A beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth
risking everything...including her freedom.
MIXING TEMPTATION
Second Shot #3
Sara Jane Stone
Releasing September 13th,2016
Avon Books
In
the third installment in Sara Jane Stone's dazzling Second Shot series, a
beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth risking everything...including
her freedom.
After a year spent living in
hiding—with no end in sight—Caroline Andrews wants to reclaim her life. But the
lingering trauma from her days serving with the marines leaves her afraid to
trust the tempting logger who delivers friendship and the promise of something
more.
Following an accident that nearly
robbed him of his hopes for the future, Josh Summers believes life has given
him a second chance. He wants to settle down with the woman who stole his
attention and his heart. And he’s willing to wait until she’s ready to be more
than “just friends.” When fear of discovery leaves Caroline pretending to be
his date, Josh tempts her to try the real thing—a relationship built on trust,
not lies.
But then the past threatens and
Caroline must risk everything—including her freedom—to bury her demons before
she can take a chance on happy-ever-after.
Mixing Temptation truly gives the characters of Caroline and Josh their "second shot" at a happily ever after. They both have experienced some rough times over the last couple of years as we witnessed over the previous books in the series.
Caroline feels broken and is hiding after a horrific situation that no woman should ever have to go through. She is living in the shadows of life, working for her friend Noah, a fellow marine who stood by her side when other didn't. Josh found her in the woods one day thinking that she was a tree hugger, but she was too scared to let him help her. He himself is recovering from an serious accident and sees past her broken spirit to the woman she needs to be again.
He begins to court her...slowly, by baking for her. And he lives an hour away. Caroline appreciates that he doesn't treat her like she's fragile, like her other well meaning friends. Together they become friends and later they get flirtier as their attraction grows. They are both strong characters and you can't help but feel for them. As Caroline begins to grow more confident, she reaches out to another woman in a similar situation. Josh is an amazingly patient man who helps Caroline get back to the woman she used to be. Ms. Stone kept the pace of the story just right, a slow simmer before reaching their eventual electric romance. I was so glad that Caroline began to embrace her life again and see what a treasure she had in Josh. This was such a heart tugging emotional read and I think this series keeps getting better. I can't wait for the next book!
“May
I lick the whipped cream off your face?”
Josh
lowered his fork to the pie dish and waited for the Big Buck’s
dishwasher to catch up with the conversation. Pie—not flowers—had
offered him the perfect way to transition from the guy who found her
in the woods to her friend. And he couldn’t resist the temptation
to switch from small talk to damn near close to begging for a kiss.
And
a date, he thought. I’m
going to ask her out today.
Caroline
raised one perfect, dark eyebrow. One hand clasped a spoon and the
other rested on the stainless steel work surface that on busy nights
held stacks of dirty pint glasses waiting for her attention. Right
now, it was just the two of them and the pie. The bar wouldn’t open
to Forever’s local logging population and the university students
who outnumbered the men and woman born and bred in this section of
the Willamette Valley for another hour.
“No,”
she said. Her tongue darted out from between her pink lips that
always looked as if she was wearing a kiss-me-now lipstick. Or
course, he knew the woman whose ideas of accessorizing involved a
concealed weapon tucked into the waistband of her pants did not
bother with makeup. She licked the whipped cream teasing the edge of
her mouth. “I’ve got it under control.”
He
nodded, refilled his fork and lifted another bite of key lime pie to
his mouth. He always asked—for a touch, a taste, a kiss—but he
never pushed. Caroline would shift the parameters of their
dessert-based friendship in her own time. Or she wouldn’t and he’d
be forced to come to terms with the fact that the future he
daydreamed about—settling down with Caroline, buying his own home,
maybe a dog—would replace sleeping with Megan Fox on the top of his
Never Going to Happen list.
“You’re
going to Noah’s wedding on Saturday night?” he asked, sliding
back into friendly chitchat. He’d waited a year to kiss Caroline
the first time. And he’d sit tight for another if it meant more
sugarcoated kisses. To hell with his siblings’ opinions.
“Just
because I can take the dishwasher apart and fix it every time it
tries to quit on us”—she nodded to the restaurant-grade appliance
behind her—“doesn’t mean Noah wouldn’t fire me for missing
his wedding. Plus, he’s closing the bar for the night. Everyone
else is going.”
“Everyone
else is in the wedding,” Josh pointed out. Big Buck’s owner and
manager was marrying Forever’s former bad girl, who’d burst into
his life over a year ago, demanded a job, and quickly worked her way
up to assistant manager. And the only other bartender on the payroll
right now was the groom’s best friend and the bride’s big
brother.
“True.
But I owe Noah. I can’t miss his wedding.”
Fair
enough, he thought.
“A
couple of months ago, you asked me out on a date,” Josh pointed
out.
“I
was feeling brave at the time.”
“Are
you canceling?” he challenged. If she said yes, he’d kiss her
again. Maybe not today, but one day soon. And he’d reminder her why
she’d summoned the courage to ask in the first place. He’d caught
her looking, her eyes roaming over his biceps with a flicker of
something more than friendship in their green depths. And if given
the chance, he would let her run her fingers over his T-shirt,
mapping the muscles beneath . . .
“No,
I’m not canceling,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m still working
out the details.”
“Be
my date to the wedding.”
Her
eyes widened, staring back at him as if he’d dropped to one knee
and suggested they follow her boss down the aisle.
“No,”
she said firmly. “Josh, I . . . Just no.”
Caroline
refused to look away. She’d spent months learning to read Josh’s
facial expressions, forcing herself to look past the red-gold stubble
that screamed ‘I’m too sexy for this bar.’
Or his
shirt.
Or her
. . .
Right
now, the corners of his mouth threatened to fall into a frown.
Disappointment. But he never let his smile falter for long. He always
took a moment. Looked away and then returned his gaze to her as if
she hadn’t turned him down twice in ten minutes.
But
he knows I’m a long way from whipped cream kisses in the bar’s
back room.
And
dates.
Yes,
she’d asked him out once. But then reality had come crashing down
on her. Her life consisted of washing pint glasses and staying out of
sight. She couldn’t hope for more—not even a single night out at
one of the restaurants near the university—with a federal warrant
hanging over her head.
Of
course, the police weren’t actively looking for her. As far as she
knew. But if the local cops, or even a state trooper passing through
town, found out who she was . . . If they learned why she kept to the
shadows, she would be under arrest and turned over to the military.
She would have to pay the price for her unauthorized absence. For
refusing to deploy alongside the men who’d turned a blind eye when
their commanding officer ordered her into his bed. The men who’d
laughed with Dustin when he’d said he would force open her mouth
and make her take him between her lips . . .
And
then there was the elephant in the bar’s back room that would also
tag along on their date. She hadn’t had sex—oral or
otherwise—because she
wanted to since before she joined the marines. Josh had never treated
her like a victim, but there was a first time for everything.
“I’m
sorry,” she added. “But I can’t go to the wedding as your date.
There will be too many people. And everyone knows you. If they see me
with you . . . they’ll ask questions. And I can’t give them
answers. I need to stay in the background, hiding behind a plant or
something. And then leave as soon as they cut the cake.”
“A
wedding probably isn’t the best place for a first date.” He
pointed his fork at her. “Maybe once I get my own place, you can
help me christen the kitchen.”
She
raised an eyebrow. “That assumes a lot for a first date.”
He
laughed. And the familiar sound threatened to lead her into his
version of the future. One where they would kiss in the kitchen and
then—
“I
was talking about baking a pie together,” he said. “I’d invite
you over to the farmhouse, but I didn’t think you’d take kindly
to receiving the third degree from my siblings and their significant
others.”
“Probably
not a good idea,” she murmured. She’d spent the past year trying
to avoid his two older brothers and his sister. It wasn’t hard
seeing as his family lived in Independence Falls, a solid hour’s
drive from Big Buck’s Bar. Chad Summers, the middle brother, had
tried to befriend her, stopping by the bar’s back room with his
girlfriend, a drop-dead gorgeous woman who’d served in the army.
But Caroline had shut down their attempts.
Josh
Summers remained the one and only person she’d let in since she’d
showed up on Noah’s doorstep. There was something about the way he
accepted the word ‘no’ that broke down her defenses. He never
tossed the word aside, questioning whether it was a knee-jerk
response. He never pushed—not once—under the pretense that he
knew what was best for her. Not since that first night when he’d
found her in the woods. Even Noah, who’d had her back when they
were deployed together, pushed. Her fellow soldier turned boss tried
over and over to talk her into visiting the local gun club with him.
She said no and he asked again and again.
But
Josh always listened.
“Have
you started looking for a new apartment?” she asked, steering the
conversation away from dates that might lead to compromising
situations.
“I’m
looking, but not for an apartment. I’m still sitting on my split
from when we sold the family trucking company. I want to use the cash
to buy a piece of land. Someplace with a nice view of the mountains,
maybe space to put those viticulture classes I’ve been taking to
use and grow some grapes. Not a lot. I’ve learned enough to know
that is one tough business. I’d rather keep my day job with Moore
Timber and put my blood, sweat, and tears into building my own home.”
“You
can do that?” The question slipped out before she could mask the
surprise in her voice.
“I’ll
need help, but I know what I want. Four bedrooms. Maybe five. Plenty
of space to spread out. Timber frame. A second story that is open to
a great room below. And one helluva kitchen with all the modern
appliances. I’ll hire an architect, and a builder. But I can swing
a hammer with the best of them.”
Four
bedrooms. Plenty of space . . .
BUY NOW
After
several years on the other side of the publishing industry, Sara Jane
Stone bid goodbye to her sales career to pursue her dream-writing
romance novels. Sara Jane currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her very
supportive real-life hero, two lively young children and a lazy Burmese cat.
Join Sara Jane’s newsletter to receive new release information, news about
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I haven't read her in a while I wish I had more time. Love the review.
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