Book Review – Light Up the Night

Tags

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 🙂

Book Review – Candy Cane Christmas

Tags

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

Candy 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.

Book Review – Till I Kissed You

Tags

Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, Till I Kissed You

Till I Kissed You

Cottonbloom #3

by Laura Trentham

It’s summertime in Cottonbloom, where two lovers find themselves at a crossroads just as things start to heat up. . .

Regan Lovell grew up on the wealthy Mississippi side of Cottonbloom—and now, as mayor, she’s determined to save it from the fate of so many small towns. Part of her plan to help the local economy is the Labor Day tomato festival. If only she wasn’t being undermined by Sawyer Fournette, who’s planning a crayfish-themed celebration on the Louisiana side of the river on the very same weekend. The pranks and sabotage are getting out of hand, and she’s had it with him—no matter how much she enjoyed those stolen hours in his truck bed, so many years ago…

Sawyer knows that Regan’s never forgiven him for breaking her heart—but despite his reputation as a low-class swamp rat, he’d never hurt the woman who still secretly drives him crazy with desire. Someone in Cottonbloom has it out for her, though, and Sawyer intends to watch her back…and the rest of her too, if she can ever let go of her distrust. But will a common enemy be enough to unite them—and finally fulfill the promises they made one passionate night under the stars?

I hate to say it but it took me a little bit to get into this book.  I absolutely loved the first two in this series (Kiss Me That Way & Then He Kissed Me) and was so excited at the idea of finally getting this couple’s story … and it was because of that that I kept at it until I got hooked.  I can’t put my finger on exactly why, maybe it was because I was so anxious to get their HEA that the build-up just got to me, but whatever it was I was very happy that I didn’t give up.  Once it did get going I had a hard time putting it down.

I love Sawyer.  He’s got a good heart, cares about his family and his community.  His only big weaknesses are his feelings for Regan and how his insecurities from his childhood still cause him moments of doubt.  Especially with the wealthier ‘Sips (most importantly Regan’s mom).

Regan isn’t my favorite of the heroines but she grew on me as we find out her secrets and fears.  She’s a complicated person but she’s spent her whole life hiding every little thing and putting on a “face” for everyone.  I think that it causes her to be misunderstood by not only those around her but the readers as well.  As we get to see beneath the surface we start to understand her more.

The threat to Regan wasn’t as big of a deal as I expected it to be after having it be a part of all three stories – if you’ve read the others, it pretty much continued on in the same vein, but of course we finally get to find out who is behind it, which worked very well with what we’ve seen so far.  I was also thrilled to get the resolution on what happened to Regan & Sawyer all those years ago, causing such bad feelings between the two of them.  Unfortunately those emotions are still present and give them all sorts of trouble in the present.  But it was fun seeing them try to fight it out!

As is to be expected from Trentham, complex personal interactions and layered personalities are present in the last of the Fournette stories.  These stories are so much more than just a romance – it’s the chance to get to know people and love them like family.  I’m happy that there are more coming (most especially a HEA for my favorite Alabama transplant) and I definitely am looking forward to the new & sure-to-be interesting characters we will have the pleasure of meeting 🙂

(This is part of a series but can stand on its own with minor overlap to other stories, which are explained well so you can easily keep up if this is your first book.)

Book Review – Then He Kissed Me

Tags

Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Laura Trentham, Then He Kissed Me

Then He Kissed Me

Cottonbloom Novels #2

by Laura Trentham

Can two hearts come together in one divided town?

As a boy, Nash Hawthorne spent countless afternoons on the Louisiana side of Cottonbloom with Tally Fournette, wading in the river, peeling oranges and catching frogs. When illness stole his mother, Nash yearned to take Tally and run away—for good. Instead, he crossed the state line to live with his aunt. It was a short distance as the crow flies, but it swept him into a whole new world…

After Nash left, Tally managed to struggle through her own losses without him. But now that she’s crossed paths with him again—at Cottonbloom College, where the grown-up, gorgeous Nash teaches history—she is reminded of their cherished youthful connection…and an attraction that has only gotten stronger with age. Between Tally’s possessive ex and Nash’s snobbish aunt, no one thinks they belong together. In a town torn apart by old resentments and rivalries, can they find their way back to the life they once shared—and turn their long-lost dreams into a real and lasting love?

Do you need to have read Kiss Me That Way to enjoy this story?  No.  But it does help because this is one of those series that are intertwined and each is benefited by the others.

We caught glimpses of Nash and got to know Tally a little bit in the first book so we knew where this one was going to go.  But their histories have so much depth – the way that they had an amazing connection and then lost so much at the same time, being separated and having to go through difficult adolescences alone.  It’s similar to Cade and Monroe, the way that they meant so much to each other as kids but life took them away, only to bring them back together at the right time.  But Trentham makes sure that Tally & Nash have their own individual issues to work through.

Tally has felt stupid for years because she struggled in school.  Unfortunately the death of her parents just compounded what was already turning into a problem for her.  With her flighty uncle Del as her guardian and being raised by her teenage brother as best he could there wasn’t enough attention to get her the help she really needed.  It’s led to a lot of years where she’s felt like a lesser person, even after starting a very successful gym.  Subsequently her choices on a personal level haven’t been exactly the best.  Seeing her childhood best friend again, looking hot and being all smart & charming, definitely doesn’t help her insecurities.

Nash had his own image issues.  Being Nerdy Nash and super smart, he was an outcast at school – picked on or ignored.  Just because he got hot along the way doesn’t mean he’s all that more sure of himself than she is.  He seems to have a better handle on it than Tally does, thanks to finding a home for himself in academia, but he’s got some scars from his teen years that still impact things today … isn’t that always how it is?

I absolutely LOVE how easy it is for these two to reconnect.  They complement each other so well and to have that still there even after all these years leads to the foundation that they need to build something more.  As long as they can get over the fear of what it could mean for their hearts.

Then He Kissed Me is an absolutely freakin’ fantastic story of second-chance love.  Together Tally and Nash are cute and fun, bringing out the best in each other and challenging each other to do something more, to finally lay those last few issues to rest and move into a lasting, grown-up love.

Once again Trentham delivers good-ol’ down-home Southern living with quirky but lovable characters and a love story that will having you sighing with pleasure.  And she gives a little more about Sawyer and Regan – enough that I can’t wait to get my hands on their book next month!

Book Review – Kiss Me That Way

Tags

Book Review, Cottonbloom series, Kiss Me That Way, Laura Trentham

We’ve seen Laura Trentham’s Falcon Football Series and I was super stoked when I found out that she’s got a new place for us to call home!

*****

Kiss Me That Way

Cottonbloom #1

by Laura Trentham

Releasing May 31, 2016

St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Blurb:

A river divides Cottonbloom in two: the upscale enclave on the Mississippi side and the rundown, rough and tumble side in Louisiana. They’re worlds apart—but nothing can build a bridge like love…

Cade Fournette never had it easy Cottonbloom. He stuck around long enough to raise his orphaned siblings and then hightailed it out West—and never looked back. Even though he’s made a success of himself in Seattle, Cade never lost the toughness and the angry edge that helped him survive down South. His only weak spot: the girl he left behind…

Monroe Kirby came from the wealthy side of town, but that didn’t protect her from her mother’s drinking—or her mother’s boyfriend. It was Cade who did that, on a long-ago hot September night, before he disappeared…along with a piece of her heart. Now Monroe is a physical therapist who can fight for herself, and it’s Cade who could use some conditioning when he makes an unexpected return back home. Will he and Monroe pick up where they left off and finally explore their mutual passion—or will the scars and secrets of the past divide them once more?

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114466-kiss-me-that-way

Buy Links:      Amazon | B & N | Google | iTunes | Kobo

*****

Excerpt:

“You left Cottonbloom without telling me. Without saying good-bye. I want to know why.” Monroe hadn’t meant for the words to come out at all, much less with such vehemence.

“It was complicated.” Cade broke eye contact. “You were a good kid in a bad situation.”

“Weren’t you a good kid in a bad situation?”

He shifted toward her, bracing a hand on the dash and laying his other arm over the back of her seat, invading her space. She didn’t retreat. His intensity spurred her heart rate into an erratic gallop, yet she wasn’t intimidated. Perhaps it was only echoes of the past, but he made her feel safe, even when he was the one she should be scared of.

“I grew up fast and tough.” His voice contained more than a hint of warning.

“You were nice to me,” she said softly.

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking I’m nice. I wasn’t then, and I’m sure as hell not now.”

He ran a callused finger down her cheek, the rasp igniting her nerve endings like a flint. His hand continued south and wrapped itself in her braid, the slight tug on her scalp sending shivers through her body in spite of the sun bearing down on the truck. Her nipples felt tight, and she hoped her tight sports tank masked her sudden, inexplicable arousal.

He pulled her braid, forcing her toward him. She didn’t fight him. He dropped his face next to hers, his coarse beard hair caressing her cheek, his mouth close to her ear. “If I see something I want, I go after it and get it by any means necessary.”

“How very Machiavellian.” She tried a laugh, but it came out more like a stuttering sigh. His scent hooked her even closer, and her lips grazed the outer rim of his ear.

He pulled back, his green-eyed gaze roving her face. She returned the favor, noting the faint brackets around his mouth, the crinkles at his eyes, the thick beard. A full-grown man. Yet was he so different from the boy she remembered?

“Ovid.” The movement of his lips jammed the cogs of her brain. The word made no sense. Her confusion must have been obvious, because the mouth she stared at tipped up in the corners, deepening the grooves. “The Greek philosopher Ovid, not Machiavelli, actually wrote: The end justifies the means.”

“Ovid. Of course.” Apparently, Monroe had slept through that philosophy class at Ole Miss. The fact that high-school dropout Cade Fournette was quoting Ovid made her wonder what other mysteries she might uncover if she went digging.

Just when she was ready to grab a shovel, he released her braid and slipped away. His limp was less pronounced as he took the stairs holding the cane parallel to the ground. Although he’d physically released her, she felt bound to him in some other fundamental way, incapable of tearing her eyes off him until he disappeared behind Sawyer’s front door. Even then, she sat, unable to drive away for a long minute.

How could the simple brush of Cade’s finger ignite a fire when other men left her cold? As her arousal ebbed, she realized something else. She’d just been manipulated by a master. He hadn’t explained why he left.

She spent the evening going through the motions of her life, eating when her stomach growled and heading to bed when her eyes felt heavy. A few short hours ago, her life had been tidy and predictable and boring. Cade Fournette’s return had spun her into chaos.

*****

Review:

*sigh* Trentham did it again – made me fall in love with a small Southern town and the wonderful people who live there.

My heart just breaks for how much Cade had to take on when his parents died.  Too much pride and youth had him taking on too much, doing anything he could to make sure his siblings stayed together and had what they needed to have a chance at a future.  Unfortunately that meant that he gave up a lot of his own dreams.  But the same grit and smarts that had him surviving in the swamps had him making a name for himself as an adult.  Guilted into a trip back home has him back with the girl that meant so much to him as a kid … but she’s all grown up.

While it might seem that Monroe would have had a golden past, things aren’t always better on the other side of the river.  Her childhood has left scars of their own and she’s still living with the fallout.  Running into the one man that always made her feel safe throws her world off kilter.  The man he’s grown into is hard to resist, especially as he was one of the bright spots of her past.  But he’s not staying … right?

You know that these two are going to get together and that he’s going to find a way to come home to Monroe & his family.  But as with any romance, it is the journey that makes it so good and this one is a can’t miss.  The characters are interesting, with great depth, and you easily find yourself sucked in as they try work their way through some long-held troubles.  We’re also introduced to characters who are going to make appearances in the next couple of stories and from what I’ve seen they are going to be must reads!

*****

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. 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:

a $25 Gift card for Amazon or B&N

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/521ac4c81052/

*****

Click on the banner below to check out the rest of the tour

Book Review – Melting Into You

Tags

Book Review, Falcon Football Series, Laura Trentham, Melting Into You

Melting Into You

Falcon Football Series

by Laura Trentham

Alec Grayson returns home to Falcon, Alabama, to rebuild his life after a knee injury ended his NFL career. As the Falcon high school quarterback coach, Alec’s love for the game is reignited. Meanwhile, he puts his hard-partying past and the betrayal of the people he trusted most behind him, and adopts a hard demeanor. That is, until a spitfire artist with soulful eyes and a body that haunts his dreams gets under his skin and threatens to crack his armor.

Lilliana Hancock is forced to leave her struggling-artist lifestyle in New York and return to Falcon after her father’s unexpected death leaves her a decrepit family mansion. Determined to use her skills to turn the home into a successful bed and breakfast, Lilliana is stopped at every turn by the town contractor, who happens to be Alec, the gorgeous and arrogant jock to whom she lost her virginity in college. Except Alec doesn’t remember, which infuriates her. Too bad she can’t forget the way his body felt against hers or how his heated gaze follows her…

Will they be able to put their pasts behind them for a future together?

Oh, how I love this series (Slow and Steady Rush and Caught Up in the Touch).  Each time I read one I think that it can’t get any better and then it does 🙂

Poor Alec is so burned by his past that he’s shut himself off from everyone.  He’s decided that it is easier not to engage than to take the chance on being used again.  But that doesn’t stop him from feeling an attraction to Lilliana, who seems to hate him for some unknown reason.

Lilliana is burdened by an interesting mix of fear, expectation and guilt.  She’s back in Falcon and turning her family home into a B&B, although she’s an artist at heart.  Add to that, being home puts her in close proximity to the guy who doesn’t remember their one night together in college … and he’s still just as sexy as ever, even if he does seem a whole lot colder.

There’s a fantastic sub-plot with one of Alec’s players.  It’s a good vehicle to not only help Lilliana and Alec get together, but it also helps bring Alec out of his shell and create relationships with others.  He slowly starts opening up and it is a great thing to watch him learn to trust again.

There were quite a few times in the beginning of this book that I just wanted these two to talk to one another.  A lot of their troubles would have been avoided that way but once they start moving their way to a relationship those times became less and less.  And I cheered so hard for them once they finally got things straightened out.

I definitely hope Trentham isn’t done with this series – I just love her way with characters and plot.  Her books are fun, fast reads with characters that just draw me in.  Plus I really want to know what happens to some of the secondary characters we’ve gotten to know.  Especially Whitey – that guy deserves a second chance and there is a moment in this story that I hope is Trentham hinting that she’s going to give him one.

 

Buy on Amazon

Book Review – Caught Up in the Touch

Tags

Book Review, Caught Up in the Touch, Falcon Football Series, Laura Trentham

Caught Up in the Touch

Falcon Football series

by Laura Trentham

Jessica Montgomery has always lived by three simple rules: stay calm, stay professional, stay in control. Working tirelessly to make it into the executive ranks of her family’s business, her dream job of CFO is within reach-if she can convince one stubborn and sexy restaurateur to take her offer and manage Montgomery Industries’ flagship restaurant in Atlanta.

On the surface Logan Wilde is all good-old-boy charm and humor, but he can’t seem to outrun the hell-raising reputation of his high school years. Although he has thought about leaving his hometown in Falcon, Alabama, he has grown to love the town, his restaurant, and his part-time gig coaching the football team.

Jessica estimates it will take a week tops to get Logan Wilde’s signature on her generous offer, but their first meeting is anything but professional. Logan shreds Jessica’s control and unleashes a passion she didn’t know existed even as a deeper connection between them takes root. When her family’s manipulations threaten to tear them apart, Jessica has to decide whether her dream is really the CFO job or the man who has unselfishly offered his love.

I’ll be honest I didn’t think I’d like this one very much.  There was a little preview of the first chapter in the back of Slow and Steady Rush and I just knew Jessica was going to be one of those women that I didn’t like.  But I loved Logan enough that I was willing to take her on to get his story …. y’all that teaser didn’t do her justice AT ALL.  She’s so wonderfully neurotic and I loved every single minute of this book!

Jessica has so many hang-ups thanks to her parents.  She’s never really had a chance to be normal or even to be loved & supported like she needed.  Except by her grandmother.  And thanks to Logan, and a forced stay in Falcon, she’s starting to remember those wonderful summers and what it felt like to be cared for.  It’s so very sweet to watch her come into herself and find her way.

And Logan … I knew I’d love that boy from the moment we met him in the first book and he doesn’t fail me.  He’s caring and smart and giving.  He’s also sexy as all get out and when he turns on that Southern charm with Jessica she has no hope.  And neither do you 🙂

I love that Trentham brings her readers a journey piece to go with the romance.  We get to watch them fall in love and grow and find a path that works for them both.  It’s funny and touching and sexy and irresistible.  And I can’t wait to see what she has in mind for the next story.  We get some hints here and I just know it is going to be another sure-fire hit!

Book Review – Slow and Steady Rush

Tags

Book Review, Falcon Football Series, Laura Trentham, Slow and Steady Rush

Slow and Steady Rush

Falcon Football Series

by Laura Trentham

She lives by the book—and is still searching for her happily ever after.

Darcy Wilde has tried hard not to live up to her last name. As a librarian in Atlanta she lives a fine life far away from the football-obsessed town of her childhood. But when her beloved Grandmother needs help, Darcy takes a leave of absence and heads back to the home and past she left behind.

He knows how to play the field—and is in no rush to settle down.

Robbie Dalton knows a thing or two about painful pasts. After bouncing around in foster care and the Army for years he is finally ready to move on and make a home for himself in Falcon, Alabama as the newest high school football coach. Sparks fly when the sexy new coach and the sharp-tongued librarian meet, but neither of them is looking to make ties.

But when it comes to love, sometimes you’ve gotta throw away the rule book to cross the finish line…

Everything changes when Darcy falls in love, not only with the gruff, protective, and smoking hot man who’s sharing her days and nights, but also with the complex tapestry of people who weave Falcon together. Could this be where she belongs – and who she belongs with?

I love these stories about little towns – the close-knit community and eccentric personalities just make for fun reading. And with Trentham’s Slow and Steady Rush I’m absolutely thrilled that this is the start of a new series because I absolutely cannot get enough of Falcon, Alabama.

Darcy’s struggles with coming home don’t play nearly as big a part as Dalt’s problems. I can totally see why she felt she needed to get out of the small town she grew up in … and how it changes with an adult perspective. Robbie, on the other hand, has never had anywhere that felt like home. But now that he’s making a place for himself in Falcon, he may actually be able to settle in. The scars he carries on the inside are awfully big, though, and he’ll have to learn how to let go to fully embrace the chances that life are throwing his way. It’s a difficult journey for him, and he fights it every step of the way, but that makes it all the more satisfying when we get to the HEA.

It’s an emotional battle between these two, with each other and themselves. I can admit that Trentham brought me to tears a time or two but she also brought a big ol’ smile to my face. I call that a fantastic read – one that makes me cry, smile, laugh and sigh and enjoy every single darn minute of it. I absolutely can’t wait to see what she has in store for the rest of the guys because if it is anything like this one, they’ll be whoppers.