Holly‘s review of Lean On Me (Holloway, Book 2) by HelenKay Dimon
Cassidy Clarke once climbed the world’s highest mountains, but after an unexpected illness ends her career she’s back in her hometown, broke and hoping for a little luck. But the townsfolk aren’t exactly putting out a welcome mat for the woman who once snubbed them in the media, despite her apologies now.
Mitch Anders knows someone has set up camp on the grounds of his plant nursery, and he’s surprised to find his sexy high school crush ducking questions about where she’s staying.
Though he’s sworn to stop cleaning up other people’s messes, Mitch offers Cassidy a job and a place to stay—his place. Bed-sharing optional, but definitely welcome.Out of options and too attracted to Mitch to keep things platonic, Cassidy says yes to his offer. She wants to get back on her feet financially and start a new career. She never expects to suffer a different kind of fall, one that has her believing Mitch just might bring her something bigger and better than luck.
This is the second book by Dimon set in Holloway, but the first I read. I didn’t realize it was part of a series until I’d finished it.
Cassidy was on top of the world – literally. She climbed some of the world’s tallest mountains, until an illness grounded her. About the same time her career collapsed, her accountant ran off with her money and left her dead broke without a lot of options. Now she’s back in her hometown looking to stay with her stepdad until she can get back on her feet. Only there are a couple problems with that..first, her stepdad is dodging her. Second, the town hates her because she accidentally talked trash about them in the national media.
Until she can figure things out, she’s camping in the back 40 of the local nursery. Until Mitch Anders discovers her, anyway. Cassidy tries to make up an excuse, but Mitch realizes pretty early on she’s in dire straights. He just thinks it’s for the wrong reason…
Mitch is done with helping people…or so he says. Too bad he can’t seem to stick to that. Especially when it comes to Cassidy Clarke, the town’s Chosen One. He had a crush on her back in the day, and it’s back full force now that he sees her all grown up. If he can help her get back on her feet and get a little nookie on the side..well, he’s not going to turn her away.
But things aren’t quite what they seem. Not with Cassidy or her stepdad. Pretty sure Mitch is wrapped up in her life, even though he swore he wasn’t going to be.
This was a cute read with quite a bit of humor. Cassidy’s down on her luck, but she isn’t a victim. When Mitch catches her lying and hiding out in the nursery, I seriously cracked up. Her outlook on life was a pretty good one and I admired her strength in returning home, even if that was the last place on earth she wanted to be. I also admired the way she owned up to her past mistakes and did her best to atone for them.
Mitch was a good guy who wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted. In this case, Cassidy. He was happy helping her get back on her feet and exploring his attraction to her. I thought it was sweet the way he came to care for her and start envisioning a future with her.
I was bothered by his actions at the end of the novel. Maybe it would have made more sense if the novel had been longer and his past explored more fully. As it was, it seemed over the top and really out of character, especially considering how much he’d championed Cassidy up until that point.
The town’s negativity toward Cassidy didn’t make a lot of sense. I understand they felt slighted by her comments to the media, but their reaction seemed a bit extreme considering the nature of the remarks and their feelings about her prior to that. I cheered on the inside (and maybe a little on the outside) when Cassidy set the record straight. You go girl!
Though flawed, I enjoyed the romance and Cassidy’s personal journey. I’m looking forward to the next book.
3.5 out of 5
This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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