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Blurb
Willow Haven’s content. Okay, that’s a lie, but she has been trying her damndest. Trouble is, it never sticks. Second oldest in a family her town was named after, she’s always felt the pressure. From the townspeople, from her sisters, but most of all from her daddy—the original Good Old Boy and Havenbrook’s reigning mayor. The only time she didn’t feel that stress had been those blissful months spent in the arms of the resident bad boy. The same one who broke her heart beyond repair when he left without a word.
Life hasn’t come easy for Finn Thomas. He’s had to claw and fight for everything he’s ever had—and truth be told, it hasn’t been much. He spent the first eighteen years of his life living so far from the wrong side of the tracks, he couldn’t even see them through his trailer window. The only thing that ever came easy for him and made his sorry ass happy was the one girl he loved with all his heart. And the one thing he had no choice but to leave behind.
When an opportunity arises to return to his tiny, southern hometown and open the first bar in a formerly dry county, he jumps at the chance. That won’t win him points with the mayor, who’s hell bent on making Finn’s life a nightmare for sullying his namesake. But too bad for Mayor Haven, Finn’s got his sights set on more than just the town, and this time he won’t be scared off quite so easily.
Review
4 stars!
This is a gorgeous read. A sweet, sexy and heartfelt second-chance-romance that is low-angst and completely engaging, and I loved it.
Willow and Finn grew up in the small town of Havenbrook, but their lives couldn’t have been more different. Willow is considered small-town royalty as her family founded the town and one family member after another has held the office of Mayor going back generations – currently her father. Finn grew up on the other side of town in a trailer with his twin brother and single mother who worked four jobs just to make ends meet. But that didn’t stop Willow and Finn from falling in love as teenagers. They were everything to each other, and knew they’d be together forever, until Finn suddenly up and left town, devastating them both and leaving Willow with lots of questions and a broken heart.
Now it’s ten years later. Willow is working for her demanding father who never recognises the job she does, or the effort she puts in, and Finn is back in town to go in on a business with his brother and a childhood friend – Havenbrook’s very first bar. And from the moment these two lay eyes on each other, sparks are flying!
After ten years, it’d been easy to brush off the connection she’d remembered between them. To wave it off as a childish infatuation. Pretend she’d built it up in her mind and it hadn’t been as electric as she’d once thought. But now? … It was clear she’d only been fooling herself. The two of them together were a perfect storm.
Willow is gobsmacked to see Finn back in town. She may still be drawn to him in a way that is undeniable, but she’s still hurt and confused over him leaving her, and she’s determined not to open herself up to him in any way while he’s in town.
Finn may have left town all those years ago, but that doesn’t mean he stopped loving Willow. He’s missed her every day, and now that he’s back he quickly comes to the realisation that he can’t walk away again, and he goes about reminding Willow of what they had, making up for the past and making her his.
“No matter what’s happened between us, I’d never want anything to erase what we had. Because what we had was real, Willow, and you know it. Don’t forget that.”
It’s a battle, but it’s a delicious battle. They both know that their feelings for each other were strong and they never went away, they have missed each other every day, and with the epic chemistry between them, I relished the build up just waiting for it all to happen.
“You ready to stop ignorin’ what’s between us? … Because I am. I’m here and ready whenever you are”.
Holy damn, this book is hot! The sexual tension is off the charts, and from the first touch between Finn and Willow you know they are going to be on fire together, and that anticipation pays off when they finally do reconnect and find themselves in a whole new world of attraction.
“You were always too good for me, weren’t you? Still are. Because you deserve to be made love to on a nice soft bed piled high with pillows, but I’m gonna fuck you against this wall like a goddamn animal instead.”
It’s hot, yes, and Finn is a deliciously dirty talker, but there’s also a strong sense of emotion and intimacy between them, and that connection is gorgeous.
She hadn’t imagined a single bit of it. If anything, her memories had dulled what they felt together. It was magic, pure and simple. The kind of chemistry she saw in movies, read about in books. But it wasn’t fiction. It wasn’t just something to wish upon.
It was real, and it was them, and it was right there in front of her.
But though they seem perfect together, they still have to deal with the issues of the past. And then there’s the matter of Willow’s controlling and disapproving father. They have things they need to work through, but with their friends and family firmly by their side and their hearts knowing what they want, it’s just a case of watching it all play out for them as they find their way to the future they’ve always wanted.
He’d spend every day for as long as he was breathing trying to make it up to her. Proving his love. Because it was real and true, and he wanted her to feel it. To know it. To never, ever doubt it.
I loved this story. Willow and Finn are great characters, and though some of that conflict at the end could have easily been avoided and seemed a bit out of character…
…it creates a bit of drama and provides a nice build up for the big ending.There’s a great cast of side characters, and I’m hoping that this turns into a series, because there’s already some great set ups, and I’d love to read their stories.
This is a sweet, fun, sexy, romantic and easy read. I loved it.
4 stars.
Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
Without any conscious thought, Willow’s fingers started tracing the lines of ink on Finn’s skin, and all she could do was watch. He was so solid and warm under her fingertips, his puffs of air growing faster and faster against her neck, then her cheek, then her lips.
And even though it’d been a long time, she knew what was coming a split second before he pressed his mouth against hers. Her sound of protest was lost in the space between their mouths as he swiped his tongue against her lips. And then there was nothing but Finn and his sinful mouth and his body flush against hers. He swept his tongue inside her mouth, and Lord, had he always tasted this good? Had he always kissed this good?
Never breaking away from her mouth, he walked them until Willow’s back was pressed against the wall, and then he just sort of…settled in. His hips held hers against the wall, the length of his erection pressing into her, proving this wasn’t at all one-sided as his hand continued its maddening path along her hip. But then—Lord, then he slipped his thumb under the waistband of her shorts until there was nothing between his rough fingertip and the part of her body forever marked as his. If it were possible, the soft caresses had her melting even further into him.
He kissed her like he was a starving man feasting on his first meal in a month. She’d forgotten how he’d always put his whole body into it, the heat and solidness of him pressing against her, making her feel safe and secure. Finn groaned into her mouth as he deepened the kiss even more, and all she could do was clutch him, one hand fisting the front of his shirt and the other pressed against his side where her tree was eternally imprinted.
“You feel so damn good,” Finn said against her lips.
Willow murmured her agreement into his mouth because there was no denying it. Her body was on fire, her nipples hard points pressing against his chest, her skin lit up from the inside out. And then Finn’s thumb, rubbing maddeningly against her tattoo, slipped to the right until he was as close to the Promised Land as he’d been in a long time. He didn’t try to push it any further, just ran his thumb back and forth right above where she was wet and ready for him until she thought she’d die.
Meet Brighton
Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with her first love: writing. When she’s not pounding away at the keyboard, she’s probably either reading or shopping—maybe even both at once. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children, and, yes, she considers forty degrees to be hoodie weather. Her home is the setting for frequent dance parties, Lego battles, and more laughter than she thought possible.
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