Second Chance Season

May 1, 2017
Blake’s second Grand Valley contemporary romance (after First Step Forward) is sassy and sexy, featuring a hero and heroine whose playfulness and good, dirty fun are infectious. Wealthy Chicagoan Cara Cavanaugh decamps to Hotchkiss, Colo., to write about the local color. Her introduction to it is Garrett Strickland, an easygoing tall drink of water whose father’s death forced him to leave college, sell the family’s unprofitable farm, and take a job at the local co-op. The two fit each other like a well-worn pair of blue jeans, but what will happen when Cara finishes her article and leaves Hotchkiss? Blake’s city girl–country boy premise is nothing new, but Garrett’s point of view as a very masculine man and Cara’s endearingly fish-out-of-water reactions to country living are extremely well done, and their chemistry is off the charts. The author’s exuberant writing makes a stock story line fresh, and her addition of just enough angst at the end gives it some substance. Agent: Victoria Lowes, Bent Agency.