By: Jamie Hollins
Releasing
July 18, 2017
Self-Published
Tour Host: Tasty Book Tours
Source: ARC provided by the author
When heroin
stole James Foley’s wife and destroyed his marriage, he poured all his energy
into raising his young son and running his auto garage. There’s no room in his
life for anything else until Megan McKenna walks into his shop. He finds it
impossible to resist the sexy school teacher.
After an
ugly divorce, Megan lost her home, her job, and a big chunk of her
self-respect. With her posh lifestyle now a memory, she starts over by
indulging in an unexpected fling with a hard-bodied mechanic.
What begins
as something casual turns into something meaningful. But how can their
relationship survive when it’s built on half-truths?
James and
Megan soon discover that being honest with themselves is just as important as
being honest with each other. Only then will their relationship fire on all
cylinders.
*ARC provided by the author via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest or unbiased review*
When I read the blurb for Where I Need To Be, I knew it was a book I needed to read, but Jamie Hollins is a new author to me, and I was nervous about reading a book that was the third in a series, and I hadn't read any of the others. But this book is book is brilliant! And truly a stand alone, so I had no issues at all.
Where I Need To Be is the story of James Foley and Megan McKenna; both of them had been through painful divorces, in Megan's case, it's to a man who mentally (my opinion) abused her for so long, that she was scared to be a disappointment to anyone. James experienced the loss (in a way) of his wife Holly, to Post Partium depression and then to drugs and alcohol, and even though she was alive, she was lost to his son Cade and himself.
Where I Need To Be is the story of them finding themselves, despite the havoc and pain their ex's have caused. Its a refreshing spin on second time love, and a very heart warming romance, that is well written and thought out.
I give Where I Need To Be 5 stars.
DON'T MISS ANY OF THE
MCKENNA SERIES
Even over the wailing guitar of an old Chevelle song,
James had no trouble hearing a deep rumbling and god-awful clanking outside the
closed bay doors. After dusting off his hands on a shop rag, he turned down the
radio in time to hear a car door slam shut.
It
was half past eight o’clock on a Friday night. The shop was officially closed.
He had half a mind to stay put and let whomever was out there figure that out
on their own.
But
when he heard the distinct clacking of high heels across his front parking lot,
he changed his mind. Not because he knew it was a woman. More because he was
hopeful it was one particular woman.
Reaching
the front office door, he peered outside to see Megan McKenna scribbling furiously
across a scrap of paper. Even in the partial darkness, he could see she was
concentrating hard, biting her lower lip as she wrote the note. Something about
her biting her lip sent all his blood rushing below his belt.
Jesus,
he felt like he was in high school again. He had no idea what type of spell
this woman had cast over him, but he found himself thinking about her too
often. And looking at her now, he really didn’t have to wonder why that was.
She
was fucking gorgeous.
She
had the most gloriously long legs he’d ever seen, made even longer by her black
patent leather heels. The remnants of the day’s light made Megan’s red cardigan
and matching shirt glow above her tight black skirt. He was starting to think
he was getting a thing for cardigans too.
Before
he started to drool on the glass, he quickly unlocked the deadbolt and opened
the door. Megan looked up, startled.
“Oh,
my gosh,” she breathed. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry.
Didn’t mean to scare you.”
That
was true, but he liked the way her cheeks got all flushed.
She
smiled. “I wasn’t sure what time you closed. When I saw the times on the door,
I was going to leave my keys with a note in your drop box. I parked my car over
there.” She turned and pointed to her Accord. It was kind of hard to miss. “I
was on my way home from work and something broke, so I drove straight here.”
She
sounded exhausted.
“What
exactly happened to it?” he asked, stepping from the doorway and walking toward
the car.
“I
had just pulled out of the parking lot and made it about a block before I hit a
pothole, and I heard this really loud bang followed by a high-pitched scraping
sound. I couldn’t see anything out the back window, and it seemed like all my
gauges were okay, so I continued driving.” She stopped beside where he knelt to
look under the back of the car. “Within two blocks there was another awful
sound, then all of sudden my car sounded like a helicopter.”
James
knew even before he looked at it what had happened. “Your muffler fell off.”
Megan
sighed. “Is that bad?”
He
looked up at her from where he stooped on the pavement—trying not to check out
her legs—and nodded. He stood up, dusting off his hands on his thighs. “I’m
gonna have to order you a new muffler. I can probably have it here by Tuesday.”
His
eyes got caught on where she was biting her lower lip again. “How much is that
going to cost me?”
He
pulled his gaze away from her lips and saw the worry in her expression. “You’re
looking at anywhere between two hundred to two fifty for parts and labor.”
She
looked back at her car and sighed. “I guess there’s no way around it, so go
ahead. Do you need me to fill out any paperwork?”
“No.
But I’ll need your keys.”
She
dropped her keys into his grease-stained hands. “Thanks, Mr. Foley. Just give me
a call whenever it’s done.”
She
heaved her purse up her shoulder before giving him a tired smile and wave.
James was too busy watching her walk away when he suddenly realized that she
planned to walk home by herself.
“Megan,”
he yelled. When she turned toward him, he asked, “How far is your place from
here?”
“Oh,
it’s just a few blocks. No biggie.”
She
had just started to turn back toward the sidewalk when he had a completely
stupid idea.
“I
was about ready to head home for the night. How about I give you a ride?”
She
regarded him for a moment before saying, “You know, after the day I’ve had, I
think I’ll take you up on that.”
Jamie
Hollins was
born and raised in rural Northeast Ohio.
After graduate school, she embarked on a perilous career in Human
Resources where she met plenty of real life characters. When she’s not writing or chasing after her
toddler, she enjoys reading and golfing.
Jamie lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and their dog,
Winston.
