Daisy Honey fled Trusty, Colorado, after years of battling rumors sparked by her gorgeous looks and lust-inducing name. Now a physician on the brink of a promising career, she reluctantly returns home when her father is injured in a farming accident. Daisy expects the small-town girls who hurt her in the past to take cheap shots again—but she’s completely unprepared for a run-in with tall, dark, and wickedly sexy Luke Braden, the only man who has ever stood up for her—and the man she’s never forgotten.
Luke Braden is handsome, wealthy, and the best damn gypsy horse breeder in the Midwest. After a restless youth, he’s finally ready to settle down—only connecting with women is nothing like connecting with horses, and he’s never met a woman worth the energy. After an arrest in a neighboring town, Luke’s past comes back to haunt him, and he realizes that his inability to find love runs deeper than he ever imagined.
A chance encounter sweeps Luke and Daisy into a world of passion. For the first time ever, Luke feels a connection, but Daisy’s life in Trusty is anything but permanent, and Luke can’t manage a future until he puts his past to rest.
Overall Rating:
4.5 Rockin’ ★★★★☆
Eleven years have passed since Daisy Honey left Trusty for college. She is back now because of her father’s accident and the need she has to help him and her mother. Daisy also needs this time to decide where she will be practicing medicine, Chicago or New York. She just finished her residency and has been offered several positions that would allow her to do what she had trained to do. She takes a temporary position at an emergency care facility and can’t wait to leave Trusty behind and the bad memories from her school years. The cruelty of the girls that she went to school with had left deep scars on Daisy’s soul. Only one person had left a lasting impression on Daisy and that was Luke Braden. His kindness when he rescued her from an abusive guy at party would always stay with her even though Luke was out of her reach.
She’d never forget the time in her sophomore year when Luke had stood up for her. She’d carried a fantasy of him thinking of her for all these years.
Luke was attracted to Daisy and didn’t know what to do about it. He had never been serious about any woman, always keeping them at a distance. For the last two years he had focused on his ranch and building up his herd. He didn’t want his reputation to cause her any problems but even with warnings from his brother Luke could not stay away from Daisy. She made him feel things that he had never felt before. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her likes and dislikes, and what was important to her. This was all new to him and he didn’t know how to show her that he wanted more with her.
“I didn’t know what to say to you, so I tried to make you laugh. It’s what I do. I can flirt my way out of any situation, and I’m not proud of it.” … “Okay, maybe a little proud, but…You just said you wanted to get to know me better: Suddenly the truth became hard again, like pushing rocks from his throat. “You might find that I’m not who you think I am.”
The relationship between Daisy and Luke continues to build and yet they both have not been completely open with each other. Daisy really enjoys being with Luke and wants to be with her so what is keeping them from each other. Their first kiss is explosive and shakes them both to their cores. But the past has a way of causing Daisy to revert back to a time when she was a young girl in high school. Just the wrong words can pull that past into the present and ruin the future.
Daisy was aware of how quickly she could spiral from a place of confidence back to the girl fighting a bad rep. She loathed the power those girls-and the stupid rumors-had on her. She swallowed against the pain of the past and drew her shoulders back, regaining her confidence. It felt good to move past those rumors.
Luke fears that the demons from his past will keep him from making a future with Daisy. He wants to know about his father and why he left and never came back. It is something that will keep him from being the man that Daisy needs him to be. She says that he is a Hero, a protector and that he is special, but why didn’t his father want to meet him? Slowly Daisy is looking at Trusty and the past that she had there in a different way. Would she be willing to stay with him in Trusty and make a life together? Can she move past what happened and see what is real now? All Luke could think of was keeping her with him always.
But he’d never felt what consumed his body and mind when he kissed Daisy. The feelings weren’t even definable. He wanted to kiss her, hold her, protect her, not rush to have sex with her. He wanted to know what made her sad and what caused that flinch of reservation he’d felt right after she’d kissed his face with so much love.
Daisy is needed in Trusty by the residents and by Luke. She needs to decide if this is where she needs to be, because she knows that she needs to be where ever Luke is. Luke remembers what his mother told him about love and how you would know it.
“…Love will find you when it’s damn good and ready and not a second before or a minute too late – and when it does, you don’t have a chance in hell in getting away.”
Hero: 4.5 stars
Heroine: 4.5 stars
Steam: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Cliffhanger: No
Would I recommend this book: Yes! This is a wonderful book that looks at how the past can be overcome with love, trust and time. If you are looking for a feel good book set in a small farming community then look no more. The setting, the people and the story of a young woman that finds redemption and love when she comes home and finds her future are all there when you read this book.
Would I read other books by this author: Yes! I am a big fan of Ms. Foster and have enjoyed her books about the Braden Family. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series about Wes Braden.
***Received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review***
I'm so glad you've enjoyed the Braden's and I really hope you get a chance to read Wes Braden's book! Thank you so much for your fantastic review and I hope to come back soon to your awesome blog XOXO
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