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Review
4.5 stars!
Love, love, loved it! A sweet and romantic slow burner with no angst, and a couple that you can’t help but root for. I loved every moment of it!
Catherine Wright hasn’t had an easy life. She has been made mistakes and she has paid the price, she has been the victim of manipulation, scandal and scorn, and she has persevered. And now, aged 24, she is the single mother to an adorable 5-year-old, working at a diner in her small town and trying hard to keep a low profile and make a good life for her and her daughter. That proves impossible when she comes across a fatal car crash one night, and saves the life of a man who turns out to be Brett Madden, the NHL’s golden boy.
From the moment her identity as Brett’s rescuer is leaked she finds herself the target of journalists and the paparazzi who not only stalk her, but also dig up past secrets that she has tried so hard to move on from. The press’s attention also allows the man in question to find her, and when Brett shows up on Cath’s doorstep to thank her, the spark of attraction is instant.
Catherine and Brett share an immediate bond that even from the beginning feels deeper than friendship. But with Catherine sure that the only thing Brett feels towards her is gratitude, and the press watching their every move, Brett has a battle on his hands.
“I’m crazy about you and you won’t even answer my calls. I need to know how to fix that so you’ll give me a chance. Please.”
I loved this book! The story is told entirely from Catherine’s perspective, which I loved, because there is this element of mystery about Brett – about what he is feeling and how strongly he is feeling it – and it adds a wonderful sense of anticipation to the slow pacing as we wait for the inevitable to all unfold. And I felt everything!
He meets my gaze again, his eyes raw and heated, his breaths ragged. “This has never been about gratitude, Catherine.”
I’m having a hard time breathing.
“Tell me you believe me.”
Cath’s backstory is pretty much revealed upfront, but flashbacks provide a lot of depth, allowing us to experience all that she went through just as she did as a naïve 17 year old. I thought that it allowed us to really get to know her, and I certainly empathised with her and could understand the impact it had on her life and why it made her so frightened of throwing herself all in with Brett.
And Brett… OMG, I love him! He’s an absolute sweetheart, and I adored his sweet, gentle nature. He’s not a manwhoring alpha, but he is a man who knows what he wants, and his pursuit of Catherine was perfect – he was slow, considerate and gentle, but didn’t hold back on his feelings, and I was easily swept up in their developing romance.
“Life is too short to do what other people think you should do.”
It’s a deliciously sweet, heartfelt love story, and it had me so captivated that I struggled to put the book down. Like Tucker’s other books, there is more to it than just the romance, and I thought that the love story blended really well with the personal and family storylines that made up the book.
There’s a phenomenal bunch of side characters – both Catherine and Brett’s family and friends fit into the story so well, and I’m hoping that this book becomes a series because I would love to read more about them. There are stories there just begging to be told.
I loved this book. It’s sweet and romantic with a nice amount of depth without becoming overly dramatic or angsty, and it left me with a huge grin on my face. A truly charming, heartwarming read.
4.5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.