By: Sara Jane Stone
Releasing
September 13, 2016
Avon Impulse
A beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth
risking everything...including her freedom.
In
the third installment in Sara Jane Stone's dazzling Second Shot series, a
beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth risking everything...including
her freedom.
After a year spent living in
hiding—with no end in sight—Caroline Andrews wants to reclaim her life. But the
lingering trauma from her days serving with the marines leaves her afraid to
trust the tempting logger who delivers friendship and the promise of something
more.
Following an accident that nearly
robbed him of his hopes for the future, Josh Summers believes life has given
him a second chance. He wants to settle down with the woman who stole his
attention and his heart. And he’s willing to wait until she’s ready to be more
than “just friends.” When fear of discovery leaves Caroline pretending to be
his date, Josh tempts her to try the real thing—a relationship built on trust,
not lies.
But then the past threatens and
Caroline must risk everything—including her freedom—to bury her demons before
she can take a chance on happy-ever-after.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review*
Finally, we have Caroline's story and let me tell you! It was SO worth waiting for.
Caroline Andrews was betrayed in a most violent way by someone she was supposed to trust, her teammate and then to get a slap back when no one believed her. So she walked away from her second tour of duty and ran, to protect herself and to finally feel safe.
She headed to the one person she knew would keep her safe, Noah Tager. But what she wasn't expecting was meeting Josh Summers or his baking expertise. But over 14 month months, Josh worked hard at being her friend and showing that he was trustworthy. And just when Caroline finally relented and accepted a date from Josh, she needed to go on a mission to save a friend of Noah's from her abusive husband.
But in saving Helena; Caroline realized it was time to face her past so that she could have a future with Josh. But Josh wasn't content to sit and wait, he was going to fight for Caroline, even if that meant taking on the whole US Marine Corps.
Wow! This story affected me in so many ways, the ignoring of Caroline's sexual assault broke my heart. And the way that attacker was allowed to continue in his position angered me. Now I'm I'm aware that this is a book and not real life, but seen as there where 20,300 REPORTED sexual assaults in 2014, according to the US Government, clearly this is an issue that should get more awareness, and I applaud the author for choosing this subject and to highlight the injustice these people feel.
The writing was fantastic and the plot wonderfully heartbreaking. And where it comes to the characters, both Caroline and Josh blew me away.
I give Mixing Temptation 5 stars!
“May I lick the whipped cream off
your face?”Josh lowered his fork to the pie
dish and waited for the Big Buck’s dishwasher to catch up with the
conversation. Pie—not flowers—had offered him the perfect way to transition
from the guy who found her in the woods to her friend. And he couldn’t resist
the temptation to switch from small talk to damn near close to begging for a
kiss.And a date, he thought. I’m going to ask her out today.Caroline raised one perfect, dark
eyebrow. One hand clasped a spoon and the other rested on the stainless steel
work surface that on busy nights held stacks of dirty pint glasses waiting for
her attention. Right now, it was just the two of them and the pie. The bar
wouldn’t open to Forever’s local logging population and the university students
who outnumbered the men and woman born and bred in this section of the
Willamette Valley for another hour.“No,” she said. Her tongue darted
out from between her pink lips that always looked as if she was wearing a
kiss-me-now lipstick. Of course, he knew the woman whose ideas of accessorizing
involved a concealed weapon tucked into the waistband of her pants did not
bother with makeup. She licked the whipped cream teasing the edge of her mouth.
“I’ve got it under control.”He nodded, refilled his fork and lifted
another bite of key lime pie to his mouth. He always asked—for a touch, a
taste, a kiss—but he never pushed. Caroline would shift the parameters of their
dessert-based friendship in her own time. Or she wouldn’t and he’d be forced to
come to terms with the fact that the future he daydreamed about—settling down
with Caroline, buying his own home, maybe a dog—would replace sleeping with
Megan Fox on the top of his Never Going to Happen list.“You’re going to Noah’s wedding on
Saturday night?” he asked, sliding back into friendly chitchat. He’d waited a
year to kiss Caroline the first time. And he’d sit tight for another if it
meant more sugarcoated kisses. To hell with his siblings’ opinions.“Just because I can take the
dishwasher apart and fix it every time it tries to quit on us”—she nodded to
the restaurant-grade appliance behind her—“doesn’t mean Noah wouldn’t fire me
for missing his wedding. Plus, he’s closing the bar for the night. Everyone
else is going.”“Everyone else is in the wedding,”
Josh pointed out. Big Buck’s owner and manager was marrying Forever’s former
bad girl, who’d burst into his life over a year ago, demanded a job, and
quickly worked her way up to assistant manager. And the only other bartender on
the payroll right now was the groom’s best friend and the bride’s big brother.“True. But I owe Noah. I can’t miss
his wedding.”Fair enough, he thought.“A couple of months ago, you asked
me out on a date,” Josh pointed out.“I was feeling brave at the time.”“Are you canceling?” he challenged.
If she said yes, he’d kiss her again. Maybe not today, but one day soon. And
he’d reminder her why she’d summoned the courage to ask in the first place.
He’d caught her looking, her eyes roaming over his biceps with a flicker of
something more than friendship in their green depths. And if given the chance,
he would let her run her fingers over his T-shirt, mapping the muscles beneath
. . .“No, I’m not canceling,” she said
thoughtfully. “I’m still working out the details.”“Be my date to the wedding.”Her eyes widened, staring back at
him as if he’d dropped to one knee and suggested they follow her boss down the
aisle.“No,” she said firmly. “Josh, I . .
. Just no.”Caroline refused to look away. She’d
spent months learning to read Josh’s facial expressions, forcing herself to
look past the red-gold stubble that screamed ‘I’m too sexy for this bar.’Or his shirt.Or her . . .Right now, the corners of his mouth
threatened to fall into a frown. Disappointment. But he never let his smile
falter for long. He always took a moment. Looked away and then returned his
gaze to her as if she hadn’t turned him down twice in ten minutes.But he knows I’m a
long way from whipped cream kisses in the bar’s back room.And dates.Yes, she’d asked him out once. But
then reality had come crashing down on her. Her life consisted of washing pint
glasses and staying out of sight. She couldn’t hope for more—not even a single
night out at one of the restaurants near the university—with a federal warrant
hanging over her head.Of course, the police weren’t
actively looking for her. As far as she knew. But if the local cops, or even a
state trooper passing through town, found out who she was . . . If they learned
why she kept to the shadows, she would be under arrest and turned over to the
military. She would have to pay the price for her unauthorized absence. For
refusing to deploy alongside the men who’d turned a blind eye when their
commanding officer ordered her into his bed. The men who’d laughed with Dustin
when he’d said he would force open her mouth and make her take him between her
lips . . .And then there was the elephant in
the bar’s back room that would also tag along on their date. She hadn’t had
sex—oral or otherwise—because she
wanted to since before she joined the marines. Josh had never treated her like
a victim, but there was a first time for everything.“I’m sorry,” she added. “But I can’t
go to the wedding as your date. There will be too many people. And everyone
knows you. If they see me with you . . . they’ll ask questions. And I can’t
give them answers. I need to stay in the background, hiding behind a plant or
something. And then leave as soon as they cut the cake.”“A wedding probably isn’t the best
place for a first date.” He pointed his fork at her. “Maybe once I get my own
place, you can help me christen the kitchen.”She raised an eyebrow. “That assumes
a lot for a first date.”He laughed. And the familiar sound
threatened to lead her into his version of the future. One where they would
kiss in the kitchen and then—“I was talking about baking a pie
together,” he said. “I’d invite you over to the farmhouse, but I didn’t think
you’d take kindly to receiving the third degree from my siblings and their
significant others.”“Probably not a good idea,” she murmured.
She’d spent the past year trying to avoid his two older brothers and his
sister. It wasn’t hard seeing as his family lived in Independence Falls, a
solid hour’s drive from Big Buck’s Bar. Chad Summers, the middle brother, had
tried to befriend her, stopping by the bar’s back room with his girlfriend, a
drop-dead gorgeous woman who’d served in the army. But Caroline had shut down
their attempts.Josh Summers remained the one and
only person she’d let in since she’d showed up on Noah’s doorstep. There was
something about the way he accepted the word ‘no’ that broke down her defenses.
He never tossed the word aside, questioning whether it was a knee-jerk
response. He never pushed—not once—under the pretense that he knew what was
best for her. Not since that first night when he’d found her in the woods. Even
Noah, who’d had her back when they were deployed together, pushed. Her fellow
soldier turned boss tried over and over to talk her into visiting the local gun
club with him. She said no and he asked again and again.But Josh always listened.“Have you started looking for a new
apartment?” she asked, steering the conversation away from dates that might
lead to compromising situations.“I’m looking, but not for an
apartment. I’m still sitting on my split from when we sold the family trucking
company. I want to use the cash to buy a piece of land. Someplace with a nice
view of the mountains, maybe space to put those viticulture classes I’ve been
taking to use and grow some grapes. Not a lot. I’ve learned enough to know that
is one tough business. I’d rather keep my day job with Moore Timber and put my
blood, sweat, and tears into building my own home.”“You can do that?” The question
slipped out before she could mask the surprise in her voice.“I’ll need help, but I know what I
want. Four bedrooms. Maybe five. Plenty of space to spread out. Timber frame. A
second story that is open to a great room below. And one helluva kitchen with
all the modern appliances. I’ll hire an architect, and a builder. But I can swing
a hammer with the best of them.”Four bedrooms. Plenty
of space. . .
After several years on the other side of the publishing industry, Sara Jane Stone bid goodbye to her sales career to pursue her dream—writing romance novels. Armed with a firm belief that dreams do come true, Sara Jane sat down at her keyboard to write fun, sexy stories like the ones she loved to read.
Sara Jane currently lives near New York’s Hudson River with her very supportive real-life hero, two lively young children, a pair of mischievous kittens, and a very active dog. When she is not hiking with the kids, she loves writing sexy stories, staying up past her bedtime reading red-hot romance, and chatting with her readers on Facebook
