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Romantic Reads and Such

Tag Archives: Laura Trentham

Book Review – An Everyday Hero

10 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Sneak Peek

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An Everyday Hero, Book Review, Heart of a Hero series, Laura Trentham

Laura Trentham, the author of The Military Wife, is back with an emotionally charged novel about redemption and second chances. In the vein of Josie Silver’s One Day in December, AN EVERYDAY HERO explores the challenges of a relationship and ultimately discovering that love…and joy is worth fighting for. 

*****

An Everyday Hero

Heart of a Hero series

by Laura Trentham

Blurb:

At thirty, Greer Hadley never expected to be forced home to Madison, Tennessee with her life and dreams of being a songwriter up in flames. To make matters worse, a series of bad decisions and even crappier luck lands her community service hours at a nonprofit organization that aids veterans and their families. Greer cannot fathom how she’s supposed to use music to help anyone deal with their trauma and loss when the one thing that brought her joy has failed her.

Then there’s Emmett Lawson, the golden boy who followed his family’s legacy. Greer shows up one day with his old guitar, and meets Emmett’s rage head on with her stubbornness. A dire situation pushes these two into a team to save a young teenager, but maybe they will save themselves too. . . 

Macmillan: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250145550 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250145554?tag=macmillan-20

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-everyday-hero-laura-trentham/1131936712;jsessionid=B7619745B109010F501CA5500AB3BAF3.prodny_store02-atgap02?ean=9781250145550#/

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781250145550?AID=42121&PID=7992675&cjevent=1101dd10476711ea83cc00ae0a240614

Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250145550?aff=macmillan

Powell’s: https://www.powells.com/book/an-everyday-hero-9781250145550?partnerid=33241

*****

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

“Disorderly conduct. Public intoxication. Resisting arrest.” Judge Duckett put down the paper, linked his hands, and stared over his reading glasses from his perch behind the bench with a combination of exasperation and fatherly disapproval.

Greer Hadley shifted in her sensible heels and smoothed the skirt of the light pink suit she’d borrowed from her mama for the occasion. “I’ll give you the first two, Uncle Bill—” The judge cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me—Judge Duckett—but I did not resist arrest.”

“That you recall.” Deputy Wayne Peeler drawled the words out in the most sarcastic, unprofessional manner possible.

She fisted her hands and took a deep breath. The impulse to punch Wayne in the face simmered below the surface like a volcano no longer at rest. But ten o’clock on a Monday morning during her arraignment was not the smartest time to lose her temper, and she’d promised herself not to add to her string of bad decisions.

She sweetened her voice and bared her teeth at Wayne in the facsimile of a smile. “I recall plenty, thank you very much.”

Truth was she didn’t recall the minute details, but the shock of Wayne’s whispered offer on Saturday night to make her troubles go away for a price had done more to sober her up than the couple of hours spent in lockup waiting for her parents.

Dressed in his tan uniform, Wayne adjusted his heavy gun belt so often she imagined he got off every night by rubbing his gun. Giving him a badge had only empowered the part of him desperate for respect and approval. His nickname in high school, “the Weasel,” had been well earned.

Unfortunately, she was the unreliable narrator of her life at the moment and no one would trust her recollections. Judge Duckett, her uncle Bill by marriage until he and her aunt Tonya had divorced, rustled papers from his desk.

The ethics of her former uncle acting as her judge were questionable, especially considering they had remained close even after he’d remarried, but if nepotism is what it took to make this nightmare go away, then she wouldn’t be the one to lodge a complaint.

“A witness claimed you were sitting quietly at the end of the bar until a song played on the jukebox. What was the song?” Her uncle glanced at her over his glasses again, which made him look like a stern teacher.

“‘Before He Cheats’ by Carrie Underwood.” She forced her chin up.

His mouth opened, closed, and he dropped his gaze back to the paper. A murmur broke out behind her.

She would not cry. She wouldn’t. She blinked like her life depended on a tear not falling. Later, in the privacy of her childhood bedroom, she would bury her face in the eyelet-covered pillow and let loose.

Beau Williams, her cheating ex-boyfriend, was only partially to blame for her embarrassing behavior. It was a confluence of setbacks that had had her holding down the end of the bar. Hearing Carrie’s revenge anthem had hit a nerve exposed by the shots of Jack. Rage had quickened the effects of the alcohol, and that’s when things got fuzzy.

“Yes, well. That is a rather … Let’s move on, shall we? The witness also claims after a heartfelt, albeit slurred speech about the vagaries of relationships and how the moral fiber of the Junior League of Madison was frayed, you fed five dollars into the jukebox and played the same song for over an hour. ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline, was it?”

Ugh. She didn’t recall how much money she’d fed the machine, but it sounded like something she would do. “Crazy” was one of her favorite songs. A master class in conveying emotion through simple lyrics. She was just sorry she’d wasted five dollars on Beau. He didn’t deserve her money, her heart, or Patsy.

“No one can fault my taste in the classics.” Greer tried a smile, but her lips quivered and she pressed them together.

Her uncle continued to read from the witness statement, “You proceeded to throw two glasses on the floor, shattering them, and attempted to break a chair across the jukebox.”

She swallowed hard. A vague picture of a frustratingly sturdy chair surfaced. The fact the chair remained intact while she was falling apart had sent her anger soaring higher and hotter. A glance from her uncle Bill over the paper had her giving him a nod. She couldn’t deny it.

He continued, “A patron called 911. When Deputy Peeler arrived, he pulled you away from the jukebox and forced you outside. That’s where, he claims, you kicked him … well, you know where.”

“Wayne dragged me down the stairs—”

“Deputy Peeler, if you please.” Wayne sniffed loudly.

“As Deputy Peeler escorted me down the stairs, I lost my balance and fell. The heel of my shoe jabbed into his crotch. Sorry.” Greer didn’t make an attempt to mask her not-sorry voice with fake respect.

If she accused Wayne of misbehavior on the job, he would deny it and spin it somehow to make her look even more irresponsible. Lord knows, she’d embarrassed her parents enough for a lifetime. Anyway, seeing him rolling on the ground and cupping his crotch had been sweet payback.

“I sustained an injury where that spike you call a heel caught me.” Wayne half turned toward her.

Instead of playing it smart and soothing his delicate male ego, she batted her eyes at him. “I’m sure that’s left the ladies of Madison real upset.”

Wayne took a step toward her. “You are such a—”

The gavel knocked against the bench and her uncle stood, looming over them. “I’ve heard enough, Deputy. Sit down.”

Wayne turned on his heel and left Greer to face her uncle Bill. This was where she would promise such a thing would never happen again, and he would give her a stern warning before dismissing all charges.

“I’m striking the resisting arrest charge. It was an accident.”

Greer forced herself not to look over her shoulder and stick her tongue out at Wayne. That left only two misdemeanors, which her uncle could expunge with a swipe of his pen.

He settled behind the bench and picked up his pen, his gaze on the papers. “You will pay for any damages.”

“I’ve already reimbursed Becky.” Technically, she’d had to use her parents’ money, considering she’d crawled home from Nashville broke. “And apologized profusely. You can be assured there will not be a repeat performance. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Good. As for the other charges…”

Her deep breath cleansed a portion of the tension across her shoulders, and a smile born of relief appeared.

“You will perform fifty hours of community service.”

Her smile froze on her face. It sounded like a lot, but she’d been stupid and immature and deserved punishment. “I understand. Clean roads are important.”

“Litter pickup? Goodness no.” He took his glasses off and smiled at her for the first time, but it wasn’t the jolly-uncle smile she was familiar with. “You have talents that would be wasted on the side of the road picking up trash, Ms. Hadley. You will spend your fifty hours working at the Music Tree Foundation.”

“I’m not familiar with it.” She swallowed. The mention of music set her stomach roiling. “Highway 45 was in terrible shape on my drive in last week.”

“The foundation is a nonprofit music program that focuses on helping military veterans and their families cope with the trauma they’ve endured serving our country. They’re in need of volunteer songwriters and musicians.”

“I can’t write or play anymore.” Her dream of hearing one of her songs on the radio had died. Not in a blaze of glory but from a slow, torturous starvation of hope. At thirty, she was resigned to finding a real job and cobbling together a normal life in the place she’d tried to leave behind.

“My decision is final. As far as I can determine, your brain—despite this lapse in judgment—is in fine working order. You can and will help these men and women heal through your gift of music. Unless you’d rather spend thirty days in county lockup?”

Would her uncle actually throw her in jail? For a month? “No, Your Honor, I don’t want to go to county lockup.”

“Good. Once you turn in your log with all your hours signed off by the foundation’s manager, your record with this court will be cleared.” He handed her file to a clerk. “Case closed. Next up is docket number fourteen.”

She stood there until he met her gaze with his unflinching one. “Go home, Greer.”

Her parents were waiting at the door to the courtroom. While they’d faced the horror of having to bail their only child out of jail stoically, her mother’s embarrassment and disappointment were ripe and all-encompassing. Greer wilted and trailed her parents out of the courthouse.

She felt like a child. An incompetent, needy child living in her old bedroom and dependent on her parents for emotional and financial support. She thought she’d hit rock bottom many times over the years, but her situation now had revealed new lows.

The silence in the car built into a painful crescendo.

“The tiger lilies are lovely this year, don’t you think?” Her mother’s attempt at normalcy was strained but welcome.

Her father’s hands squeaked along the steering wheel as an answer.

Greer huddled in the backseat and stared out the window, the clumps of flowers on the side of the road an orange blur. As a teenager, she’d chafed at her parents’ protectiveness and had wanted nothing more than to escape to Nashville, where she’d been convinced glory and fame awaited. Now she was home and a disappointment not only to her parents but to herself. Even worse, she hadn’t come up with a plan to turn her life around.

“Ira Jenkins is back in the hospital. I thought I’d run by and check on him. Since Sarah passed, he seems a shell of the man he once was.” Her mother turned to face the backseat. “Would you like to come with me? I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.”

“He won’t remember me, Mama.”

“I’m sure he will.”

Greer scrunched farther down in the seat. The last thing she wanted was to make small talk with a man she hadn’t seen in years.

“You’ll have to get out eventually and face the music.” Her mother’s smile wavered and threatened to turn into tears. “So to speak.”

Her mother was trying, which was more than could be said for Greer at the moment. Her parents deserved a better daughter. Someone successful they could brag on at the Wednesday-night potlucks at church. Not a daughter they had to bail out of jail.

“I will. I promise. Just not to see Mr. Jenkins.” Greer leaned forward and squeezed her mother’s hand over the seat, needing to give her something to hope for even if Greer wasn’t sure what that might be.

Her father cleared his throat. “You need to think about the future.”

He ignored her mother’s whispered, “Not now, Frank.”

“A job. Or back to school. We’ll put you through nursing or accounting or something useful.” He shifted to meet her gaze in the rearview mirror. “But you can’t keep on like you’re doing. You need a purpose.”

“I’ll start looking for a job tomorrow.” School had never been her wheelhouse. She’d been sure she’d make it in Nashville and had never formulated a backup plan.

They pulled up to her childhood home, a two-story brick Colonial on the main street of Madison, Tennessee. Oaks had been planted down a middle island like a line of soldiers at attention. They had grown to shade both sides of the street. It was picturesque and cast the imagination back to a time when ladies lounged on porches with their iced tea and gossiped with their neighbors to escape the heat of summer. Air-conditioning had altered that way of life.

At one time, as a kid, she’d known every family up and down the street well enough to knock on their door for help or run through their backyard in epic games of tag. Now, though, the houses were being bought up by people who used Madison to escape the bustle of an expanding Nashville. They built pools in the backyards and fences and weren’t outside except to walk their trendy dogs.

The march of progress through Madison added to her melancholy sadness. There was a reason not being able to go home again was a recurring theme in books and songs.

“We love you, Greer. You know that, don’t you?” Her mother’s voice was tight with emotion, but she didn’t turn around, thank goodness.

Her mother never cried and if Greer witnessed tears, she would burst into sobs herself and embarrass everyone.

“I know. Thanks for everything. I’m going to do better. Be better.” It seemed a wholly inadequate promise she wasn’t even sure she could keep, but it was all she could manage. She ducked out of the car and skipped around to a side door of the house that was always unlocked.

Her room was both a haven and a mocking reminder of the state of her life. Posters of album covers papered the wall behind her bed, the colors faded from the sun and the edges curling with age.

In high school, she’d gravitated toward indie folk artists and away from the commercially driven country-music machine located a few miles south. Joan Baez was flanked by Patty Griffin and Dolly Parton. Even though Dolly veered more country than Greer, no one could deny the legend’s songwriting chops. The guitar Greer had hocked for rent money had borne Dolly’s signature like a talisman. Sometimes Greer ached for her guitar like a missing limb.

The flashing glimpse of a woman in a pale pink suit stopped her in the middle of the floor. She turned to face the full-length mirror glued to the back of the closet door. God, it was like glimpsing her mom through a time warp.

Greer touched the delicate pearls that had been passed down to her on her eighteenth birthday. They were old-fashioned and traditional and stereotypical of a Southern “good girl.” Not her style. She’d left them in her dresser drawer when she’d left home the day after high school graduation.

A tug of recognition of the women who had come before her had her clutching the strand in her hand as if something lost were now found. Was it her circumstances or her age growing her nostalgia like a tree setting roots?

She turned around to break the connection with the stranger in the mirror, stripped off the pink suit, and pulled on jeans and a cotton oxford. Her mother would appreciate seeing her in something besides the frayed shorts and grungy concert T-shirts she’d lounged around in the last week. She reached behind her neck for the clasp of the necklace, but her hands stilled, then dropped to her sides, leaving the pearls in place.

She stepped out of her room and was enveloped in silence. Her father had returned to his insurance office and her mother must have set off for her hospital visit. The house took on an expectant quality, as if waiting for its true owners to return. She was no longer a fundamental part of this world. Not unwelcome, perhaps, but a loose cog in her parents’ lives.

She tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen and made herself a ham sandwich. May was too early for fresh tomatoes, but in another month or two her mother’s garden would make tomato sandwiches an everyday treat.

Craving an escape, Greer grabbed a book and settled in her favorite window seat. The rest of the afternoon passed in the same expectant silence. The chime of the doorbell made her start and drop her book. If she pretended no one was home, maybe whoever was on the front porch would go away. The last thing she wanted was to face one of Madison’s gossips masquerading as a do-gooder.

The creak of the door opening had her bolting to her feet.

“Greer? I know you’re home. Are you decent?” Her uncle Bill’s booming voice echoed in the two-story foyer.

She propped her shoulder in the doorway of the sunroom. “Letting yourself in people’s houses is a good way of getting shot around here.”

“While your mama would have liked to have shot me during the divorce with her sister, I hope we’ve made our peace.” He closed the door behind him and Greer did what she’d wanted to do in the courtroom—she threw herself at him for a hug.

He lifted her off her feet and spun her once around. Her laugh hit her ears like a foreign language. It had been too long since she’d laughed from a place of happiness.

“You could have just come out to the house. You didn’t have to get arrested to see me.” Bill let her go, and she led him into the sunroom.

“Do you want something to drink?” Greer asked, already turning for the kitchen and the fresh brewed pitcher of sweet iced tea.

“No, thanks. Mary has fried chicken ready to go in the pan, so I can’t stay long.”

Bill had divorced her aunt Tonya more than a decade earlier and married the choir director of the biggest black church in town. A scandal had ensued not because he’d married a black woman, but because he, a long-standing deacon in the Church of Christ, had converted to a heathen Methodist.

“How is Mary?”

“Always singing.” He shook his head, an indulgent smile on his face, as they settled into their seats.

His comment sprinkled salt on an open wound. She’d begged off going to church with her parents because of the questions she was sure to face and the hymns she couldn’t bring herself to sing. Some of her earlier happiness at seeing him leaked out. “Good for her.”

“I came to make sure you weren’t mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad?”

“I got the impression you expected me to dismiss the charges.” His smile turned into a wince.

“I wouldn’t have been upset if you had, but I get it. I was an idiot and deserve punishment.” She picked at the fringe on a decades-old needlepoint pillow and cast him a pleading glance. “I’d rather pick up trash, though, if it’s all the same to you.”

“It’s not the same to me.” He crossed his long legs and tapped a finger on the cherry armrest of the antique chair that looked ready to surrender at any moment to his bulk. “Do you remember Amelia Shelton?”

“Mary’s daughter? She was a couple of years ahead of me in school. We didn’t hang out or anything, but she seemed nice.” Greer couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Amelia. Greer’s side of the family had skipped Bill and Mary’s small wedding ceremony; the acrimony between him and her aunt Tonya hadn’t faded at that point.

“Amelia is the founder and director of the Music Tree Foundation and is desperate for qualified volunteers. You’ve been playing and singing and writing music since you were knee high. It was meant to be.”

“It’s not meant to be. I’ve got to get a real job.”

Her uncle made a scoffing sound. “You’re too much like my Mary. You could never leave music behind.”

“Music dumped me on the side of the road, gave me the finger, and peeled out.” Greer shook her head and touched the string of pearls, her gaze on his polished black dress shoes. “I’m a mess, Uncle Bill. I have nothing to offer. In fact, I’ll probably make things worse for whatever poor soul I get paired with.”

She expected him to argue, but he seemed to be weighing the truth in her words like the scales of justice. His shrug wasn’t in the least reassuring. “Amelia has done something really special with her foundation. It might do you a world of good to focus on someone besides yourself.”

“Dang, that’s harsh.”

He patted her knee. “I’ve seen all kinds come through my courtroom. The ones who turn it around are the ones who quit feeling sorry for themselves.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Beau is an asshole. Not the first or the last you’re likely to encounter. Don’t you deserve better than him?”

“Yes?” She wished she’d been able to put more conviction into the word.

Beau was successful, nice-looking—even though a bald spot was conquering his hair day by day—and respected in their town. They’d known each other since high school, but had only started dating in the last year.

He was solid and steady and comfortable. Three things lacking from her life. Catching him cheating with the president of the Junior League had been another seismic shift in her world, leaving her unsure and off balance.

“If you can’t believe in yourself yet, then believe me. You are talented, Greer, and you have the ability to help people find their voice.” He slipped a card out of his wallet. When she didn’t reach for it, he waved it in her face until she took it.

A tree styled with musical symbols of all different colors decorated one side of the card. She ran her thumb over the raised black ink of Amelia’s name and an address on the outskirts of Nashville. “I don’t have much choice, do I?”

“Not if you want to stay in my—and the court’s—good graces. She’s expecting you tomorrow at three.”

“No rest for the wicked, huh?” Her smile was born of sarcasm.

Bill rose and ruffled her hair like he had when she was little. “Not wicked. Lost.”

Greer walked him out, brushed a kiss on his cheek, and murmured her thanks. She leaned on the porch rail and waved until he disappeared down the street.

I once was lost, and now I’m found. She’d sung “Amazing Grace” so many times that the lyrics had ceased to have an impact. But, standing on her childhood front porch, having come full circle, a shiver went down her spine, and goose bumps broke over her arms despite the heat that wavered over the pavement like a mirage. Her granny would have said that someone had walked over her grave. Maybe so. Or maybe change was a-coming whether she wanted to face up to it or not.

Copyright © 2020 by Laura Trentham

*****

Review:

While I absolutely AH-DORE Trentham’s small town romances, her women’s fiction books are some of the best reads out there. There’s so much believability in the characters, their situations, and the way they interact with one another. And whether it’s to make you laugh or to make you cry, she just knows how to get to the heart of things and drag the right emotions out of you without seeming to try.

I really enjoy Greer – she’s a little lost about what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. Her vision for her future is gone after it seems like her music abandons her and the last thing she wants to do is get involved in a music therapy group. Luckily, her first client is a young girl who just draws Greer to her … as does her second client, somewhat grumpy (but definitely sexy) Emmett.

Emmett is also at a loss for what to do with his own future up in the air. The loss of a leg means the loss of his career and with all he’s seen & done his feelings about himself as a good man is also in tatters. When a spitfire in a short skirt shows up at his door and doesn’t take much of his bull, Emmett slowly finds himself resurfacing from his pain and grief. And the more they go toe to toe, the more he finds himself feeling normal again … if only he can let go of the guilt.

The connections that Greer makes are so warming. I just felt myself pull for her as she slowly gets Ally to come out of her shell and start connecting to something other than anger & pain. And while it takes a different tone, her irreverent sense of humor and stubbornness also helps Emmett to start seeing more in the world than his front porch and the bottom of a bottle.

Exploring themes of healing, friendship, grief, and love, An Everyday Hero is one of the best reads of 2020. Even if you aren’t a big romance reader, there is plenty here for you to enjoy.

(Part of a series, but stands on its own.)

*****

Author Info:

Laura Trentham is an award winning romance author. The Military Wife is her debut women’s fiction novel. A chemical engineer by training and a lover of books by nature, she lives in South Carolina.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTrentham

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraTrenthamAuthor

Author Website: http://www.lauratrentham.com/

Macmillan Author Page: https://us.macmillan.com/author/lauratrentham

*****

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Book Review – A Highlander Walks Into a Bar

02 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

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Tags

A Highlander Walks Into a Bar, Book Review, Highland Georgia series, Laura Trentham

A Highlander Walks into a Bar

A Highland, Georgia Novel

by Laura Trentham

The timeless romance, soaring passion—and gorgeous men—of Scotland come to modern-day America. And the rules of love will never be the same…

Isabel Buchanan is fiery, funny, and never at a loss for words. But she is struck speechless when her mother returns from a trip to Scotland with a six-foot-tall, very handsome souvenir. Izzy’s mother is so infatuated by the fellow that Izzy has to plan their annual Highland Games all by herself. Well, not completely by herself. The Highlander’s strapping young nephew has come looking for his uncle…

Alasdair Blackmoor has never seen a place as friendly as this small Georgia town—or a girl as brilliant and beguiling as Izzy. Instead of saving his uncle, who seems to be having a lovely time, Alasdair decides he’d rather help Izzy with the Highland Games. Show her how to dance like a Highlander. Drink like a Highlander. And maybe, just maybe, fall in love with a Highlander. But when the games are over, where do they go from here?

*slight spoilers ahead*

I usually don’t enjoy romances with little white lies but Trentham manages to do it with minimal drama and without making anyone feel like they were wronged. We understand why Alasdair and Gareth do the things they do … although I do have to say that I shook my head at Alasdair a few times. Typical guy thinking he knows best 🙂 There’s also a bit of insta-love involved, and not just with Izzy’s mom bringing a guy home from her holiday. Our main couple does spend a lot of time together, though, and you get the feeling that they really have a connection & understanding. (I just wish, with all of the talk of Scotland, that we’d gotten a little more of their time there than what was in the epilogue.)

By this point, Trentham is an absolute pro at the small town romance – delivering quirky characters, a boat load of humor, and a town full of eccentricities. Check out her other series if you haven’t already – fabulous reads all around. Plus now she’s giving us guys in kilts and all I can say is you rock, Trentham! Keep ’em coming ’cause I’m SO ready for Iain and Anna’s story. And I really hope that there’s something in the works for Holt … a fiery Scottish lass to offset his All-American Boyness would just make my day *hint, hint*

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Spotlight – A Highlander Walks Into a Bar

30 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A Highlander Walks Into a Bar, Highland Georgia series, Laura Trentham

I’m gonna let Laura Trentham tell you about her newest … but I will say I’m about halfway thru and I’ll tell you all my good thoughts later this week 😉

*****

  1. What inspired you to write A Highlander Walks into a Bar?

It was actually a Buick car commercial from a couple of years ago where a grandson picks his grandmother up from the airport and she says saucily, “I did a lot of shopping in Italy.” From behind her luggage steps an Italian gentleman. Of course, my writer brain kept picturing what happened after the three of drove off and twisted it into an entire story but had to make up a town for them to return to!

Another big inspiration is a real-life place: Helen, Georgia, is a town that has transformed itself into a German village. It’s picturesque and they celebrate Octoberfest every year. I twisted that concept and made my little town of Highland, Georgia, into a Scottish village including an annual Highland Games that the Buchanan ladies put on every summer which is an important aspect of the book.

  1. Introduce us to your main characters!

Isabel Buchanan is the daughter who picks her mother up from the airport only to be surprised by the appearance of Gareth Blackmoor, who happens to be keeping his title of Earl of Cairndow a secret from everyone in Highland, Georgia, including Rose Buchanan, Isabel’s mother.

Alasdair Blackmoor is Gareth’s nephew and heir to the title and castle in Scotland. He’s been sent to round up his wandering uncle and to make sure he isn’t being taken advantage of by some pushy American women. Complications ensue, including love (of course!)

  1. Lots of aspiring authors out there. Any advice for them?

To become a better writer, you must write. Sounds simple, but I know so many aspiring authors who get stuck in their own head. They plot and make inspiration boards and talk about writing, but when the fingers hit the keyboard, they get mired in doubts. Just get the words down. They don’t have to be perfect; they don’t even have to be good, but you can’t fix a blank page!

  1. How is A Highlander Walks into a Bar different from your other books?

While it’s still a Southern small town romance, it has a definite rom-com vibe. Expect low angst and lots of laughs! I love to read reviews where they reader has literally laughed out loud at several points.

  1. I know asking someone’s all-time favorite book is a loaded question so what’s your current favorite read?

Two series I have loved lately are Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy (a fantasy retelling weaving medieval Russian history and folklore) and Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell’s mysteries (a Victorian butterfly hunter teams up with a taxidermist to solve mysteries. I mean, seriously, how can you beat that combo?!)

  1. Alright, the ultimate question: why should we read your book?

If you need a pick-me-up, good-time, laugh-out-loud book, then read A Highlander Walks into a Bar!

  1. Favorite quote or scene you wrote in A Highlander Walks into a Bar?

As the woman continued to stare at him as if he were the bearer of the bubonic plague, his smile faltered. He stuck out a hand. “I’m Alasdair Blackmoor.”

Although he registered a split-second hesitation on her part, she took his hand. “Isabel Buchanan.”

Her handshake was firm and no-nonsense, but her palm was soft and her hand small in his. On closer inspection, her eyes striated into all different shades of brown and amber, and freckles dusted her cheeks. He hung on to her hand for too long, but couldn’t seem to pry himself away.

Breaking the spell, she wrested her hand from his, pulling it into a fist. Was she planning on throat-punching him? He rubbed his neck and took a step back, out of the radius of her magnetic energy, and her reach. On her approach, she’d seemed birdlike, insignificant even, but up close, he was having a hard time not staring like a first-class prat.

He was punch-drunk with exhaustion. It was the only logical explanation.

She stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, stretching her red V-neck T-shirt tight. His gaze dipped instinctively and then stuck around to read the print on the pocket over the soft curve of her left breast: Highland. The Heart of Scotland in the Blue Ridge.

She cleared her throat. His gaze shot to hers, and he blinked to try to refocus his thoughts. “I was admiring . . . I mean, reading your shirt.”

“It’s not a novel.”

His face heated. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d blushed this hot and fierce.

  1. What inspired you to become a writer?

I’ve always been (and still am) a huge reader. My youngest child started preschool and I wasn’t ready to go back to work in what I’m trained for (chemical engineering) so I sat down one morning and started writing a book. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing until I was around halfway done and loving every minute! That book became a Golden Heart finalist, got me an agent, and is published as An Indecent Invitation, a Regency historical.

  1. What is a typical writing day like?

During the school year, I work while the kids are in school. I love the flexibility of being there to pick my kids up and drive them to soccer or gymnastics or chaperoning field trips, etc.

  1. Do you have any interesting writing quirks or habits?

My only habit is a bad one in that I drink *way* too much coffee while I’m writing! It’s become a ritual, I suppose.

  1. What has been one of the most surprising things you’ve learned as a published author?

How slow the industry can move, but also how quickly changes have come because of indie publishing.

  1. Can you tell us about what’s coming up next after this for you writing wise?

For my contemporary fans, I have my second women’s fiction releasing early February 2020, An Everyday Hero. The second book in the Highland, Georgia, series, A Highlander in a Pickup, releases late February 2020.

For my historical romance fans, look out for A Wicked Wedding in the Once Upon a Christmas Wedding anthology releasing in October 2019. And two more full length books in the Spies and Lovers series, A Sinful Surrender and A Daring Deception, coming sometimes in mid to late 2020!

  1. How can readers connect with you online?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraTrentham

Or join my reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1733284316920632/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTrentham

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lauratrentham/

Sign up for my newsletter:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w7o6b1

Follow me on Bookbub for new release or sale announcements: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-trentham

*****

A Highlander Walks Into a Bar

A Highland, Georgia Novel

by Laura Trentham

Blurb:

The timeless romance, soaring passion—and gorgeous men—of Scotland comes to modern-day America. And the rules of love will never be the same…

Isabel Buchanan is fiery, funny, and never at a loss for words. But she is struck speechless when her mother returns from a trip to Scotland with a six-foot-tall, very handsome souvenir. Izzy’s mother is so infatuated by the fellow that Izzy has to plan their annual Highland Games all by herself. Well, not completely by herself. The Highlander’s strapping young nephew has come looking for his uncle…

Alasdair Blackmoor has never seen a place as friendly as this small Georgia town—or a girl as brilliant and beguiling as Izzy. Instead of saving his uncle, who seems to be having a lovely time, Alasdair decides he’d rather help Izzy with the Highland Games. Show her how to dance like a Highlander. Drink like a Highlander. And maybe, just maybe, fall in love with a Highlander. But when the games are over, where do they go from here?

Get your copy today! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250315021

*****

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“I brought home a surprise!” Rose Buchanan threw her arms out wide as if embracing the world. From the stories she told to the way she entered the room, Rose was exuberant and entertaining and enjoyed being the center of attention.

Isabel Buchanan, who was perfectly content on the fringes, pushed her wavy hair off her sticky forehead with hands that trembled from the nightmare drive through Atlanta to the airport to pick up her mom. Her mom’s trip to Scotland had doubled as both research and vacation. The jammed stop-and-go traffic had left Izzy flustered and already dreading their exit from the airport.

Rolling her stiff shoulders, Izzy stepped around the bumper of the car, popping the trunk open on the way. Her mom had a beautiful plaid scarf of greens and browns and blues tossed over her shoulder and what appeared to be new earrings. Either purchase might inspire her mother to gush, and she would expect reciprocal gushing from Izzy. Making an educated guess, Izzy asked, “Are those earrings your surprise?”

Without waiting for an answer, she hauled one of her mom’s giant wheeled suitcases closer and prepared to heave it into the back. The sooner they got out of Atlanta, the sooner she could get back to work planning the High- land festival. Or she might pour an extra-large glass of wine and escape into a book. A guilty pleasure, considering how much she still had to get in order in three scant weeks.

“Allow me, please.” A bearded man who had been rolling cases to the curb stepped forward with a grin and an accent Izzy couldn’t place.

She checked her pockets and winced. No cash to tip the man, and no hope her mom had thought of something so inconsequential.

“Do you like them? They’re hammered silver.” Her mom flipped her bobbed matching silver hair to the side and displayed one earring with her fingers. “And as a matter of fact, I did buy them from a lovely shop in Edinburgh, but I brought something bigger home. Something more exciting.”

“Your scarf? It’s lovely.” Izzy gave her mom limited attention while she watched the man load suitcase after suitcase into her trunk, fitting them together like a puzzle. More luggage than her mom had left with. She waved to catch the man’s attention. “Hang on. That’s not all my mom’s stuff.”

For the first time, Izzy really looked at the man. He was close to her mom in age, and good-looking in a bear-like way with a gleaming white smile highlighted by a salt-and-pepper beard. His full head of hair was a shade darker, but graying heavily at the temples. The expression on the man’s face when he looked in her mom’s direction—a mix of adoration and amusement—cleared the fog of confusion.

Lord have mercy, her mother had brought back a six-foot, two-hundred-pound-plus souvenir from Scotland.

From A Highlander Walks into a Bar. Copyright © 2019 by Laura Trentham and reprinted with permission from St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

*****

Author Info:

Laura Trentham is an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance, including Then He Kissed Me and The Military Wife. She is a member of RWA, and has been a finalist multiple times in the Golden Heart competition. A chemical engineer by training and a lover of books by nature, she lives in South Carolina.

Website:  https://www.lauratrentham.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraTrentham

Or join my reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1733284316920632/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTrentham

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lauratrentham/

Sign up for my newsletter:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w7o6b1

Follow me on Bookbub for new release or sale announcements: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-trentham

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Book Review – The Military Wife

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Sneak Peek

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Book Review, Heart of a Hero series, Laura Trentham, The Military Wife

I saw yesterday that this was one of The New York Posts’s books of the week … I couldn’t agree more!

*****

The Military Wife

A Heart of a Hero Novel

by Laura Trentham

Blurb:

A young widow embraces a second chance at life when she reconnects with those who understand the sacrifices made by American soldiers and their families in award-winning author Laura Trentham’s The Military Wife.

Harper Lee Wilcox has been marking time in her hometown of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina since her husband, Noah Wilcox’s death, nearly five years earlier. With her son Ben turning five and living at home with her mother, Harper fights a growing restlessness, worried that moving on means leaving the memory of her husband behind.

Her best friend, Allison Teague, is dealing with struggles of her own. Her husband, a former SEAL that served with Noah, was injured while deployed and has come home physically healed but fighting PTSD. With three children underfoot and unable to help her husband, Allison is at her wit’s end.

In an effort to reenergize her own life, Harper sees an opportunity to help not only Allison but a network of other military wives eager to support her idea of starting a string of coffee houses close to military bases around the country.

In her pursuit of her dream, Harper crosses paths with Bennett Caldwell, Noah’s best friend and SEAL brother. A man who has a promise to keep, entangling their lives in ways neither of them can foresee. As her business grows so does an unexpected relationship with Bennett. Can Harper let go of her grief and build a future with Bennett even as the man they both loved haunts their pasts?

Buy-Book Links: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250145536

*****

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

Present Day

Winters in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, were temperamental. The sunshine and a temperate southerly breeze that started a day could turn into biting, salt-tinged snow flurries by afternoon. But one thing Harper Lee Wilcox could count on was that winter along the Outer Banks was quiet.

The bustle and hum and weekly rotation of tourists that marked the summer months settled into a winter melancholy that Harper enjoyed. Well, perhaps not enjoyed in the traditional sense . . . more like she enjoyed surrendering to the melancholy. In fact, her mother may have accused her of wallowing in it once or twice or a hundred times.

In the winter, she didn’t have to smile and pretend her life was great. Not that it was bad. Lots of people had it worse. Much worse. In fact, parts of her life were fabulous. Almost five, her son was happy and healthy and smart. Her mother’s strength and support were unwavering and had bolstered her through the worst time of her life. Her friends were amazing.

That was the real issue. In the craziness of the summer season, she forgot to be sad. Her husband, Noah, had been gone five years; the same amount of time they’d been married. Soon the years separating them would outnumber the years they’d been together. The thought was sobering and only intensified the need to keep a sacred place in her heart waiting and empty. Her secret memorial.

She parked the sensible sedan Noah had bought her soon after they married under her childhood home. Even though they were inland, the stilts were a common architectural feature up and down the Outer Banks.

Juggling her laptop and purse, Harper pushed open the front door and stacked her things to the side. “I’m home!”

A little body careened down the steps and crashed into her legs. She returned the ferocious hug. Her pregnancy was the only thing that had kept her going those first weeks after she’d opened her front door to the Navy chaplain.

“How was preschool? Did you like the pasta salad I packed for your lunch?”

“It made me toot and everyone laughed, even the girls. Can you pack it for me again tomorrow?”

“Ben! You shouldn’t want to toot.” Laughter ruined the admonishing tone she was going for.

As Harper’s mom said time and again, the kid was a hoot and a half. He might have Harper’s brown wavy hair, but he had Noah’s spirit and mannerisms and humor. Ben approached everything with an optimism Harper had lost or perhaps had never been gifted with from the start. He was a blessing Harper sometimes wondered if she deserved.

“Where’s Yaya?” She ruffled his unruly hair.

Of course, her mom had picked an unconventional name. “Grandmother” was too old-fashioned and pedestrian. Since she’d retired from the library, she had cast off any semblance of normalcy and embraced an inner spirit that was a throwback to 1960s bra burners and Woodstock.

“Upstairs painting.” Ben slipped his hand into Harper’s and tugged her toward the kitchen. Bright red and orange and blue paint smeared the back of his hand and arm like a rainbow. At least, her mom had put him in old clothes. “Yaya gave me my own canvas and let me paint whatever I wanted.”

“And what did you paint?” Harper prayed it wasn’t a nude study, which was the homework assignment from her mom’s community college class.

“I drew Daddy in heaven. I used all the colors.” The matter-of-factness of his tone clawed at her heart.

No child should have to grow up only knowing their father through pictures and stories. Her own father had been absent because of divorce and disinterest. He’d sent his court-ordered child support payments regularly until she turned eighteen but rarely visited or shown any curiosity about her. It had hurt until teenaged resentment scarred over the wound.

Noah would have made a great dad. The best. That he never got the chance piled more regrets and what-ifs onto her winter inspired melancholy.

“I’m sure he would have loved your painting.” Luckily, Ben didn’t notice her choked-up reply.

He went to the cabinet, pulled out white bread and crunchy peanut butter, and proceeded to make two sandwiches. It was their afternoon routine. Someday he would outgrow it. Outgrow her and become a man like his daddy.

She poured him a glass of milk, and they ate their sandwiches, talking about how the rest of his day went—outside of his epic toots. His world was small and safe and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Her mom breezed into the kitchen, her still-thick but graying brown hair twisted into a messy bun, a thin paintbrush holding it in place. Slim and attractive, she wore paint-splattered jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt that read: I make AARP look good. Harper pinched her lips together to stifle a grin.

“How’s your assignment coming along?” Harper asked.

“I’m having a hard time with proportions. It’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure my man’s you-know-what shouldn’t hang down to his kneecaps.”

Harper shot a glance toward Ben, who had moved to the floor of the den to play with LEGOs. As crazy as her mom drove her, she was and would always be Harper’s rock. The irony wasn’t lost on her. As hard as she’d worked to get out of Kitty Hawk and out of her mother’s reach when she was young, she’d never regretted coming home.

“It’s been a while for me, too, but that’s not how I remember them, either.”

“A pity for us both.” Her mother pulled a jar of olives out of the fridge and proceeded to make martinis—shaken, not stirred. She raised her eyebrows, and Harper answered the unspoken question with a nod. Her mom poured and plopped an extra olive in Harper’s. “How was work?”

Harper handled bookkeeping and taxes for a number of local businesses, but a good number closed up shop in the winter. “Routine. Quiet.”

“Exactly like your life.”

Harper sputtered on her first sip. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I hate seeing you mope around all winter.” Her mom poked at the olive in her drink with a toothpick and looked toward Ben, dropping her voice. “He’s been gone five years, sweetheart, and you haven’t gone on so much as a date.”

“That’s not true. I went to lunch with Whit a few weeks ago.”

“He was trying to sell you life insurance. Doesn’t count.”

Harper huffed and covered her discomfort by taking another sip. “What about you? You never date.”

“True, but your father ruined me on relationships. I have trust issues. You and Noah, on the other hand, seemed to get along fine. Or am I wrong?”

“You’re not.” Another sip of the martini grew the tingly warmth in her stomach. Their marriage hadn’t been completely without conflict, but what relationship was? As she looked back on their fights, they seemed juvenile and unimportant. It was easier to remember the good times. And there were so many to choose from.

She touched the empty finger on her left hand. The ring occupied her jewelry box and had for three years. But, occasionally, her finger would ache with phantom pains as if it were missing a vital organ.

“You’re young. Find another good man. Or forget the man, just find something you’re passionate about.”

“I’m happy right where I am.” Harper hammered up her defenses as if preparing for a hurricane.

“Don’t mistake comfort for happiness. You’re comfortable here. Too comfortable. But you’re not happy.”

“God, Mom, why are you Dr. Phil–ing me all of sudden? Are you wanting me and Ben to move out or something?” Her voice sailed high and Ben looked over at them, his eyes wide, clutching his LEGO robot so tightly its head fell off.

“You and Ben are welcome to stay and take care of me in my old age.” Her mom shifted toward the den. “You hear that, honey? I want you to stay forever.”

Ben gave them an eye-crinkling smile that reminded her so much of Noah her insides squirmed, and she killed the rest of her drink. She was so careful not to show how lonely she sometimes felt in front of Ben.

“Harper.” Her mom’s chiding tone reminded her so much of her own childhood, she glanced up instinctively. Her mom took her hand, and her hazel eyes matched the ones that stared back at Harper in the mirror. “You’re marking time in Kitty Hawk. Find something that excites you again. Don’t let Ben—or Noah— be your excuse.”

Harper looked to her son. His chubby fingers fit the small LEGO pieces together turning the robot into a house. She had built her life brick by brick adding pieces and colors, expanding, taking pride, until one horrible day she’d stopped. Maybe her mom was right. Was it time to build something new?

*****

Review:

My review is not going to give this book justice.  And I don’t know how to make sure you understand just how good it is!

I think my favorite part of this book (and is isn’t an easy choice!) is that this is just as much about Bennett and Noah as it is Harper and either of them.  The relationship that these two build, even if Bennett goes into it dragging his feet, is so real and so touching.  Bennett has spent almost his whole life being either unwanted or left behind.  He’s learned to keep himself apart so he doesn’t get hurt but Noah doesn’t let him.  Noah’s openness and just plain ol’ good-heartedness makes him impossible to resist and before long these two are like brothers.  Unfortunately that means that Noah’s death is just another rug pulled out from under Bennett and one that is even more painful for the way it happens.

I love Harper’s resilience but her life after Noah is hard-fought.  There were times during the flashback chapters that hurt with what I knew was coming.  And one in particular (no spoilers!) that made me ugly-cry.  But with the help of family and friends, and a little therapy, she’s at a point where a relationship might actually work.  And the one that she develops with Bennett may not be simple because of their pasts, but it is so very real and works so well for the people that they’ve become.

Trentham also brings in some of the difficulties our military personnel and their families face every day.  While it is a solid mechanism to get Bennett and Harper together, it’s also a main storyline on its own and handled with the grace & respect such a difficult issue deserves.  It’s not easy – either picking yourself up after being left behind, dealing with the pain and troubles faced by those who have returned, or waiting for loved ones to come home (and fearing for news that no one ever wants to get).  But Trentham makes sure that we get an understanding of exactly how strong these people have to be, both those serving and the ones who love them.

I’ll be the first to admit that I love everything that Trentham puts out buuuuut this is probably my favorite.  She manages to elicit just about every emotion possible and make it look easy.  So be prepared to laugh and cry and everything in between.

*****

Author Info:

LAURA TRENTHAM is an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance. She is a member of RWA, and has been a finalist multiple times in the Golden Heart competition. A chemical engineer by training and a lover of books by nature, she lives in South Carolina.  Visit her at www.lauratrentham.com

 

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Book Review – Set the Night on Fire

09 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

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Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, Set the Night on Fire

Every trip to Cottonbloom is a treat!

*****

Set the Night on Fire

Cottonbloom, Book 6

by Laura Trentham

Release Date:  July 31, 2018

Blurb:

From award winning author Laura Trentham comes Set the Night on Fire, a novel about starting over, finding your way back home—and falling head over heels. . .

Ella Boudreaux has a lot to prove to her family, friends, and foes—and to herself. So when her marriage ends she decides to invest her energy and money into a place that brings back some of Ella’s happiest memories: the Abbott brothers’ garage. Maybe, if she puts her mind to it, she can teach skeptical, stubborn Mack Abbott how to make the business a true success. Which would be a lot easier if the hunky mechanic didn’t make her motor run quite so fast…and hot.

Mack was furious when his brother, Ford, sold his share of the business. He’s in no rush to team up with a wealthy divorcée who shows up to the garage in stilettos—and the longest, sexiest legs he’s seen in forever. But Ella’s grit and determination won’t quit…and soon Mack can see that she’s been down a few rough roads herself. Neither Mack nor Ella can deny the fierce attraction that’s revving up between them. Could it be that true love has been in the backseat all along…and they’ve finally found the key?

Amz: https://www.amazon.com/Set-Night-Fire-Cottonbloom-Novel-ebook/dp/B078X17ZDW

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/set-the-night-on-fire-laura-trentham/1127802341?ean=9781250131317

iBooks:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/set-the-night-on-fire/id1333504213?mt=11

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/set-the-night-on-fire-7

GooglePlay:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Laura_Trentham_Set_the_Night_on_Fire?id=-PRFDwAAQBAJ

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36797817-set-the-night-on-fire

*****

Excerpt:

“How the—” Mack caught the curse in his hand. “You’re not a mechanic, Ms. Boudreaux.”

“Call me Ella.” At his stony stare, she shrugged and continued. “You don’t need another mechanic. You have plenty of mechanics. What you need is someone to market you.”

“And you know enough about cars to do that?” His skepticism hit her like a kid pulling her pigtails behind the monkey bars. Annoying.

She shouldn’t rise to the bait. Unfortunately, her mouth was less mature than her mind, and she reeled off facts her brother had recited with pride.

“That Datsun 240Z you were under? It’s a seventy-three with a 2.4-liter straight-six and side-draft carburetors. It can hit sixty in 8.2 seconds with 151 horsepower. Top speed is a hundred twenty-five miles per hour. Not that anyone should be driving that fast on parish roads.”

He looked . . . stunned. She confined herself to a small self-satisfied smile. She had a feeling nothing much surprised Mack Abbott, or if it did, he made sure the world didn’t realize it.

“How did you . . . How do you know all that?”

“That’s not important. What is important is that I can help you.”

“We don’t need help.” He shook his head and re-chinked the breaks in his wall of grump.

“Yes, you do.”

“No, we don’t.” The playground-level annoyance continued with his childish denials.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, probably not helping to diffuse the situation.

“Name your price.”

“That’s not how this is going to work, Mack.”

“I say how things are run and done in this garage. Not you, Ms. Boudreaux.”

“I have a quarter stake and an equal voice.”

“Except, we handle things democratically around here and my brothers will have my back. Every. Single. Time.”

Dangit. He had her there. Pushing against Mack was like trying to move a mountain. She glanced at the twins. If she couldn’t move Mack, then she’d have to go around him. She wanted to stalk out and slam the door, but forced herself to mosey as if she wasn’t bothered at all by the situation or the man. He followed her to the door. She stopped with one foot out and one in. The breeze caught her hair, and she tossed her head to get it out of her eyes.

“You might vote me down, but at least give me a chance to be heard.”

“Name your price,” he repeated in a growly, grizzly voice that was meant to grind down her dissension.

Where she found the gumption she didn’t know, but she gave his cheek two pats and said, “You can’t afford me, tough guy.”

*****

Review:

I love Mack.  He’s taken on a lot, plus the stress that comes with being the de facto head of the Abbott family, after the passing of their father.  He’s working hard to keep things moving as they have been … but things are changing and it is all brought to a head with the sale of a part of the business to Ella.  He’s happy with his younger brothers finding good women to settle down with but the garage belongs to the Abbotts and that’s one change he’s not going to just accept.

Ella has her reasons for buying Ford out and I admire her gumption in not letting Mack intimidate her.  Her fake it until you make it attitude makes her one of my favorite heroines.  She’s not going down without a fight and she definitely keeps Mack on his toes, which he so very much needs.

Both Mack & Ella come into the situation with baggage but I love the fact that once they get over the animosity of how their partnership began there really isn’t too much drama.  There’s a little difficulty in figuring out how to move from enemies to lovers but there isn’t so much back & forth that it gets annoying.  Instead they handle it with the maturity that reasonable people should 🙂

(Returning readers will enjoy the resolution of a few issues in the latest Cottonbloom book, but Trentham does a great job of giving new readers a complete & enjoyable story.)

*****

Author Info:

An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book, was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR.

When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

Website: https://www.lauratrentham.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraTrentham

Or join my reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1733284316920632/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTrentham

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lauratrentham/

Sign up for my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bwbOkD

Follow me on Bookbub for new release or sale announcements:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-trentham

*****

Giveaway:

The first five (5) books in the Cottonbloom series!

Kiss Me That Way, Book 1

Then He Kissed Me, Book 2

Till I Kissed You, Book 3

Leave the Night On, Book 4

When the Stars Come Out, Book 5

Contest is open to International entries! US winner will receive autographed copies.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/746772684/

*****

Tour Schedule:

July 30

The Reading Café (Review) – http://thereadingcafe.com

July 31

Romance Reviews Today Blog (Review) – https://romrevtoday.blogspot.com

SOS Aloha – http://sosaloha.blogspot.com

August 1

Cara’s Book Boudoir – http://www.carasbookboudoir.com

Ever After Book Reviews (Review) – https://everafterbookreviews.blogspot.com

August 2

Community Bookstop (Review) – http://communitybookstop.blogspot.com

StoreyBook Reviews (Review) – http://www.storeybookreviews.com

August 3

Reds Romance Reviews (Review) – https://redsromancereviews.blogspot.com

Katherine’s Book Universe (Review) – https://www.katherinesbookuniverse.wordpress.com

August 4

Moonlight Rendezvous (Review) – http://www.moonlightrendezvous.com

Nicole’s Book Musings – http://nicolesbookmusings.blogspot.com

August 5

My Novelesque Life (Review) – http://mynovelesquelife.wordpress.com

August 6

Bigreadersite (Review) – http://bigreadersite.wordpress.com

Smut Book Junkie Book Reviews (Review) – http://www.smutbookjunkie.com

August 7

Cathy’s World (Review) – http://cathygeha.tumblr.com

August 8

2014 & Beyond! (Review) – http://2014andbeyond.com

Paulette’s Papers – http://paulettespapers.com

August 9

Romantic Reads (Review) – https://romanticreadsandsuch.wordpress.com

August 10

Francoise’s Reading Corner (Review) – https://bookishattic.wordpress.com

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Book Review – When the Stars Come Out

30 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

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Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, When the Stars Come Out

This isn’t my first visit to Cottonbloom … and I really hope it won’t be my last!!!

*****

When the Stars Come Out

A Cottonbloom Novel

by Laura Trentham

Blurb:

Cottonbloom. A beautiful, faraway place where a woman can escape her past—and find reason to stay forever in Laura Trentham’s When the Stars Come Out. . .

Willa Brown never planned to stay in Cottonbloom. She was on the way to somewhere else when she landed there and found work at the Abbot brothers’ garage. . .and a sense of comfort and safety that she had never known. The same holds true for Jackson Abbott himself. With one glance in her direction, he can make Willa’s heart melt. But what begins as an unrequited crush turns into something far more powerful than Willa could have ever imagined. . .

Jackson’s most meaningful relationship has always been with his car—and he’s not afraid to admit it. Still, he can’t help but become emotionally entangled with his new star mechanic Willa, who is definitely hiding some dark secrets of her own beneath the hood. Jackson desperately wants Willa to trust him, and to seek protection in his arms. But even as the two slowly surrender to their shared attraction, the danger lurking in Willa’s past remains a stubborn obstacle. Can she open up enough to give them both a chance at having real and lasting love?

Goodreads: http://smarturl.it/minm6t

Amz: http://smarturl.it/ot9u7g

BN: http://smarturl.it/z4d8xz

iBooks: http://smarturl.it/5dles5

Kobo: http://smarturl.it/j60yyx

GooglePlay: http://smarturl.it/qvi0by

Praise for When the Stars Come Out

“The fifth installment in the Cottonbloom series, following Leave the Light On (2017) is hot and sweet, and readers will cheer for Willa and Jackson. Fans of Kristan Higgins and Susan Mallery will love the immersive world that Trentham has created in Cottonbloom, a small southern town divided by the Mississippi River.” Booklist

“When the Stars Come Out is a tender and sexy small-town tale of blossoming love.” BookPage

Returning to Cottonbloom has never been sweeter, When The Stars Come Out is pure literary magic, it’s sure to have readers mesmerized from start to finish!! Red’s Romance Reviews, 5 stars

*****

Excerpt:

Willa glanced down and back up at Jackson through her lashes. The gentle, flirtatious look hit him like a punch. This time his heart kicked like he might require someone to call 911. “Do I clean up good?”

He knew what she wanted to hear and later, in the dark solitude of his bed, he’d tell her and, even better, show her. But, for now, he tempered his response, hoping to get a rise out of her. “Not bad.”

She stepped forward and punched his arm. It might have stung if she hadn’t tipped to the side as her fist made contact. Her eyes popped wide and a little huff escaped. With reaction times honed on the racetrack, he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her flush with his body.

“You sure you know how to operate those shoes?” This time he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“They don’t require a license. And I was doing fine until you showed up.”

Her admission made him feel slightly better. He wasn’t the only one who was off balance. Her body notched into his perfectly with the added inches the heels lent her. His focus dropped from her sparking eyes to her mouth. Maybe he’d kiss the gloss off them right now. His lips hovered an inch from hers. So close he could feel the ramp-up of her breathing. Or was that his breathing spinning out of control?

*****

Review:

Be still my heart – I just want to give every Abbott brother a hug!  Abandoned by their mother as small boys, they were loved by their father and their aunts, but they definitely missed out on something without that motherly love.  And now with the sudden death of their dad, things are even more complicated.

For Jackson it all comes to a head when he realizes that he might lose his right-hand woman.  Willa has been running from her past and trying her best to lie low.  And while she’s had a crush on Jackson for years, having him finally notice her as more than a great employee doesn’t fit her plan for hiding.

Trentham is one of the best at delivering character driven small-town romances.  There is such a feeling of community (here it shines with the closeness of the brothers) and when trouble happens they rally around each other.  And while Willa doesn’t think that’s what she wants, it is definitely what she needs.  It is time that she faces up to what happened so she can finally start living again.  Unfortunately she’s been on her own for so long, scared and hesitant to trust thanks to some bad experiences, so it is going to take a lot of patience and understanding on Jackson’s part to get her to that point.  Good thing the more self-contained Abbott brother has both in spades!

*****

Author Info:

An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book, was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR.

When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraTrentham

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*****

Giveaway:

Enter to win the first four (4) books in the Cottonbloom series!

Kiss Me That Way, Book 1

Then He Kissed Me, Book 2

Till I Kissed You, Book 3

Leave the Night On, Book 4

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/746772683/

*****

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Book Review – A Reckless Redemption

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Reckless Redemption, Book Review, Laura Trentham, Spies and Lovers series

A Reckless Redemption

Spies and Lovers series

by Laura Trentham

Warning: Contains a broody Scotsman, a fiery-haired lass, and a night of passion that changes everything. Readers are encouraged to bring a fan.

Can a single night’s deception lead to a lifelong love?

On the eve of her wedding to a man she detests, Brynmore McCann can think of only one way to escape—by ruining herself—but the local lads leave her wholly uninspired. Just as she’s ready to accept her fate, she spots Maxwell Drake, home after nearly a decade. Even though he had loved her sister when they were young, Bryn has always considered him hers, and she can’t think of anyone she’d rather have bed her for the first time. Only she never intends for him to uncover her real name.

Upon returning home, Maxwell is stunned by the news that his father may have left him an inheritance. As the unacknowledged by-blow of a local nobleman, Maxwell struggles with resentment over the way he and his mother were treated by his father and the village. To add to his troubles, he discovers the lass he spent an incredibly satisfying night with was not the village whore, but the high-born sister of his first love. He insists Brynmore travel with him to Edinburgh until they determine if she is with child. Because if she is, she’ll marry him whether she wants to or not.

Along the road to Edinburgh, they are attacked by persons unknown. As the list of suspects who want them dead grows longer and his worries deepen, Maxwell prepares for an even more personal battle—how to keep from surrendering his heart to Brynmore.

I’m an avid reader of Trentham’s contemporary series but this is the first of her historicals I’ve read.  (And it can easily stand on it’s own so don’t worry if this is your first too 🙂 )  I found A Reckless Redemption to be a fun adventure.  There’s suspense and danger, love and sizzle, plus all the feels you could want.  All of those wonderful things that make a good love story!

Bryn’s somehow found herself in a whole mess of trouble and she’s not sure why.  Her step-sister is forcing her to marry (against her will) an abusive brute and Bryn’s desperate to find a way out.  How lucky for her an unrequited love from her childhood shows up at just the right time … or maybe not because things get even more complicated.

Maxwell’s life hasn’t been easy.  As a child he was treated horribly because he was the bastard son of a nobleman and only managed to survive due to kindness of others.  After he left to join the military, there was war … yeah, that’s gonna leave some scars (inside and out).  So while he’s grown into a good man, he’s got a lot of walls built up.  Then he meets Bryn again and the poor man doesn’t stand a chance.

I loved these two together.  Maxwell tries to be all stern and standoffish but its really hard to hide that those walls are starting to crumble.  All of his hardships have left him gun-shy but the man really needs someone to care for him.  And no one on earth has a bigger heart that Bryn.  She’s forever taking care of others and it takes about two minutes for her to charm just about everyone she meets!

There’s some shenanigans over the reason for the marriage and Maxwell’s inheritance that lead them into all sorts of mischief and danger.  Trentham makes sure it all wraps up nicely at the end but she does take you on quite the ride to get there.

While they may find themselves in a bit of trouble at the moment, if Bryn and Maxwell work together there is just about nothing that they can’t overcome.  As long as they are willing to take a chance with their hearts … yeah, that leads to some troubles even more dangerous than the people trying to kill them!  But you know they’ll figure it out and manage to get a HEA before its all over.

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Book Review – Leave the Night On

08 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, Leave the Night On

Woo Hoo!  It’s time to return to Cottonbloom!!!!

*****

Leave The Night On

Cottonbloom #4

by Laura Trentham

Releasing August 1, 2017

St. Martin’s Press

Blurb:

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge–life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

Sutton Mize is known for lavishing attention on the customers who flock to her boutique on the wealthy side of her Mississippi town. So when she finds a lace thong in her fiance’s classic cherry-red Camaro, she knows just who she sold it to: her own best friend. In an instant, Sutton’s whole world goes up in flames. . .

Wyatt Abbott has harbored a crush on Sutton since he was a young kid from the other side of the tracks. He witnessed Sutton’s shocking discovery in the Camaro at his family-owned garage–and it made him angry. What kind of man could take lovely, gorgeous Sutton for granted? But then Sutton comes up with an idea: Why not give her betrothed a taste of his own medicine and pretend that she’s got a lover of her own? Wyatt is more than happy to play the hot-and-heavy boyfriend. But what begins as a fictional affair soon develops into something more real, and more passionate, than either Sutton or Wyatt could have imagined. Could it be that true love has been waiting under the hood all along?

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450643-leave-the-night-on

Goodreads Series Link https://www.goodreads.com/series/178426-cottonbloom

Buy Links:      AMAZON | B & N | GOOGLE | ITUNES | KOBO

*****

Excerpt:

Jackson grabbed Wyatt’s arm and forced him around. “You like her.”

“Everyone likes her. She’s nice.”

“I mean, you like like her. You have since we were kids—I’ve not forgotten how you walked around with cow eyes around her—and that kiss out front wasn’t pretend. You two nearly melted the asphalt.”

Jackson’s twin powers had veered sharply annoying. “I maybe, sort of like her. What’s wrong with that? She’s single; I’m single.”

“She’s been single for less than a week. She’s using you.”

“I’m using her too. In return for me squiring her around, she’s going to get her judge daddy to talk up the garage at the country club. Send some more projects our way to make up for the Camaro.”

“That kiss was all a selfless act for the garage?” Jackson’s sarcasm was not appreciated.

Wyatt had to look away from his brother’s gaze which prompted a muttered curse from Jackson.

“Do not fall for this woman, Wyatt. Whether she means to or not, she’s going to rip your heart into little pieces and feed it to the gators before she goes back to her old life.”

“We’re not getting serious. In fact, we agreed that after I take her to the gala, it’s over.”

Jackson didn’t look pleased with the news. He looked worried. “As long as you don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s anything more than that. She’ll be back with Tarwater or someone like him by Christmas.”

Because the thought had already burrowed into his chest, Wyatt’s reaction was knee-jerk and defensive. “Someone like him?”

“You know, sophisticated. Worldly. Rich. Well-connected. Well-groomed.”

“Eff you,” Wyatt shot back, but there was little heat to it.

Jackson was right. “I’ve been told I clean up real nice.”

Jackson’s smile revealed his dimples. A rare sight since their pop had died last year. “Doesn’t count if it’s from a female relative over the age of sixty.”

*****

Review:

I’ve seen a few reviews where people have had a problem with Sutton – I think they feel like she didn’t put as much effort in or that she took advantage of Wyatt.  But relationships aren’t always even.  Sometimes you are having a bad time of it, like Sutton, and need the support.  Wyatt does a fantastic job of being there for her, even when it’s not easy for him, and helping her find her mojo.

You get the feeling she’s never really had anyone push her or challenger her to be the person she wants to be.  Instead she’s just done the expected thing and floated through life.  With the discovery of being cheated on, not just by her fiancé but her best friend, things are turned upside down.  Luckily Wyatt is there to catch her and help her find her place.  He’s just hoping it will be by his side …

Wyatt comfortable in his own skin and has a good idea of who he is.  It’s his family that has a bit of the drama going on.  Ever since his dad died things haven’t been easy for the brothers and it seems to be getting worse.  Having Sutton ask him to be her fake boyfriend, something that he wouldn’t mind making real, is a good diversion from the more difficult things at home.

It’s those problems at home that you know will turn into some great future stories  🙂  The closeness among Wyatt’s brothers (or at least most of the brothers) is heart-warming but also got me very curious about what things they are hiding from each other.  Trentham yet again creates an interesting group of people with a lot of potential.

If you love small town charm, quirky characters, and touching love stories, Trentham’s Cottonbloom series is a must read – she is definitely making a name for herself as a go-to author of southern contemporary romances.   While this is part of a bigger series, Leave the Night On is the start of a new subsection and can easily stand on its own so those that are new to this little divided town definitely have a great place to start.  And it means that you are all set to enjoy all the delicious goodness that the Abbott brothers are sure to bring!  (But don’t blame me if you find yourself adding a whole lot of her backlist to your TBR pile  🙂 )

BTW, for those that worry about the apparent one-sidedness of their relationship, the epilogue does a good job of showing exactly how well Sutton gets Wyatt.

*****

Author Info:

An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. The first two books of her Falcon Football series were named Top Picks by RT Book Reviews magazine. Then He Kissed Me, a Cottonbloom novel, was named as one of Amazon’s best romances of 2016. When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as large as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

Author Links:   WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS

*****

Giveaway:

Win signed copies of the Cottonbloom series with bookmarks, bath bombs, scented soaps, and a beach ready bag.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/746772681/?

*****

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Book Review – Light Up the Night

12 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

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Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, Light Up the Night

Light Up the Night

Cottonbloom #3.75

by Laura Trentham

When a police chief who craves stability meets a free-thinking, colorful college professor, neither anticipate the fireworks that light up the night…

After a mugging in grad school left her with an irrational fear of the night not even her PhD in psychology has helped overcome, Sadie Wren is sure she’s found an idyllic, safe place in Cottonbloom. When a break-in at her house shatters her sense of safety, gruff, protective Thaddeus Preston storms into her life. On the surface, they have little in common, but a loneliness she’s only too familiar with hides behind his infrequent smiles. But based on her knowledge of the human psyche, Sadie is convinced her infatuation with Thad will burn out as quickly as it flared.

As the Chief of Police of Cottonbloom, Mississippi, Thaddeus Preston maintains a strict control on everything in the small town—himself included. With an older brother serving time for a crime Thad committed when he was just a kid, he lives a life of penance, not allowing anyone to get close. When a reported lurker turns into a real threat, Thad is determined to restore order as quickly as possible and get back to his virtual jail.

But Thad’s brother gets out on probation just as Sadie and the town turns to him for protection. His tidy, barren life spins into chaos, and the only thing that makes sense is the one woman who shouldn’t.

I really don’t think the blurb gives Sadie enough credit … or maybe it’s just me that sees “free-thinking, colorful” and automatically thinks hippie  🙂  And she totally isn’t.  Yes, she’s got dyed streaks in her hair and she’s a little (ok, a lot) more bubbly than the oh-so-serious police chief but she’s definitely not the wild child I thought she’d be.  She’s smart, funny and a good foil for the taciturn man in uniform who comes to help her after a break-in.

Thad has put himself in his own kind of prison after his brother went to jail.  They were both young and stupid and he hates that he’s free while his brother is in a cell.  He’s turned himself into an all-business cop who doesn’t have a life outside of his job and no real friends to speak of.  And women are definitely not in his orbit.  Until he meets Sadie and she has him thinking about things he hasn’t in years.

I adored these two together.  Thad is great at settling Sadie when her fears get too much.  His steady, strong presence helps her calm down enough that her professional mind can help her work through her issues.  On the other side, Sadie touches a part of Thad that he’s locked away and helps him find the man under the uniform.  She brings out laughter and fun that he’s been missing for way too long.

My only complaint, and this is common for Threntham’s stories, is that I definitely didn’t get enough!  Even her full-length books are over too soon so you know that her novellas, while complete and satisfying, will always need more pages.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing missing in the story – the characters are well-crafted and the plot is believable & thorough, I can’t help but want for more when something is this good!  I’ll definitely be first in line when the next book comes out this summer knowing that Trentham just owns it at delivering the quirky small-town romance 🙂

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Book Review – Candy Cane Christmas

28 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Book Review, Candy Cane Christmas, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham

cover97060-mediumCandy Cane Christmas

A Cottonbloom story

by Laura Trentham

A very Cottonbloom Christmas!

Jeremy Whitehurst has tried to leave his bad-boy behavior and tarnished image behind in Alabama for a fresh start in Cottonbloom, Louisiana. Unfortunately, trouble has dogged him across state lines. Stepping up and protecting a young woman from her abusive boyfriend earned him a beat-down and got him fired. Although the thanks in the girl’s dark eyes made it all worth it, he recognizes she’s just a different kind of trouble. A trouble he’s not sure he can stay away from.

One rebellious summer dented Kayla Redmond’s carefree innocence. Now her focus is on completing her associate’s degree for bookkeeping, and no one is going to derail her plans. Unfortunately, her job at Fournette Brothers Designs puts her in the path of the one man who has seen her at her worst, yet his blue eyes don’t judge her. He sees beyond the brokenness inside of her and rouses her wild side once more. But, that’s what got her in trouble in the first place.

Christmas is coming and Kayla’s ready to forgive herself and take a chance. But the holiday has only ever brought heartache to Jeremy. No Christmas miracle kept his mother clean or out of jail. Will one reckless night and some time spent in the back of a cop car be the best present Jeremy’s ever been given?

I’ve been waiting a long time for Jeremy to get a HEA and Trentham delivers beautifully.  She gives us all of his background info that we’ve been waiting for, plus forgiveness and a chance at something more than just living for him.

Jeremy’s been beating himself up for his bad decisions for a long time but he’s proven himself to be a better man, to have learned from his past.  Now he just has to realize it J  Kayla also has a little self-forgiveness to do and to realize that bad choices don’t define us.  Like Jeremy, it’s what you do from then on that’s important.

While there isn’t a lot of conflict here, the growth that they go through is just as important.  It’s a Christmas novella so there’s the requisite heart and emotion, learning and moving forward, fresh starts and healing old wounds … but of course with Trentham flair!  She’s not going to give us just any old holiday cheer – ours has leather, motorcycles and cop cars just to keep things hopping.

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