A missed opportunity five years ago makes for an unexpected encounter now between two people meant for each other – but who square off in a very public battle of wills in the small town of Love You, Maine, where every day is Valentine’s Day. Can love conquer all in a town steeped in it?
Kell Luview refuses to be a sucker at love again. Five years ago, he left D.C. with his tail between his legs and his heart broken. Fiercely protective of his small town in rural Maine, he’s determined to save the family tree business and avoid his feelings at all costs, no matter how much he longs to solve the mystery of what happened in D.C.
L.A. native Rachel Hart hates being underestimated almost as much as she hates this small town. She has two goals on this trip: get out of the cheesy tourist trap of Love You, Maine with a completed business deal, and avoid running into Kell, her old friend from D.C. who never became an old flame because of a huge misunderstanding.
One that still aches.
When her rental car breaks down on a logging road and Kell comes to her rescue, it’s clear he’s a changed man – and not for the good. Grumpy and reserved, he pushes all her buttons, still stubbornly convinced she betrayed him all those years ago. He’s never forgiven her, and she’s never forgiven herself for carrying a torch for him.
An embarrassing incident gets the town gossip mill going when residents wrongly assume Kell and Rachel are the newest couple to find love in the most romantic place on Earth. But the townsfolk aren’t wrong for long…
As Rachel breaks through his defenses and charms the town, he faces his biggest fear: all those pesky feelings he’s been avoiding.
Because they’re all about Rachel now.
And maybe they always were.
Can Kell and Rachel fight their growing attraction in the one place in the world where you can’t avoid love?
“Kell,” she whispered against his mouth. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For this.” She motioned at the romantic dinner he’d created for the two of them, the wide table in this conference room an ample spread for a…
Ample spread.
“We haven’t even had dinner. Thank me after.”
She batted her eyelashes. “Is that an offer?”
“Rachel,” he said, moving his hand from her waist to cup her ass. “That’s more than an offer.”
He started to kiss her again, but she put her fingers on his lips. “If we don’t eat dinner first, we’ll never eat. And I have a meeting here in this very room, to try to pitch the deal again, in three days. Boundaries, Kell – boundaries. I refuse to have sex on this conference table.”
“The thought never, ever occurred to me,” he lied.
“Liar.”
“Caught.”
With a deep laugh he adored, she reached for the bottle of wine. “How about you uncork this and we start with a lovely glass.”
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men’s room toilet (and he isn’t a billionaire). She lives in New England with her husband and three sons in a household where the toilet seat is never, ever, down.
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Three Reasons You Should Read This Sweet Western Romance:
That Cowboy of Mine by Donna Grant is everything I wanted in a modern cowboy/ranch themed romance.
The level of suspense and thriller that is woven into the story is amazining. The feeling of danger and menace is better than many romantic suspense books.
A couple with two strong characters! Both Dillon and Cal are very strong in their own right – and when they come together on something, it’s magical.
Can she trust the man who holds the fate of her family’s ranch–and her heart–in his hands?
Astrid Anderssen never planned to manage her family’s ranch. When her father breaks his leg, however, she has no other choice. She has pinched every penny and stretched every dollar, but it’s still not enough. If the new bank owner is anything like the old one, he’ll send them packing when the next loan payment comes due.
Grant Watson left Rattlesnake Ridge under a cloud of shame. Inheriting his late uncle’s bank brings him back to town, but ledgers full of gouging loans do nothing to help his reputation. Even the lovely blonde newcomer he crosses paths with on his first day in the bank seems to share the town’s opinion of him.
When all hope seems lost, Grant offers Astrid a job in the bank. Is it an answer to her family’s prayers? Or will a growing attraction for her new boss add up to a disastrous end?
If you enjoy romances with tortured heroes and damsels in distress, then you’ll love Returning from Rhode Island.
That Cowboy of Mine by Donna Grant is one of the best cowboy/ranch romances I’ve read in a very long time. The characters were deep and developed, and at times I even felt bad for one of the villains. Each character had their own motivations and ways to get what they wanted – be it good or bad.
Dillon and Grant were an amazing pair. Dillon was stubborn and hard-headed, but willing to back down when she saw the sense of things. There is a lot of distrust of Grant on Dillon’s part, and she has every ready to do so. This sets up some really amazing story-telling. Between Grant and Dillon trying to navigate their very unusual relationship, Dillon trying to find out what happened the night he doesn’t remember, and the people trying to drive Dillon off her ranch, there’s a lot going on.
We know who the bad guys are right away – they aren’t hidden from the reader at all. And I really liked this. The short sections where we got to see into their minds and motives were fantastic, and those sections are the reason I almost felt bad for one of them. But the author still kept a few surprises up her sleeve for a very suspenseful big reveal at the end.
The romance between Dillon and Grant was an equal partner to the suspense, and I don’t know if it could have grown without it. It was a perfect mix between the two. Grant was ever the gentleman cowboy, and while he was what some might consider an alpha male trying to protect everyone, he did it all as a partner with Dillon, not as someone who felt better or more than her.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Title: The Lie That Binds Author: Amy Argent Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
I am a liar.
I lie to protect myself.
I lie because I’m terrified.
I lie to keep a secret that would destroy everything in my life if everyone knew.
Holly is the new girl at school and my unwilling lab partner. She hates me because I’m one of the popular guys—one of the bullies who terrorize the unfortunate and the unpopular. For me, it’s who I’ve had to become to keep anyone from getting too close—close enough to see right through me.
When Holly finds out my secret, I have to do whatever it takes to keep her quiet—even if it means telling the most damaging lie of all—the one I tell myself.
