Long Road Home

Stacey Lynn

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Release Date November 5, 2018

I left home ten years ago, promising myself I’d never return to the place where I had never been accepted. I was despised and ridiculed for circumstances completely beyond my control.

But when my grandmother passes away, I’m forced to return to Kansas. I will have to face everyone who hated me. But they’re not who I’m most afraid of.

My biggest fear? Facing him. 

Jordan Marx. 

The boy I once loved more than life itself. The boy who defended me from them. The boy I’d disappeared on, leaving him nothing more than a horrible nasty lie and hastily scribbled note.

When Jordan finds out the secret I have carried for so long, I’m in for the battle of my life. 

Or so I thought.

I might have wandered for years on a path riddled with thorns but with Jordan by my side, taking the long road home means more than reuniting with the only man I’ve ever loved. It might just mean finding myself, and the family I never thought I could ever have along the way. 

Destiny Jane Matsen is going back to the small hometown she left ten years ago so she can attend a funeral. She knows she is about to face criticism and judgment, but she is not mentally prepared to face him...the boy she left behind. Her first love, her protector, and the one that was supposed to be her future. Until she left him. She had her reasons, but they were her secrets. And ten years later they are all about to to be exposed.

Jordan Marx has only returned home in the past couple of years. He has always been the town Golden Boy and has found success. He has plenty of family and friends around him. But seeing Destiny return, brings back all the unresolved feelings of hurt, anger, and bitterness. And as the truth comes out it only escalates that and adds even more emotional turmoil.

Their interactions are initially antagonistic, heated, and intense. But now these two have to come to a compromise in order to deal with situations in the present. And considering they are both raw and have never really been able to move on, it is going to be a challenge. But they have to figure out their priorities and do the best they can to deal with unresolved emotions and find a new normal.

Destiny is now having to face all her demons and ghosts, and risk further judgment. Will she find a way to fit in or will they send her running again? And will Jordan finally have closure so he can move on or is there something left to try to recapture?

This is an emotional, tension-filled, heart warming, second-chance romance about honesty, trust, forgiveness, healing, and home. It is told in dual points of view that was critical for this story to understand all that was hidden. I liked both of them even when he was surly and mad, and she was fearful and guilt-ridden. There was plenty of potential for growth with these characters as individuals, together, and even with her dealing with people from her past.

I liked all of the side characters. I know some of them have been in other books, but it did not keep me from enjoying it as a standalone. I adored the character of Toby and how he related with the other characters. I am interested in going back and reading about Jordan's sister, Rebecca and Cooper from the last book, This Time Around.

God. How screwed up was I?

I dropped my hand as pleasure whipped through my veins. He was always bold and confident. I wasn’t used to this new bluntness. “It’ll take a while.”

“I’m a patient guy. And I’m hoping that at the least, you’ll start to believe how I see you, and the rest will come. You just have to trust me this time. Can you do that?”

Could I trust him? God, I’d trust him with my life. It was a ridiculous question. None of the decisions I made were because I didn’t trust him. It was simple self-preservation.

“I can do that,” I finally said.

“Good.”

“Good.” He grinned.

I blushed.

We were ridiculous.

“So what happens now?” I asked. He gestured to my almost empty wineglass.

“Would you like another?”

“No. It’ll probably put me to sleep.”

He took his to the sink and dumped it. I drank the last two sips while he rinsed out the glass, cleaned up the small mess we’d made and resettled the wine in the fridge.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said once he turned and headed in my direction.

“Now,” he said, and he shot me that smoldering look of his. Furrowed brows, head dipped, heat in his eyes I remembered oh so well, and continued, “We’re going to make out on your grandma’s couch like we used to. We kiss until we can’t breathe. Maybe, if I’m lucky, you let me feel you up a bit, and then I go home with a hard-on like I used to, and tomorrow, we try to do better than we did tonight.”

His hands hit my hips. His head dipped. A furious heat swam on my cheeks and spread, warming other parts of me with precision like my libido was directly connected to his voice.

And as his lips brushed my cheek, went to my neck, his hands slid up to my waist and I fell into him, the feel of him, his touch, and the way he moved so slowly and seductively, there was really only one word I could give him.

“Okay.”

(Love in the Heartland #2)Add to Goodreads

 When Stacey Lynn isn’t conquering mountains of laundry and fighting a war against dust bunnies and cracker crumbs, you can find her playing with her children, curled up on the couch with a good book, or behind closed doors, imagining the next adventures she’ll soon write.
She lives off her daily pot of coffee, can only write with a bowlful of Skittles nearby, and has been in love with romance novels since before she could drive herself to the library.

Stacey Lynn lives with her husband and children in North Carolina.