Briar has spent half her life upholding the family business. As another summer rolls around, it looks like her luck is running dry and she’s dangerously close to losing the only thing that matters, Hanna’s Inn, her late mother’s bed and breakfast. Amidst deep financial difficulty, a shaky relationship with her estranged father, and a non-existent social life, hope is all she has left.

Enter Cole, a new guest at Hanna’s. Fresh from the turmoil of a bitter divorce and haunted by his mistakes, he’s desperate for escape. In a matter of weeks he captures the lonely innkeeper’s heart and together they discover a passion as hot as the southern sun and as unstoppable as the bay tide.

Do they dare trust this wellspring of hope they’ve found in each other’s arms?

REVIEW

Briar Browning is trying to keep Hanna’s Inn afloat because this is the only thing left of her mother’s and Briar just can’t part with it. Having her mother pass away ten years ago of cancer and having her father distance himself from Briar ever since, she’s putting all of her blood, sweat and tears into the inn to keep the doors open to everyone, but it’s becoming quite a financial burden on her to say the least. Because she devotes herself completely to running the inn, there hasn’t been any time to have a personal life over the years and this is making Briar self-conscious because she is still a virgin at twenty-six years of age.

Things may change though when a guest, Cole Savitt, arrives and there seems to be an instant attraction between these two. Unfortunately though, Cole is coming out of a bad divorce and because of a few stipulations from his ex-wife set forth in their divorce papers, Cole seems to be drifting from place to place trying to find where he fits in and where he could start a new life again.

Could Fairhope, Alabama be the place for him to start a new life and could Briar be the woman he starts it with? Is Briar able to keep the inn afloat and make it as successful as her mother did? Could Cole be the missing link that Briar’s been looking for all of her lonely life?

I instantly feel in love with this storyline and the characters. From the first page I was hooked and I just couldn’t put the story down until I found out if the inn remained opened and if something started between Briar and Cole. Ms. Williams wrote with such compassion that it’s hard not to fall in love with all her characters. I immediately took a liking to Briar and my heart went out to her because of all the tough times she was facing without having a significant other in her life to lean on. I felt that Briar and Cole were perfect for each other in so many ways, but I had only hoped they saw that themselves. I loved the author’s writing style and I would highly recommend this story to fellow readers!

Reviewed by: Diana Coyle for Night Owl Romance
www.nightowlromance.com
Reviewer Top Pick

EXCERPT

He watched her for a moment, his eyes reflecting all the pain she felt. When he reached for her, his fingertips brushed over her hair.

She looked at him, surprise fluttering past the sadness. His eyes were so tender, so sympathetic. She wanted to dive right in and wallow in them.

She turned away and moved out of his reach. She couldn’t be weak. She refused to be. She’d mourned enough for what she’d lost all those years ago. It wasn’t about to happen again. Not when everything was at stake. “I thought you were going out with Adrian tonight.”

He dropped his hand. “She couldn’t find anyone to watch Kyle.”

She nodded shortly, staring at the horizon behind the western shore. “She’s been mistreated before. It ate at her for a long, long time but she came through in the end.” She turned her gaze back on him. “If you hurt her like he did, if Olivia doesn’t cut out your heart, I will. But pray she does it because I’ll use a spoon.”

Shocked, he stared at her for a long moment. Then he let out a breath. “We’re just friends.”

“You don’t have to lie"”

“I’m serious. She knows it and I know it. We were friends before and we are again now.”

“But you’ve been on two dates….”

“They weren’t dates. When we’re not talking about old times, all I ever talk about is…”

She waited as he hesitated then looked away. “What?” she asked curiously.

He slowly brought his eyes back to hers. Dragging in a bracing breath, he brushed a nervous hand through his hair. “All I ever talk about when I’m with her is you, Briar.”

Her eyes widened. “Me?”

“Yeah. You.” He looked away again. “I’m not interested in Adrian. The only one who intrigues me around here, who pulls me in, is you.”

Now she was really having trouble breathing. “Are you sure?”

He laughed at her stunned expression and took a step forward. “Pretty sure. I can’t get you out of my head. When I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. When I’m sleeping, I’m dreaming about you. You’re always there. I can’t get you out.” He closed the distance between them, lifting a hand to her hair again. This time he brushed it through. “I don’t want to get you out.”

She gulped hard. “I-I can’t get a breath.”

“Me, either,” he admitted, laughing at both of them. “This has never happened to me before. I’ve never felt this drawn to anyone. There’s something about you, Briar, and every time I’m with you I try harder and harder to find out what. I’ll be damned if I don’t find out.”

He so perfectly described what happened to her when she was with him, it froze her. She gripped his shirt when he rubbed his lips over hers, softly, so softly. Just enough to make her pulse scramble. Her breath shuddered out. “Cole…”

“Don’t,” he whispered against her lips. Her heart thundered in her ears as he brushed his fingertips over her shoulders, down her back until he was holding her in his arms. “I just want a taste of you. Just one taste…”

When his lips covered hers fully, she felt her world tip off axis and fall right off the edge of the universe. Stunned, she swayed back against the rail. His hands rose to her face, fingers spreading over her cheeks.

Her lips parted under their own will. Something exploded inside her, a rocket of flame that shot from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. His tongue stroked hers ever so slightly and she quivered, breath whooshing out in surprise. It terrified her.

When he backed away slightly, she used her grip on his shirt to pull him back to her. “Oh, Cole, don’t stop.” Mindlessly, she dragged his mouth back to hers, praying the fluttering, weakening, heating sensation in her joints would never fade, praying she would always feel just like this. Weak.