It was pointed out to me that I haven’t blogged any romance books in a long time and since my brain needed a rest a book where I know things will end happily ever after seemed like a perfect fit right now! I went to the Romantic Times website to see the books that won awards this summer, which would all be books published in 2015 and hopefully would be on the shelf -- and they were! The winner in the Contemporary Romance category was this one, and I’ll admit, it was a winner even though the premise had me doubting their choice.
Phoenix is free again to make her own decisions and decides to return to Whiskey Creek to help out her mother and start a new chapter in her life. She’s not expecting her reception to the town to be a warm one. She’s been gone for seventeen years, shortly before giving birth to her son Jacob. Jacob has been raised by her only love, her high school boyfriend Riley. She’s anxious to get to know her son and avoid most of the residents of Whiskey Creek. Phoenix went to jail for killing Riley’s girlfriend, the girl he dated after breaking up with her. Phoenix always said she was innocent but instead of being bitter about serving so much time for a crime she didn’t commit, she’s back wanting to start again and hoping that everyone will see she paid for her supposed crime and let her get on with starting again. Unfortunately the family of the dead girl doesn’t feel the same way. And even more unfortunate for Phoenix, she still has feelings for Riley even though she knows she shouldn’t. And more confusing? It seems he has feelings for her. Will Phoenix be able to start over in Whiskey Creek? Will she be able to be a part of her son’s life? Can she include her son’s father in her life or will she just be hurt again?
What I really liked about this book was the way it delved into the mind of a woman who has been incarcerated for half her life; a woman who isn’t bitter or broken from the experience, who truly wants to start with a clean slate and bends over backwards to retain her pride and establish a relationship with her son. You know she and Riley will end up together but the distance she tries to make between them makes so much sense that you find yourself hoping they don’t, but come on of course you do want them together! And this is a romance! You won’t be disappointed!
