Title: With this Kiss
Series: Emerald Lake bk 2
Author: Bella Riley
Genre: Contemporary
Love can find you when you least expect it…
Fireworks. That’s what innkeeper Rebecca Campbell wants. And no matter how close their friendship, she and her former fiance never shared that. Now, with a broken engagement behind her and a promise she’s vowed to keep, Rebecca is determined to make a new life for herself in Emerald Lake. She just never expected sparks to fly this quickly… Coming home and falling for his little brother’s girl wasn’t Sean Murphy’s plan. Rebecca’s sweet smile and kind heart make Sean feel at home–something he’s never felt before. But a secret lingers between them, and no matter how powerful their attraction, Sean can’t give his heart to a woman he can’t trust. Or can he? As the days pass, Rebecca and Sean find it harder and harder to deny their desire. And they are in beautiful Emerald Lake, the perfect place for falling in love . . .
I am a HUGE fan of Bella’s alter ego Bella Andre so when I got this book I knew I was going to like it. And boy did I like it. It has it all a great heroine who is trying to do the best she can after a she sees something that changes her life, and a hero whose life has been shaped by an incident in his youth.
Neither one of these characters is perfect in fact they are both very flawed. The one thing they have is that there is this spark between that won’t let them be. In fact it grabs them both by the throat and makes them take notice of each other.
Because of their pasts when it comes to falling in love they are both very gun shy. So watching them as they go from being adversaries to friends to lovers is a journey that has it all. Everything that we could want or hope for in a great romance story. Because of past histories though when it finally comes time for that all important I love you it is so much more potent. And when the trial and recognition of what they both really want happens I have to admit I teared up a bit.
There is a great secondary cast in this story as well, along with two side romances. One is a remembrance and the other is one that I think will continue to be played out in the series.
If you have never read a Bella Riley or a Bella Andre book you can’t go wrong with this book. While it is book two in the series it can be read as a stand alone.
Grade A
