Run To You
Risking It All, Book #1
By Rachel Lacey
ISBN13: 9781455537549
Author’s website: http://www.rachellacey.com/
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jerjen
Synopsis:
Moments after meeting the most gorgeous guy ever, Gabby Winters promptly gets stung by a zillion yellowjackets and falls-not gracefully-into a stream. Yup, Ethan Hunter is trouble with a capital “hot,” and Gabby definitely needs to keep her distance. Except in the small town of Haven, there’s nowhere to hide from Ethan’s sexy, infectious grin . . . and all the residents are conspiring against her.
At the center of the town’s matchmaking is Ethan’s grandmother, who’s convinced their relationship is a done deal. Rather than break her heart, Gabby and Ethan find themselves cornered into pretending to be falling in love. The problem: there’s serious sizzling attraction between them. And if this charade continues, they won’t fool just the entire town – they might fool themselves too . . .
Review:
Gabby has traveled to Haven to get her life back together. She has left her abusive boyfriend and, after spending time being smothered by her parents, she decides she needs to stand on her own two feet and figure out what she wants to do with her life. When she is attacked and stung by a swarm of yellow jackets, she finds herself face to face with Ethan. He rescues her and makes sure she gets the medical treatment that she needs. She feels an instant attraction to him but she is not looking for another relationship. When Ethan sees Gabby, he also feels an instant attraction. But he has always been a no commitment type of guy, so he knows nothing will come of it. But sometimes fate has other plans, and you cannot argue with fate.
The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Gabby is a strong woman who wants to show others that she can make it on her own. At the first sign of abuse, she left her ex-boyfriend and decided to go on her own for a while to regroup. She just wants to do her own thing for a while and is not looking to meet anyone. But when Ethan enters her life, she knows that he is someone special. And when she begins to meet the citizens of Haven, she thinks it may just be that for her.
Ethan has a lot going on in his life. He is opening a new business adventure with two of his childhood friends and he is taking care of his grandmother, Daisy, who is not doing well (she has a condition that could take her at any time). When he meets Gabby, he is drawn to her and likes spending time with her. But he knows it can never be anything permanent, because he is afraid he will turn into his abusive father. But try as they might, Gabby and Ethan find it impossible to stay away from each other. And when they pretend to be a couple for Daisy’s sake, it becomes very hard to pretend that the relationship is just pretend. I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between the two: at times it was sweet, at times it was frustrating and at times it was hot.
The secondary characters were also very well crafted and added a lot to the story. Daisy is someone that everyone loves and she is a positive influence on everyone that meets her. Ethan’s friends, Ryan and Mark, were good friends to him but would call him out when he needed it. I am hoping that in future books, they will be the main characters, because I am sure they have a great story to tell.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and I was drawn into the book right from the start. Haven is a place I would like to visit and get to know the citizens better. That is definitely a plus in my book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written women’s contemporary. This book has a little bit of everything: humor, drama, romance, sadness and heat. Speaking of heat, I would not recommend this book to young adults for that reason and some language. But for everyone else, I strongly recommend this book. I really enjoyed it. I have read other books by this author and they have all been really good.
