8.86 on CAWPILE

beau eaton is tortured, in pain, stuck, alone despite being surrounded by people who care about him. he doesn't know what he wants after the end of his military career and he doesn't feel much of anything anymore. until bailey. bailey jansen is a bartender from the wrong side of the tracks. her father and brothers have run their family name into the ground and chestnut springs hates them for it. bailey is the one person in chestnut springs that isn't wrapped up in hero worship for beau, so when he finds himself sitting at the bar and causing trouble bailey is the first to call him on it. bailey dreams of leaving chestnut springs and its judgmental citizens behind; however, she can't seem to get hired anywhere. beau, desperate to feel something again, offers her his last name in a fake engagement. when the two find themselves feeling more than their fake engagement allows, they don't know if they will find it in themselves to end it. 

honestly i think giving this 4.5 stars is my fault. i love elsie silver and chestnut springs is one of my favorite series, but i was not in the right space to read this. beau's book was my most anticipated in the series because he's a tortured hero. all that to say, i still loved this so much!! elsie has such a way of creating characters that seem like they shouldn't be together and then wowing me with a romance that feels so real. bailey was a fun, awkward, sex positive, sad girl that i want to read more of in romance + fiction in general. this was an easy book to get wrapped up in. any time i had to put it down i spent thinking about it.