Bittersweet Moments
Moments in Time, Book #3
By Dori Lavelle
Author’s Website: www.dorilavelle.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Spoilers – but tried to minimize them for your reading pleasure
Synopsis:
Can the embers of an old life ignite the flames of a new love? Six years ago, Melisa Bergfeld’s husband died. As the grief of losing him tore into her, she lost his last gift to her—their unborn child—and her hopes and dreams turned to ashes.
Left with a life she no longer wants, she seeks salvation in a homeless shelter. For a while, that’s more than enough. But when a fire breaks out, in walks the man who will try to save her life—if she’ll let him.
Florian “Heat” Dane has left behind a trail of broken hearts in his wake, including pieces of his own. For all the girls he’s used to fill the hole in his heart, there has been just one he could never erase from his memories. But when Melisa married his best friend Scott Bergfeld, he knew she would never be his the way she’d been the one unforgettable night they spent together. Now that she’s back in his life, he will do anything to recapture her heart, even if it means giving away his own. Heat still has the power to ignite passion in Melisa, something she both desires and rejects. He’s a known heartbreaker, and if there is one thing Melisa doesn’t need, it’s another crack in her heart. But when he confesses his love for her, she fears her secrets from the past will surface. And she might be the one to break his heart this time.
Review:
Okay, I must say this author has outdone herself with the third novella in the Moments in Time series. I thoroughly enjoyed Melisa’s happily-ever after story. The book has SO much content for a novella, I was blown away (in a good way of course). Once I began this story I was literally unable to put the book down. I read nonstop until the last word in the book (before “the end”) had been read, which was “begun”, if you were wondering.
We are lead through the back story of Melisa – from losing her husband Scott, while he was doing the job he loved (firefighting) to the loss of their unborn child. What followed was the downfall of Melisa in that she began drinking and gambling and then she lost her business – Mel’s Delights as well as her home.
The reader is quickly immersed in drama (aka “a fire” at the shelter) that sees Melisa being reunited with her first love – Florian “Heat” Dane. The sparks from the fire are not the only sparks that abound. We quickly realize that Heat had not gotten over Melisa and that Melisa still carries around those “crush” feelings from her liaison with Heat all those years ago. Once saved from the fire at the homeless shelter, Heat visits Melisa in the hospital. He is surprised by the fact that Melisa is living in a shelter and quickly surmises that she is unable to pay her hospital bills. He takes it upon himself to assure Melisa that he will deal with the hospital bills and that Melisa will stay with him until she is back on her feet. And so the long ago (but not forgotten) love story between Melisa and Heat re-ignites.
As the story develops, the reader slowly learns secrets as to why these two did not work out as a couple all those years ago. While Melisa was in love with her husband Scott, who doesn’t still have those “feelings” for their first love 🙂
On this journey, Melisa regains an important facet of her previous life, the opportunity to work in her old business, Mel’s Delights. Without going into detail, it is a delight to watch Melisa blossom into her former confident self.
There are of course bumps on the road to happiness and her happily ever after, but Dori Lavelle has outdone herself yet again. My suggestion, get the trilogy in its entirety, get in your most comfy reading chair and get reading…..you will not be sorry.
I cannot wait for what the writing future holds for one of my new favorite authors.
