them develops beautifully! She is understandably tentative, but Shep is persistent, and when he ends up temporarily moving into her cabin, their forced proximity brings fantastic sexual tension as Thea starts to truly live and experience life again.

“This is your home.”
“You’re my home.”

The suspense is done well and brings intensity to the story as Thea’s past resurfaces, and she finds herself the target of dangerous threats. There are several seedy characters closing in, and Cowles does a great job to keep you guessing, and though I thought I had it figured out, there were definitely surprises in store with this one. It builds to a big finale which shows the bravery of these two characters, and just how much they mean to each other.

I loved this book. It’s got all the sweet home-town feels of a Catherine Cowles book, fantastic characters, wonderful family/found family dynamics, and a love story that stole my heat.

5 stars.

I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Erin Mallon and Teddy Hamilton, and they do a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. I absolutely recommend listening to this one!

 

Sparrow Falls

 

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About Catherine

Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.

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Find more great reads in our Catherine Cowles Author Spotlight