Review Tour: Unbreakable: Melanie Harlow
Unbreakable
(Cloverleigh Farms #4)
Melanie Harlow
Melanie Harlow
Release Date February 10, 2020
In hindsight, I should not have had that fifth mimosa at Breakfast with Santa.
Or the sixth, seventh, and eighth.
But my shame over the public meltdown that resulted was nothing compared to being abandoned by my husband of fifteen years for a much younger woman—and did I mention she’s pregnant?
For the sake of my children and my pride, I packed up and headed for my childhood home and the small town where I grew up. Cloverleigh Farms would be the perfect place for a fresh start.
Falling for Henry DeSantis wasn’t part of the plan.
Sure, he’s easy on the eyes and hard in the bedroom (also the hallway, the bathtub, and on top of his desk), but he’s newly divorced too, and things between us are moving so fast I’m afraid neither one of us has had enough time to heal. Not to mention the fact that I’m a single mom now—my kids have to come first.
But Henry makes me feel beautiful and sexy and wanted and strong—things I haven’t felt in years. We understand each other, and when I’m in his arms, I’m tempted to trust again. To love again. To let myself be loved without fear.
But deep down, I’m terrified.
Is this all too much, too soon? Or am I a fool to let a second chance at happily ever after pass me by?
I totally fell in love with this book and this couple! Single mom, Sylvia Sawyer has come back to Cloverleigh Farms in Michigan from California after her marriage fell apart. She has been living under a facade, and has been conditioned to feel unworthy and unattractive. She has been conditioned to feel unworthy and unattractive. She has no faith in men, is worried about how her ex's antics will affect her children, and is basically starting over with the support of her family.
She never counted on Henry DeSantis. He has worked for her family for ten years and is getting over his own divorce and coming to terms with own perceived failures because of it. He has thrown himself into work at the vinyards to stave off his loneliness.
They bond over the loss of their marriages and dreams. They become friends. But there is an underlying attraction and need that is hard to resist. But moving too fast, too soon and trying to adjust to new lives provide obstacles. It is hard to hide their attraction, deal with confusing feelings, and avoid causing others more stress.
Is it too soon for them to find real hope, trust, and maybe even real unconditional love? Or is it just too complicated to even try?
I adored Henry and think he is such a swoon-worthy hero. He is just this sweet, rugged, protective, and thoughtful man that has such a big heart. But he is also charismatic and sexy. He just wanted to love, be loved, and have a family. And it is inspiring to watch Sylvia begin to gain strength as she embraces starting over and to bloom under more positive attention.
But there is a lot at stake with his close working relationship with her family and the needs of her children. It has current topics and issues facing more mature couples these days with divorces, children, and baggage. It is intense, emotional, heartfelt, and passionate. My heart hurt for them when they felt the need to deny what they were truly feeling due to fear of judgment or hurting others. But I enjoyed them together and just wanted them to have everything that they had been denied. I have to say I even got a bit teary towards the end. This is a beautiful story about healing, hope, and feeling worthy of true love and happiness. It is my favorite of the series.
But there is a lot at stake with his close working relationship with her family and the needs of her children. It has current topics and issues facing more mature couples these days with divorces, children, and baggage. It is intense, emotional, heartfelt, and passionate. My heart hurt for them when they felt the need to deny what they were truly feeling due to fear of judgment or hurting others. But I enjoyed them together and just wanted them to have everything that they had been denied. I have to say I even got a bit teary towards the end. This is a beautiful story about healing, hope, and feeling worthy of true love and happiness. It is my favorite of the series.
I enjoyed being back at the Inn and the Winery, and it gives me a feeling of coming home. I admire this family and how they help and push each other. There are some visits with other friends as well. I am looking forward to April's story now that it has been teased.
“Want to unzip my dress?”
“That would be a hell yes.” He took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Turn around.”
I turned, lifting my hair off my neck. Slowly, he pulled the zipper down my back, and the red dress fell to my feet. Stepping out of it, I suddenly felt self-conscious. I hadn’t been fully naked in front of a man without the cover of darkness in a long time. I hadn’t been fully naked in front of anyone but my ex since I was twenty—and I didn’t have that body anymore. I’d had two children. Even though I knew it was stupid, that nagging little prickle of insecurity still stung . . . I’d been left for a younger woman. He’d told her I didn’t excite him anymore. Was my body to blame? Before I could stop myself, I covered my chest with my arms, wrapping one fist inside the other and tucking them beneath my chin.
“Hey.” Henry turned me by the shoulder so I was facing him again. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” I had trouble looking him in the eye.
He tipped my chin up. “Don’t hide yourself from me.”
“I’m not hiding,” I said, but of course I was.
Taking me by the wrists, he forced my arms down to my sides, and looked at me.
I started to panic a little.
I was totally bare before him—stretch marks, C-section scar, less-than-perky breasts and all. Unlike many of my friends, I’d never had surgery to restore my post-baby body to its former tight, bouncy, unmarked state. Now I was kind of wishing I had.
I’d never felt so naked or vulnerable in my life.
“Sylvia, I’m going to say this once,” Henry said seriously. “And then, since you’ve learned not to trust words entirely, I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing you that it’s true—I think you are the most exquisite woman on the face of the earth, in every way. There is no part of your body, no inch of your skin, that isn’t perfect, because it’s yours.” He took my head in his hands and kissed me, hard but sweet. “And all I want to do is make you mine, even if it’s just for tonight.”
“Yes,” I whispered. I rose up on my toes, pressing my lips to his again while my hands went to work unbuttoning his shirt. “Make me yours tonight, Henry. That’s all I want to be.”
Irresistible (Cloverleigh Farms #1)Add to Goodreads
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Kim's 4.5+ star review
Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s twenty-seven, the boss’s daughter, and my new part-time nanny—which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her, what kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her?
(Exactly the kind of jerk you’re thinking.)
Actually, I’m worse than that—because I didn’t stop with a kiss, and now I can’t stay away. She makes me feel like myself again. She reminds me what it’s like to want something just for me. She’s everything I ever needed, but nothing I ever imagined.
I’m a former Marine. I should have had the strength to resist her from the start.
But I didn’t. And now I have to choose between the life I want and the life she deserves.Even if it means giving her up.
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Kim's 4 star review
When we were eleven, Oliver Ford Pemberton dared me to jump off a barn roof. He said you couldn’t break a leg from a 12-foot-jump.
He lied.
(You can also break a collarbone, which served him right as far as I was concerned.)
I wish I could say it was the last dare I ever took from him, the last bet I ever made with him, the last time I ever trusted Oliver Ford Pemberton.
But it wasn’t.
Because he had the nerve to grow up gorgeous, charming, and sexy. And as we got older, the dares only got dirtier—and the betting stakes higher—until finally, he left me in pieces. I swore I’d never talk to him again.
But twenty years after I took that flying leap, he’s back in my life, daring me to risk everything for him: my job, my self-worth, and my heart.
How many chances does love deserve?
He lied.
(You can also break a collarbone, which served him right as far as I was concerned.)
I wish I could say it was the last dare I ever took from him, the last bet I ever made with him, the last time I ever trusted Oliver Ford Pemberton.
But it wasn’t.
Because he had the nerve to grow up gorgeous, charming, and sexy. And as we got older, the dares only got dirtier—and the betting stakes higher—until finally, he left me in pieces. I swore I’d never talk to him again.
But twenty years after I took that flying leap, he’s back in my life, daring me to risk everything for him: my job, my self-worth, and my heart.
How many chances does love deserve?
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I didn’t mean to see him naked--it was an accident.
It had to be, right?
Because Noah McCormick and I have never been anything more than friends. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never once laid a finger on me. And even though he was a cute lifeguard at 16 and a hotter-than-hell sheriff’s deputy at 34, he's always been that protective guy I could trust to keep his hands to himself. I never wanted to mess with that.
Until I walked in on him getting out of the shower and saw his hard, muscular body totally bare and dripping wet. At that moment I never wanted to mess with anything so badly in my entire life.
I should have covered my eyes. Said I was sorry. At the very least, I could have handed him a towel.
After all, I was only in town for a few days, and he was just doing me a favor by escorting me to my sister’s wedding. It wasn’t a real date.
But I didn’t apologize. And he didn’t cover up.
(Talk about a hot mess.)
After all those years of being just friends, suddenly we’re insatiable.
He’s made it clear he’s not interested in romance. Which is fine with me because
I’ve got a plane ticket back to my real life at the end of the week.
It’s all in fun...or is it?
Melanie Harlow
Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she's not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like VEEP, Game of Thrones, Succession, and Homeland. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.
Melanie is the author of the ONE & ONLY series, the AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, the FRENCHED series, and the sexy historical SPEAK EASY duet, set in the 1920s. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.
Melanie is the author of the ONE & ONLY series, the AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, the FRENCHED series, and the sexy historical SPEAK EASY duet, set in the 1920s. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.
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