Romancing the Wallflower
Crimson, Colorado #8
By Michelle Major
Released: August 22nd, 2017
Harlequin Superromance
Source: ARC provided by Publisher
Dedicated kindergarten teacher Erin MacDonald
isn't the type to make the first move on a man—especially gorgeous David McCay,
her secret crush. But when a crisis involving one of her pupils offers a chance
to help the pro baseballer turned local brewery owner, Erin goes way out of her
comfort zone. So way out she makes a shocking suggestion!
David moved to the Colorado mountain town to look after his
sister and her son. Now he's a stand-in parent to his nephew, trying to fight
his attraction to Erin…who just propositioned him. David is nobody's hero. So
why can't he convince the sweet, kindhearted beauty that she deserves better
than him? Is it because they're the perfect imperfect match?
*ARC provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review*
Oh my
goodness! This book!! This book is SO much more than a simple romance! This
book truly has it all! With drugs, arrests, guardianship, getting clean, two
families in disarray, and this is not even our main characters!
Normally I
would get into my take on the synopsis of this book, but the blurb pretty much
says it all. The characters are complex and quite frankly, wonderful. Erin
self-worth seems to have taken a beating in the past, and doesn't think she is
good enough to be "in David's league", and David doesn't believe that
he is good enough to be with Erin. Add to that a crazy mother, and it's a three
ringed circus!
The authors
talent simply shines through, with her character development and writing! I
tend to think that Harlequin/Mills and Boon romances tend to be over looks, but
I urge people to pick up this little gems, because so many are missing out on
such talent, Michelle Majors being one of them.
So, with all
that being said, I will give Romancing the Wallflower 5 stars!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
“Stop staring at the
hottie brewmaster’s butt.”
Erin MacDonald
choked on the gulp of strawberry daiquiri she’d just swallowed. “I’m not
staring at anyone’s butt,” she said as she grabbed a wad of napkins and dabbed
at her chin and shirtfront. “And don’t talk so loud.”
Melody Cross, one
of the second-grade teachers at Crimson Elementary, snorted. “It’s a crowded
bar on a busy Thursday night. No one can hear me.”
But Melody had the
kind of booming voice that could quiet a room full of squirming eight-year-olds
the afternoon before summer break. The tall table they stood at was a good five
feet from the bar, but Erin swore she saw the man’s broad shoulders stiffen.
“Want me to take a
picture of him?” Suzie Vitale, her fellow kindergarten teacher, offered with a
tipsy smile. “It lasts longer.”
Before Erin could
stop her, the curvy blonde aimed her phone at the backside of the gorgeous guy
who not only worked the bar but also owned Elevation Brewery. The brewpub had
opened a little over a year ago and had become a popular hangout for both
locals and tourists in the quaint mountain town of Crimson, Colorado.
Erin had noticed
David McCay, the brewery’s owner, the first time she’d stepped into the nouveau
rustic—and very on-trend for Colorado—space. He was tall and lean, with dark
blond hair that curled around the collars of the flannel shirts he favored.
David McCay was as handsome as a movie star and built like he spent endless
hours tossing huge sacks of barley—or whatever it was beer brewers did.
Erin, who was built
like she spent her days sitting cross-legged on a reading rug, had surreptitiously
watched him each time she came into the bar with friends or coworkers for a
random happy hour or birthday celebration. He was often tending bar or
sometimes she’d spot him coming out from the back, wearing the heavy rubber
boots and backward ball cap that she’d quickly learned were his uniform when
actually brewing beer.
Colorado was known
for its craft brews, and the fact that Elevation had made a name for itself so
quickly was a testament to his hard work and talent at running a business.
At least that’s
what Erin wanted to believe. Her mother liked to remind Erin that she too often
assumed the best about people, which allowed them to regularly take advantage
of her.
But David McCay
hadn’t taken advantage of her, even though it was the stuff of her fantasies.
Even though his nephew, Rhett, was now in her kindergarten class and David had
been with the boy and his mother for back-to-school night. Erin had barely been
able to put a sentence together with David towering over the other adults in
the back of her classroom, but he hadn’t bothered to acknowledge her. Heck, it
was doubtful he even knew she existed.
Except when she
blinked and looked up, he was staring straight at her. Sparks of awareness
flamed through her body, setting every inch of her skin on fire. He lifted one
thick brow as if he could read her thoughts. Which might be impossible since it
felt like all of her brain cells had spontaneously combusted under the weight
of his stare.
She heard Melody
giggle behind her, and Suzie gave her a little shove forward. David now stood
at the edge of the bar, only a short distance from her, with movement all
around him. Customers in groups laughed and talked. A waitress set her tray on
the rich wood bar top. A group of women at near the edge of the bar vied for
his attention. But his focus remained on Erin.
Then
something—someone—suddenly blocked her vision. Cole Bennett, Crimson’s recently
elected sheriff, was talking to David. Cole was also tall and broad, and to use
one of her mom’s favorite expressions, made a better door than a window.
Erin shifted to the
right as she overheard Cole mention Rhett, David’s nephew. David’s gaze
hardened and his jaw clenched. Unable to stop herself, she moved forward,
sidestepping a couple heading toward the back of the bar and a group of
twentysomething guys who looked like they’d just come off a hiking trail, until
she stood directly behind the sheriff.
She was five feet
four inches tall in the clogs she favored for work, so both men towered over
her and were completely unaware she was listening to their conversation.
Invisibility was Erin’s unintentional superpower. She knew much more than she
should about her coworkers and neighbors, simply because people didn’t notice
she was there.
“Rhett is safe,”
Cole told David. “But they can’t get him to come out.”
“What the hell was
Jenna thinking?” David asked, then scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “No, don’t
answer that.”
“She’s in trouble,
David. The crowd she’s running with—”
“I’ll handle it.”
He pulled a set of keys out of one of the pockets in his tan cargo pants. “I
just need to tell Tracie I’m leaving for the night. I’ll be over for Rhett.”
“I have to call
Social Services,” Cole said softly, and Erin felt the tension ratchet up a
notch.
“Give me some time
with him first, okay?”
“Can you—”
“I’ll handle it,”
David repeated. He moved behind the bar and spoke to the woman filling two pint
glasses from the tap.
The sheriff walked
out of the bar, patrons instinctively clearing a path for him although he
wasn’t in uniform tonight.
When she looked up,
David McCay stood toe-to-toe with her. She realized she’d moved forward to
block his path from behind the bar.
In her daydreams,
she’d compared his eyes to the brilliant summer sky above the ragged peak of
Crimson Mountain or the iridescent cobalt of a tropical lagoon. But now his
frosty stare was more like the ice blue of a glacier, so cold a shiver passed
through her.
“I don’t have time
for this, sweetheart. You and your friends are going to have to play your
liquid courage bar games with someone else.”
“It’s not a game,”
Erin said.
“Darlin’, you
ordered a froofy drink in my bar. It’s either a game or a joke.”
This close to
David, the heat and frustration radiating off him made her feel different from
the woman she knew herself to be. She was aware of her body in a way that was
new and exhilarating. She wanted more. She wanted…something she couldn’t name.
Still, the promise of it made her weak with longing.
Also braver than
she’d ever been. Or maybe crazy was a better word, because when he moved to
step around her, she placed a hand on his arm.
“I can help with
your nephew.”
Michelle Major grew up in Ohio but
dreamed of living in the mountains. Soon after graduating with a degree in
Journalism, she pointed her car west and settled in Colorado. Her life and
house are filled with one great husband, two beautiful kids, a few furry pets
and several well-behaved reptiles. She’s grateful to have found her passion
writing stories with happy endings.
