Love Blooms on Main Street by Olivia Miles Series: Briar Creek #4
Published by Forever
Publication Date: July 26th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 352
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
Love is always in season . . .
Florist Ivy Birch fantasizes about the day a man will surprise her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Especially if that man happens to be Brett Hastings. One stolen kiss at her best friend’s wedding and Ivy can’t get the sexy ER doctor out of her head.
In the small town of Briar Creek, you can’t avoid anyone for very long. Not that Brett has been trying to avoid Ivy. He just can’t afford to let anything distract him from his work-not again. So when a hospital fundraiser throws them together, love is the last thing on his mind. But with her quick wit and sweet laugh, soon the one woman he’s tried to keep at arm’s length is capturing his heart.
Review
LOVE BLOOMS ON MAIN STREET is a sweet and enjoyable addition to the Briar Creek series and a reminder about dreaming big.
One drawback of small towns is the fact that everyone is up in your business all the time, and Ivy Birch and Brett Hastings know all about it. With a mom who was the town drunk and the resulting gossip, all Ivy ever wanted was to fit in so she successfully hid her health issues, but she’s never really let anyone in.
Until THE KISS.
With her friends getting hitched around her, Ivy longs for her own loving relationship and the exciting kiss she shared with her crush Brett leads to lots of daydreams.
Only Brett does not share her sentiments.
For Brett, having their father abandon them to follow his mistress and then his mom diagnosed with cancer was a double punch that shaped his adult life and made him avoid relationships and commitments. While Ivy is a very sweet woman, he knows she’s a forever kind of woman and not cut out for what he has to offer. Besides, he’s back only temporarily and not interested in starting anything. So much for that resolution when they end up spending a lot of time working together on a fundraiser.
When I started reading this book I really didn’t care much for Ivy because she came across as whiny and scatterbrained but she really is not. In spite of the hard knocks life has dealt her, Ivy is surprisingly whimsical and optimistic and has a quiet grace to her.
Brett has his own truckload of issues and his methods of handling things is enough to make you pull out your hair, but sometimes you have to leave home to appreciate what you have.
You would expect this to be a sweet and lighthearted romance, which it is but I love that Ms. Miles gave it depth by taking on serious issues and with the characters’ experiences which are realistic enough for the reader to relate to.
With every new installment, the series only gets better and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.
Excerpt
A small gasp escaped from her but was quickly silenced by the firm press of Brett’s mouth on hers. Unlike their last kiss, which had felt so tender, this time Brett was leaving no room for confusion about his intentions. She stiffened against his touch, trying to resist him, but pleasure pooled warm in her stomach and the space between her legs began to ache as he wrapped two arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.
Oh, God. She wanted to fight this. The feeling he was stirring within her. The need for more. She opened her mouth to him, letting him in. He kissed her deeply, not giving her a chance to break away, and she wasn’t so sure she could, even if she wanted to. Her hands, which had been pushed off her hips by the strength of his arms, hung loosely at her sides, as if determined to stay out of this drama she was creating for herself, but, like her mouth, they lost the fight. She slid her hands up onto Brett’s arms, taking in every curve of his hard muscles, and up onto his shoulders as she leaned into him. His breath was heavy as he kissed her harder, and she parted her legs to let his slide between and press against the tightness that was building within her.
“What are we doing?” she asked when they finally came apart. She blinked up at him and resisted the urge to flatten his disheveled locks. I did that, she realized with a flutter.
“I don’t really know.” Brett’s voice was low and coarse. “But I like it.”
She firmed her mouth and smoothed her dress. Not good enough.
Turning to stare at the folding table, she felt her spirits begin to sag. She’d let him in again. Let him take her to places she’d wanted, to dream dreams that should have stayed in her unconscious. And nothing had changed. Men don’t change, Ivy. That’s what her mother had always said. When would she learn?
“Well, it can’t happen again,” she insisted.
“Oh no?”
She glanced back to see that slow, sexy smile. “No.” But even as she said it, her body was saying yes.
About Olivia Miles
Olivia Miles is a Chicago-based romance writer. Having grown up in New England, Olivia attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec before settling in Chicago where she lives with her husband, their daughter, and two ridiculously pampered pups.
When she is not chasing after her little ones, she is hard at work creating feisty heroines and alpha heroes with a heart. A city girl with a fondness for small-town charm, Olivia enjoys highlighting both ways of life in her stories.
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