Love Blooms on Main Street by Olivia Miles

Love is always in season . . .

Florist Ivy Birch fantasizes about the day a man will surprise her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Especially if that man happens to be Brett Hastings. One stolen kiss at her best friend's wedding and Ivy can't get the sexy ER doctor out of her head.

In the small town of Briar Creek, you can't avoid anyone for very long. Not that Brett has been trying to avoid Ivy. He just can't afford to let anything distract him from his work-not again. So when a hospital fundraiser throws them together, love is the last thing on his mind. But with her quick wit and sweet laugh, soon the one woman he's tried to keep at arm's length is capturing his heart...

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Review: Then He Kissed Me 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?

Then He Kissed Me features two childhood best friends, Tally Fournette and Nash Hawthorne, separated by the river when Nash's mother dies.  Nash is drawn to Tally once again, and Tally agrees to be his friend, even though she doesn't feel deserving.  Theirs is a slow-building romance -- Nash has to convince Tally of his intentions -- but it was one I greatly enjoyed.  This book didn't disappoint!  

(A very special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Then He Kissed Me.)

Review: Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

HE CAN GUARD HER

Lady Phoebe Batten is pretty, vivacious, and yearning for a social life befitting the sister of a powerful duke. But because she is almost completely blind, her overprotective brother insists that she have an armed bodyguard by her side at all times-the very irritating Captain Trevillion.

FROM EVERY DANGER

Captain James Trevillion is proud, brooding, and cursed with a leg injury from his service in the King's dragoons. Yet he can still shoot and ride like the devil, so watching over the distracting Lady Phoebe should be no problem at all-until she's targeted by kidnappers.

BUT PASSION ITSELF

Caught in a deadly web of deceit, James must risk life and limb to save his charge from the lowest of cads-one who would force Lady Phoebe into a loveless marriage. But while they're confined to close quarters for her safekeeping, Phoebe begins to see the tender man beneath the soldier's hard exterior . . . and the possibility of a life-and love-she never imagined possible.

Captain Trevillion is one of those minor characters in Ms. Hoyt's Maiden Lane series that just pops up every now and then, and he is exactly what you need.  He has been injured -- and retired -- from service in the King's Dragoons, a position which gave him intimate knowledge of St. Giles.  When Lady Phoebe's brother, Maximus, hires Captain Trevillion as a guard for Phoebe, it seems a fitting employment.

But while Captain Trevillion must guard Phoebe's life, especially now that she is losing her sight, he finds himself quite attracted to her, which ups the stakes concerning his protection.

I really enjoyed the pairing of Phoebe and Trevillion, much more than I thought I would.  Perhaps it's because Phoebe is disabled and the normally gruff captain keeps his patience with her more than anyone.  Perhaps it's that Phoebe is vulnerable but she's also fearless and strong.  Whatever the reason, I thoroughly enjoyed Dearest Rogue. 

Eagerly Anticipating -- July 2016