Ian was the wild boy every girl dreams of, a renegade who thrived on breaking the law and setting Savi’s body on fire. It was all fun and games and hot excitement, no strings attached, until the one day he got serious—and then disappeared without a trace.

Savi has spent the ten years since committing herself to her work, her daughter, and to not thinking about Ian—or love. Just when it’s possible she might have found the one man who can change her mind, Ian pulls into town, bringing with him all of the lust, danger, and excitement Savi remembers.

As Ian stirs up old feelings and draws Savi back into memories and passion she’s too weak to fight, he’s also digging up dirt on the man Savi is falling for, doing everything he can to prove that Duncan is not who he seems to be. And Savi, unsure whether she can trust either man, will be forced to decide between rekindling a love that never really burned out and building a new one that looks ready to catch fire.

Tracy’s review of Stay With Me by Sharla Lovelace

Savanna is a 43 woman who helps run her father’s business, has a 21 year old daughter who is grown and out of the house and has a huge crush on the new veterinarian in town. She keeps finding excuses to take her dog Gracie in to get checked just so she could see the guy. One of those times she actually gets the nerve up to ask him to coffee and he accepts! Yay!

When they head to the local butcher shop, the one owned by her sister and brother-in-law, she’s shocked to see her first love behind the counter. Ian was her best friend growing up and they got into shit tons of trouble together. They also were friends with benefits when they got old enough. Eleven years before Ian let her know that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Four days later, she found him in bed with another woman. He then he left town and she never saw him again. The fact that he’s back now freaks her out and she’s not sure how she feels about seeing him again.

While Savi is figuring out her feelings for both Duncan and Ian her father is considering selling his business, she finds out her sister is getting pressure from the local “mob boss” and that her business is in trouble. Savi’s life is in turmoil and she’s not sure what she can do about it.

This was my first read by this author and while I liked some things about the book, the overall story just wasn’t my cup of tea.

In a romance I usually find myself rooting for the couple on both sides of the coin – both hero and heroine. In this story I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for – Ian or Duncan. I didn’t feel like I had enough information about either one of them to make an informed decision and apparently Savi didn’t know either. Her emotions were all over the place in the story and when I thought she’d go one way (to one guy), she’d go the other. The man she ended up with was not the one I expected it to be and frankly I wasn’t feeling the love between the two of them enough to enjoy what I think was supposed to be a touching HEA.

As far as the other part of the book – having to do with Savi’s dad’s business – it was pretty convoluted and resolved quite easily which didn’t seem appropriate. We were led to believe that this “mob boss” guy was one evil bastard but he was quickly put in his place and he just kind of agreed and walked away. What?? It didn’t make sense to me.

The relationship that Savi had with her sibling, her father and her daughter were pretty cool. I thought that they had a great family dynamic and that was portrayed well. I also enjoyed the parts of the book that were humorous. The author has a fun sense of humor and when that was played up I found the book much more enjoyable.

So…while I didn’t love the book I thought it has some good aspects to it. I may read another of this author’s work in the future just to see I like one of her other books more than I did this one.

Rating: 2.5/3 out of 5

This title is available from Beyond the Page Publishing. You can buy it here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.