Book Summary: 

One town, two frenemies, and a debt she needs to repay.

Ethan Gelderman has three loves. Flying, friends, and women, and then there’s Annabelle Smith. Beautiful with a lifetime supply of man repellent, they communicate by insulting each other. But when her life implodes, it’s to him she turns.

Annabelle Smith is a survivor, but when her brother cleans out her bank account, she needs help, and Ethan is the only one who can give it to her. He’s a smooth-talking womanizer, too rich, too hot, and too much of just about everything!

Resistance is futile when they’re thrown together at a wedding, and the result leaves them wondering what the hell just happened. Annabelle comes out fighting, but Ethan’s not completed years of combat training for nothing. He has the girl he wants, and he’s keeping her.

Mini Review:

While I will say the ending was slightly predictable, the entire story was a lot of fun. Having jumped into Book 2 without reading Book 1, A Promise of Home, you are exposed to a lot of spoilers – so fair warning if you don’t start from the beginning. That being said, Lani does an excellent job of recapping, so it doesn’t take anything away from the story. If anything, knowing where Jake and Branna are now makes you want to go back to Book #1, where it all began. Simply put, you’ll want to read these books in order, but I didn’t feel displaced having skipped ahead to Book #2.

If Ethan and Annabelle had any prior history before their story, again Lani did a fantastic job of reiterating it here. You don’t feel like you missed anything at all. Ethan is the town playboy who would rather commit to flying every day of his life than to a relationship. Annabelle is no different, having spent most of her life raising her two brothers and taking care of herself. When their respective families push them outside of their comfort zones, we finally get to see the veil drop, the act pause, and the insecurities that draw them together instead of the confidence that has consistently pushed them apart.

The story was sweet, funny, suspenseful, and – if you didn’t already love them – reminded you just why most people adore small-town romances. While I don’t intend to continue the series (the overwhelming redundancy, though helpful in some places, began to distract from the story and create disinterest), I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a tight-knit group of friends, small-town love, a little drama with their swoon, and some laughter.