Charly Boudreaux was coerced by her sister into attending a woman's retreat in Montana. She never expected that the speaker, Simon Danbury, would be so charismatic or that they would be attracted to one another. The most involved she has ever been is a casual friends-with-benefits relationship. Simon is divorced, but intuitive with women. He fights his attraction due to professionalism, but they have definite sparks and compatibility.

But she lives in New Orleans and he is a world traveler who resides in London. Neither expected or are prepared for any kind of entanglement. It gradually builds over the two weeks and weekend. They are definitely the right people in the wrong place and time with lots of bad history from their pasts adding fears and insecurities. 

What happens when they go back to real life and miss each other? Can they really let go or find a way?

I loved Simon. He was a hot Brit with a good understanding of women and a big heart. He was funny, sweet, thoughtful, but also passionate, protective, and sexy. But he was not perfect. His past left him with some scars and triggers that when set off could make him jump to conclusions and react strongly.

Charly was a fun, sassy heroine. She was smart, independent-minded, and giving. She was empowered by Simon's workshop with new understanding of herself and her own needs. She loved hard and with her whole heart, but only those who could get past her guards. And once hurt, it was hard for her to trust again. And she has a large protective family willing to shield her if necessary.

They had good chemistry and were really fun together. They had a mutual admiration, respect, and good conversations. But they both had fears and insecurities from their pasts making trust, effective communication, and jealousy issues. They could overreact and hurt each other. And their lives and careers already added more complications.

This was another easy, engaging read in this series. I have come to really like this crazy, lovable, protective family and was glad that they were all a part of this story.  I like getting the dual points of view and truly getting into each character's head. It was sweet, humorous, passionate, and romantic with just enough drama and angst to make it interesting.

I like the set up for Beau's book and I am really looking forward to finally getting to Savannah and Ben (I hope). 

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Charly wasn’t thrilled about attending an all women’s seminar, but for her sister, she goes. She is a successful business woman, and determined to keep building her business without help from the Boudreaux family money. She also doesn’t need a man in her life.

Simon doesn’t mix business with pleasure, but then that’s never been a problem until he meets Charly at one of his seminars. He is brilliant at leading people to make the right decisions, building up their self esteem and helping them see their own value. But he isn’t as good at practicing his own teachings and his personal life is a bit of a mess.

There is instant chemistry as Simon catches sight of her in the crowded room. Her inner monologue points to the same from her end as well. I loved the battle of inner-wills each of these two faced as they met and got to know the other. While things were pretty hot pretty quick between them, it felt like a nice buildup between the quick physical attraction and the friendship they built as they spent time together during the seminar.

With an alternating point of view, each of these characters had things they needed to work through. Charly was learning to trust, and Simon needed to let go of his past. Having each of them take turns with the narration meant readers were constantly aware of the inner processes of each. Enough was held back that readers don’t know everything, but know just enough to keep them reading for all the answers.

Overall, this was a little high on the angsty drama and miscommunication for me, but this series tends to run towards miscommunication as a plot bump, so I was looking for it. Charly’s ideas about men (and her lack of trust) mean there is a lot of drama to get through. Timeline jumps keep things moving and are clearly marked to avoid confusion without bogging down the story with unnecessary events just to move time along.

There are little bits of Beau, as Charly’s closest sibling, but also as the focus of the next book. I have a feeling the gruff, quiet one of the bunch is going to have his world turned upside down. I love these family sagas both for the familiarity of the characters and for the way the families circle around each other (or push each other) when stressors are high. The Boudreaux’s are no exception to this idea. This is a close knit bunch, even as Charly has tried to remain emotionally distant since their father’s death.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.


“Tired?” Simon asks with a knowing smile.

“A bit,” I reply with a nod. “And the view is incredible.”

“No kidding,” Shelly says with an annoying giggle, and I realize she thinks I’m talking about Simon.

For fuck sake.

“Actually, I was talking about the mountains,” I add, stifling a laugh when Heidi knocks her knee against mine. “The views here are unreal. When I saw that the conference was to be held in Montana, I just figured we’d be in the boonies, on a dude ranch or something with no wifi and hunting and gathering our food ourselves. I had no idea that this existed.”

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world,” Simon replies with one of his insane smiles. Seriously, he smiles and the room lights up. He’s changed into a casual blue T-shirt that hugs his shoulders and reveals the sleeve of tattoos down his left arm. In all of his public appearances, he wears long sleeves, covering the ink. It’s sexy as hell, not to mention the lean muscle there. His dark hair is disheveled from pushing his fingers through it all day, and his eyes look a bit tired, too. “Where are you from, Charly? Is that the South I hear in your voice?”

I grin. “Louisiana,” I confirm. “I’m from New Orleans.”

“Another of my favorite places,” he replies with a wink.

“Oh, I love it there too,” Shelly says. “What do you do there?”

“I own a shoe store.” I grin at the waitress as she fills my water glass.

“Well, that wouldn’t suck,” Heidi says and glances down at my feet. “I admired your shoes all day.”

“Thank you.”

“How long have you done that?” Simon asks, listening intently.

“Six years,” I reply. “But I’ve lived there all my life.”

He nods, and I can see in his eyes that he has more questions, but he shifts the focus to someone else, to my relief.

“And where are you from, Heidi?”

“Arizona,” she replies and begins telling us about her business raising assistance dogs. She pulls her phone out to show us photos, and I melt.

“Aww, what a sweet baby,” I croon when she shows me the yellow lab puppy she’s working with now. “Puppies are the best.”

“I think so too,” Heidi agrees. Dinner is surprisingly fun. We spend the next hour chatting about our homes, what we do, and things that interest us. Simon is funny and charming, easily deflecting Shelly’s blatant flirtations.

He’s professional. I assume he comes down and has dinner with a different group of women from the retreat each night. It’s a nice touch.

I wonder how many he sleeps with.