Gwen Stevens had a privileged life until her father spoke three little words that turned her world upside down. “You’re cut off.”
Broke and desperate, Gwen is forced to accept a waitressing job, but this glimmer of hope has a price. As if being a cocktail waitress isn’t bad enough, she has to do it in a dive bar called The Den, and her bad luck doesn’t stop there. She also needs to deal with the new owner, a blue-eyed, self-righteous ass determined to make her life miserable.
Liam Sinclair walked away from the entitlement and obligation his family planned for him, vowing to make his own way in the world…
Adjusting to life as a new business owner, Liam has experienced more than his fair share of setbacks. When his only waitress breaks her leg, his sister takes it upon herself to hire a replacement—a spoiled, self-indulgent hothead with too much makeup and more than enough attitude. Gwen represents the world he’s trying to escape, a world of excess and greed that he was never cut out for.
Appearances can be deceiving, and first impressions aren’t always right…
Despite their apparent differences, the tension between them turns to a fiery passion that neither of them can resist. Together they find balance and learn to appreciate the simpler things in life. But Gwen soon discovers that old habits die hard, and one mistake is all it takes to ruin everything.
Forgiveness must be earned, but even a villain deserves a chance at redemption…
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One
One
“Anything you want to tell me, little brother?” she asked as she folded her arms across her chest and watched me closely to gauge my reaction.
I frowned. “Um, No.”
“Really? Nothing new at all in your life?” She was baiting me into something I was sure was not going to be good.
“I bought a new toaster the other day.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You should see it, it’s pretty sweet. Its toasts Darth Vader’s face into the bread.”
Madison growled in frustration and tossed a breadstick at me.
“Whoa chill cougar,” I laughed.
“Don’t start that.” She pointed her finger at me. “I get enough of that crap from Margot.”
“Okay,” I said as my laughter died down.
“So you really have nothing to share?”
“Like what?”
“Like what’s going on with you and Gwen.” She smiled, her eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs.
“Oh that.” I ducked my head to hide my smile.
“Yes that.”
“Who told you?”
“Sean.”
“What? Who told him?”
“I don’t know, someone at the bar I guess,” she said with a dismissive wave.
“The bar?” Madison shrugged. Then it hit me. “Sam,” I sighed. “Great now everybody knows.”
“Were you hiding it?”
“No. Not really. We just didn’t want things to be weird at work.”
“Well, here’s a tip, if you don’t want the people you work with to know. Don’t have sex in your office.”
I cringed. Hearing my older sister discuss my sex life was disturbing on a lot of levels.
“So?” she asked.
“So what?”
Madison let out a frustrated groan and rolled her eyes. “So what’s going on between you and Gwen?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer her. Hell I wasn’t even one hundred percent sure I even knew how. I sat back in my chair and played with the edge of my napkin. I was stalling and the look on my sister’s face said she knew it too.
“I’m not exactly sure,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Aren’t you living together?” she asked.
“Kind of,” I said.
“Kind of?” she scoffed. “Her clothes are there, she sleeps in your bed, eats your food, uses your shower.” I nodded and she sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest. “Sounds like living together to me.”
“It’s not like we’d been dating for a while and I asked her to move in. She needed a place to crash. Everything else came later.”
“Everything else?”
I shrugged. “You know what I mean we were spending a lot of time together and it just happened.”
“What happened?”
“Sex Madison. We had sex.” I leaned back in my seat and relived some of our more creative positions in my head as a grin crept across my face. “Lots and lots of sex.”
REVIEW
I'm a big fan of this series and I just love how they get a better as they go. First, let me say that at the beginning I had a hard time liking Gwen, she's spoiled, manipulative, and self absorbed. So just by that it will appeared that I didn't like the girl, huh? But things change, because life is about to teach Gwen how things can change in the blink of an eye. Through unexpected circumstances, she finds herself working at a dive bar as a cocktail waitress. This so called dive bar is owned by Liam Sinclair, who already understand that life can give you plenty of lemons but it's what you do with them that change the outcome later on. And Liam is just the man to show Gwen her biggest lessons in life. I just adored this story, and I loved to see the changes in Gwen's character. They don't happen overnight and I like that even more because it makes it more believable. The relationship between Liam and Gwen is a bit of a slow burn, there's attraction but Liam doesn't want to get involved with one of his employees and Gwen starts to understand that Liam may be the only person who sees who she really is on the inside, not the facade she shows the world, and this scares her. We see characters from previous books, but don't let that scared you, this is a standalone within the series. I can't wait to read more from this author, I love her style of writing keeping the reader engaged throughout the book and leaving them wanting more. This is a low angst story of forgiveness and understanding that there are more important things in life than what money can buy.
Samatha “Sam” Harris lives near Baltimore, Maryland with her husband David and daughter Ava. Born in Florida, she migrated north which most people agree was a little backwards. She has been an artist all of her life, a Tattoo Artist for more than ten years, and a storyteller since she was a kid.
Sam has a slightly unhealthy love for Frank Sinatra, classic movies, and Jazz and Blues music, but her first love will always be reading. From Romance, to Thrillers, to Historical Fiction and everything in between, she loves to become a part of the story. As a writer she tells the stories that she would want to read.
Somewhere In Between
Choosing Happy
Thanks so much Janet! Such a great review. Im so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.
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