e-ARC, NetGalley
Author: Courtney Kae
Morgan Ross is on the road to success. She’s about to get a coveted promotion to head the NYC branch of a famous event planning business. Everything goes to crap when she ends up, through no fault of her own, on tabloids everywhere. Forced by her boss to leave LA and “take some time off”, she heads home to Fern Falls, where her heart was broken in oh-so-many places. She decides to take a job planning a fund raising event there in the hopes that the fundraiser will be a success and it will save her career.
She knows she will have to face her one time best friend and eventual crush, Rachel Reed. who stopped talking to her when they kissed. That kiss, 7 years later, is still fresh in Morgan’s mind and is the reason she never managed to commit to anyone. When she finds out the fundraiser she is supposed to plan is to save Rachel’s tree farm from being turned into an outlet mall by a corporation, she knows this event has to be a resounding success. T add insult to injury, the mastermind behind this takeover is her father’s past girlfriend, who jilted his marriage proposal publicly and abandoned them. Oh, it’s on! Take it, corporate America! Let’s save the town!
This book was a delight! It’s cheesy and Hallmark-y but in the best possible way (and in no Hallmark fashion, there is some nice steam in it!). This “second chance”/ friends to lovers story is perfect for when you want to get hit right in the feels. The secondary characters are quirky, fun (we even have a “witchy coven of aunts”) and diverse. I hope we get to read about them too. Will Adam and Ben get together? Will Tanner manage to woo Whitney? May them find their HEA, just like Petunia Pie and Pickle Pop!
Rep: queer romance; LGBTQIA+rep (including a trans character); ethnic diversity
Possible triggers: dealing with an alcoholic parent, abandonment
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you @NetGalley, Kensington books and the author for the advanced copy.
