I really liked the beginning of the book but after a while it started to feel very formulaic and predictable. I didn't like the stlaker plot at all. ( )

his was a short, sweet contemporary romance with just enough danger to add a little excitement. Michael Brant returns to his home town to try to reconcile with his critically ill father. He had left many years before because of a scandal that left him heart-broken and feeling guilty. Cat Edwards had come home to the same town because she was tired of running.

Both characters had troubled pasts. Cat was trying to live down her mother's reputation which sent them fleeing when Cat was young. Her mother had affairs and was very selfish. She had sent Cat back to her father when she was seventeen and then disappeared. Cat's reputation was colored by that of her mother's. To compensate, Cat tried to be invisible.

They meet when Michael rescues Cat from an over-enthusiastic drunk. Her best friend had convinced her that she should let loose to get over the humiliation supplied by her cheating boyfriend. Cat doesn't know Michael or know about his past troubles. She accepts him as he is which is unique for the rich son of one of the town's founders.

They have a number of conflicts to overcome. Both are suffering from misplaced guilt. They want different lifestyles in that she is home and he can't wait to leave. They are thrown together when someone starts making threatening phone calls to Cat. The caller also attacks Cat's roommate and trashes her father's bookstore.

Michael suggests a fake engagement so that he can protect her. It isn't long before both of them want the engagement to be real and want to find a way to compromise so that the other can fit into their life.

This was an engaging romance that would be just right to read at the beach while sipping a tall, fruity drink. Don't think about it too closely though. I didn't think the villain made much sense. ( )

This review can also be found my blog.

I love a romance about a bad boy and a good girl. But this isn’t just a fanciful love story. Someone isn’t happy about the past and even less happy about the little romance being played out in the town’s gossip rag. Cat soon finds herself the target of a psychotic stalker. When people she loves get hurt in her stead, Michael can think of only one thing to do – present a united front and offer her the protection of his family and their name.

Cat Edwards was a delightful heroine, and I don’t say that often. When we meet her, she’s coming to terms of her failed engagement. After catching her fiance/boss with the secretary, she’s both out of a relationship and a job. Instead of letting that get her down, she helps out in her father’s bookstore, and allows her friend to drag her to a bar to let loose. Getting swept up in the instant, mutual attraction to Michael is her first step towards total abandon. However being in a small town means that the town has a long memory, and her behavior could lead to old wounds being opened – something she wants to avoid at all costs. The last thing she wants is for gossip mongers to compare her to her mother. With Michael’s open and honest attention she blossoms from a wallflower into a more confident woman.

Michael was my ultimate romantic hero. His bad boy appearance belied the man beneath the leather clad exterior. He is the black sheep of his prominent family, the son that didn’t live up to his father’s expectations, and the man who is still paying for the careless actions of his past. While everyone else has already formed a negative opinion of him, only one woman sees his true self.

Cat just looked at him like a man. With her, he could be himself, disconnected from his family’s name and the past that haunted him.

Call it serendipity that these two somewhat broken people should meet. While the timing was perfect for Cat to take a risk, it couldn’t come at a worse time for Michael.

“I don’t want to go home yet.” He twisted at the waist and patted the seat behind him. “Take a walk on the wild side with me.”

I loved the chemistry these two had from the beginning. It was simple attraction fueled by the distraction they both craved. Michael may have been portrayed as a bad boy, but he was such a good person to his core. Between the demons nipping at his heels, the cold shoulder from his ailing father, and his growing attraction to Cat, he was a man who just wanted love and acceptance and sought forgiveness.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that one of my biggest pet peeves is when characters refuse to communicate. Either out of fear of rejection or stubbornness. Ms. Stewart did me a solid by making Cat and Michael really talk. Cat was an open book, and never minced words when asked a direct question that could have embarrassed her.

“I wanted the fantasy. You were a little wild, a little dangerous. A Harley-riding bad boy in black leather with a wicked gleam in your eye who challenged anyone to try to judge you.”

I loved her attitude and approach. It was as if she was saying “Don’t like my answer? Too bad. This is who I am, and you can take it or leave it.”

“You were everything I wanted to be and exactly the type of man I never go for.”

“Tell me something. What exactly are you doing out here with me?”

It was a bold question, one that put her on the spot, but he had to know where he stood.

The same was true for Michael.

“This town gets to me, too, and I swore a long time ago I didn’t give a damn. But you…you don’t look t me the way everyone else does.” His eyes burned into hers and seared a path right into her soul, tenderness mixed with pulse-pounding passion. “You’re a temptation I can’t seem to resist. Stay with me tonight.”

His words, the way they seeped inside and wrapped around her heart, stunned her to her toes. The bad boy had a vulnerable side, and he’d just laid it at her feet.

He never made it a secret that once he accomplished what he had come home to do, he would leave again. He didn’t want to break her heart, and he told her that. That gave her all the power to make her own decisions, to play the game while knowing the rules.

Every one of their love scenes made me swoon rather than get extremely hot and bothered under the collar. The scenes were not graphic, but then they didn’t need to be. Their honesty with one another and the words they shared did a good job of ratcheting up the passion to beautiful heights. The ending was emotional and perfect for them as it came full circle. Great, fluid writing, sincere dialogue and loveable characters. I fell in love with this story, and I think you will too.

Other favorite lines

“How old are you?”

“Old enough to know better, but still young enough to do it again.”

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the author for the purpose of a blog barrage. A review in exchange was not promised. ( )