SHE’S LOOKING FOR AN OLD FRIEND…
In the wake of a nasty divorce, Lacey Bradford heads for Wyoming where she’s sure her old friend will take her in. But her high school pal Chase Caldwell is no longer the gangly boy who would follow her anywhere. For one thing, he’s now incredibly buff and handsome, but that’s not all that’s changed…WHAT SHE FINDS IS ONE HOT COWBOY…
Chase has been through tough times and is less than thrilled to see the girl who once broke his heart. But try as he might to resist her, while Lacey’s putting her life back together, he’s finding new ways to be a part of it.
Meet Lacey, a very naive young lady who has spent most of her life, both childhood & adult, doing and being what she is told to be by the men in her life, first her father and then her husband. Being so naive, Lacey didn’t realise the dodgy deals that her husband was up to despite working in his office, so when all comes to light, though legally she isn’t implicated, the towns folk don’t believe her & ostracise her. Combine that with her husbands business associates threatening her to find out where he is, Lacey decides to run and start a new life.
However Lacey being Lacey, couldn’t possibly do that on her own so she heads unannounced for the small town where Chase Caldwell, an old high school friend, has set up home after losing the family farm to her ex-husbands machinations…..
Surprisingly Chase isn’t all that happy to see her (well a certain part of him is, but lets not go there 🙂 ) He is angry over the loss of the family farm and the subsequent death of his father and blames Lacey because she is there.
They both have to overcome their past hurts and grievances if they are to make a life together…..
Once you just accept that Lacey is actually THAT naive, she’s actually quite a likable character. With the use of flashbacks throughout the story you come to full understand just how sheltered Lacey’s life has been & how hard it is for her to be on her own now. Chase comes across as a bit of an ass, but again you can understand his point of view & just how angry he is at the loss of the ranch he thought he would be farming & at the suicide of his father after the loss of the ranch. It was a successful operation and now he is struggling to make ends meet at the spread he now owns, making ends meet by selling second hand cars.
There are moments of real tension throughout the tale, both sexual between Lacey & Chase as they struggle to come to terms with the hand life has now dealt them and also tension from the fact that Lacey is being followed by the crooked Sheriff that her ex-husband was dealing with.
There are a few laugh out loud moments (not sure if they’re meant to be, but i did) , especially when Lacey is trying to learn to ride a horse! But the supporting cast is also hilarious in the stereotypical small town characters, I particularly like Krystal, the town gold digger.
Nice review Rae, looking forward to reading more by you 🙂