Small town romance lovers rejoice! THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND is a gender bent Sweet Home Alabama with extra pizazz sprinkled within. This is the start of a new series, Plain Daisy Ranch, and my first book by this author duo. I can confidently say, this will not be my last!

❥ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅𝓁ℴ𝓉
The One I Left Behind follows Ben Noughton, fresh off of retirement from his professional football playing days as he returns to his hometown in hopes of figuring out his next step in life. He won’t deny his desire to reunite with the woman who still owns his heart after all these years since high school, so he could chase his dreams.

Gillian is a single mother preparing to take the bar exam to jump start her career in law with the hopes of getting out of small town life in Willowbrook. When she hears of Ben’s infamous return home, she vows to steer clear of him without being dragged through more heartache of their shared history. After an event forces them to work together, will she be strong enough to resist the pull of a possible second chance with her first love?

❥ 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈
I absolutely loved this story! Watching Ben & Gillian’s paths continually cross with fate intervening constantly, really served up the tension and apparent chemistry these two still shared when near each other. This also had SO MUCH humor I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions!! That’s not even an exaggeration. I cackled so many times and ate this baby uppp.

One thing I love about small town romances is how the characters come together in times of need. This proved true within this story during a few scenes and it made my heart soar! Not only that but the friend group & family conspiring to bring them back together in various ways had me giggling and kicking my little feet 🤭🥰

I highly recommend this, especially you want these vibes—

✨small town
✨second chance
✨single mom x ex pro footballer
✨a hero that’s down bad {TTPD}
✨lots of laughs
✨banter
✨found family

Read it and thank me later ༞

This wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t good imo.

Like what is this line—

“Sometimes his face made her want to punch his mouth with her mouth” *cringe*

Just not for me🤷🏻‍♀️

This is the biggest & messiest train wreck I just couldn’t look away from. My goodness you’ll get whiplash many times reading this but I’ll admit, the writing was delectable and I ate it up!

This was a spicy + cute prequel novella following Lainey, a shy, introverted book lover and her brother’s best friend and college hockey heartthrob, Alex. 

After Alex notices Lainey getting harassed by some guys on the football team, he steps in and pretends to be her boyfriend to get them off her back. Lainey agrees to a fake dating relationship after Alex proposes to keep the jig going until her school dance event so she can plan and prepare in peace without other boys around campus making trouble. His reason being once they know she’s “his”, she will be left unbothered. 

The story for me lacked a bit at the conflict toward the end, with Lainey being upset about what footballers said to Alex when he stepped in to defend her yet again but she didn’t witness it because she ran away immediately. 

All in all, I still look forward to continuing the series and meeting the other players on the team!

Much like the books title, this served the humor and had some heartfelt moments woven in as well. 

Hazel was definitely a stand out character and was wise beyond her years! I get weak in the knees for single dad romances, so I had my eyes on Meyer but I loved the dynamic between Farley & Hazel❤️

An atmospheric read that would be the perfect one to pick up during the fall✨

With a second chance romance subplot, this one focuses on the mystery shrouding the mystical island of Saoirse. 

I was also expecting more fantastical elements, so just go into this knowing it’s light fantasy (I didn’t hate that aspect).