The Family Man
By: Kelly Eadon
Releasing July 5, 2016
Forever Yours
Blurb
TEMPTATION NEVER TASTED SO SWEET…
When life hands lemons to Beth Beverley, she makes mouthwatering lemon squares. Mostly because they’re coveted by the sexy single dad who owns Belmont’s most popular coffee shop. But that’s where her crush on Griffin has to end. Her sweet treats are selling like crazy cakes in his shop, and she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. Too bad his sinful smile has her flirting with the idea of forever.
Griffin Hall definitely needs to keep his eyes–and his hands–off Beth. Since he’s traded in late-night gigs and partying for bedtime stories with his little girl in his arms, he doesn’t have time for anything else. So why does Beth’s big heart and easy way with his daughter make him finally feel alive again? But there’s a little secret Beth doesn’t know, something he can’t bear to tell her . . .
Review:
Beth is quite a refreshing character. She’s not hung up on making money, or even having one career. That’s not her style. She is hardworking, but she’s also a versatile free-spirit. Griffin can relate. He was once a guitarist in a band, and he had his party moments; but an unexpected preganacy with the wrong woman calmed his ways. He had to leave his carefree lifestyle behind and set down some roots and build some structure for his daugther. He’d become a single parent, and he was determined to do his best.
Beth bakes the muffins that Griffin sales in his coffee shop. As delicious and sweet as they are, they don’t hold a palate to their maker. However, he works long hours and he’s not sure he can be in a relationship, run his business, and still be a good father to Mabel, his daughter. When Mabel takes a liking to Beth and they start spending time together, he believes it just may work out. He can have it all. They can have it all.
Beth is not sure she can take care of a kid full-time. She’s a great baby-sitter, but that’s a lot different than being a mom. As she grows attached to the lovable duo, she wants nothing more than to take the leap and see what kind of future they can have together. However, there’s one not-so-little-secret Griffin has been keeping from her that can derail their happy train.
I read A Wedding Date, and it was nice to catch up with the gang. This story is just as light-hearted. The writing is very good, the flow is smooth, and the pace is steady. Although there were serious moments, I like that the conflict wasn’t overly dramatic. The lovers reacted realistically, all while caring enough to fight for the relationship. I did find myself giggling at times. The dialogue is very entertaining. Eadon has created a fun atmosphere in the town of Belmont with lively, charming characters.
I must say, I am anxious to see what’s next for Ainsley. I’ll definitely be watching out for her story.
Kudos to Eadon!
Rating system: Cups of Coffee (the less the better)
0: You won’t need any coffee to stay up for this one. It’s intriguing enough all on its own.
1: You’ll stay up late, but not all night. Brew one cup.
2: You’ll read as long as you’re not tired. If you are, two cups should do the trick.
3: I hope you got plenty of rest; you’ll need it, or at least 3 cups.
4: If the cable goes out, read the book. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Oh, don’t forget your brew!
5: Find anything else to do- it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t waste your coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you.
My rating: 0 cups of coffee
Author Info
Kelly Eadon is a romance writer living in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and a house full of rescue animals, aka “the kraken”. She swears like a sailor and says whatever pops into her head. In order to counteract her big mouth, she wears high heels whenever possible. In her spare time she spins, kick boxes and attempts to renovate her farmhouse. She hates sanding drywall, loves to cook, drinks lots of wine, gets scary competitive at trivia, and enjoys time spent exploring with her rescued beagle mixes.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
He lifted a few containers out of a picnic basket and opened them on the blanket. “But you remind me of this town in Italy. I know that seems like a weird thing to say, that you remind me of a town. But it’s full of all these paths that take you to completely unexpected places. Everywhere you turn, someone is trying to feed you. Everyone smiles all the time, and they have a little street theater with puppets that the kids gather around to watch.”
He lifted his eyes to her and grinned. “If you were a place, Beth, you would be this place. We played a concert in a city nearby, but we had a day off and I explored the town by myself. The whole time I kept thinking how great it would be to share it with someone. The other night it came to me: I had to have lunch with you in Urbino.”
Her breath caught. Wow.
He gestured to the food he’d laid out on the blanket. Olives, figs, cheese, bread, dried fruit. Her mouth watered just looking at it. “So here you go. Lunch in Urbino.”
Her eyes stung and she blinked hard. This could not be happening. This could not be real.
“Wow.”
The corners of his mouth dropped and his eyebrows furrowed. “Do you like it?” He dropped his gaze to his lap, where his hands fidgeted. “Is it too much?”
She threw herself at him, covering his face with kisses, not caring if she knocked anything over. “It’s the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me.”
His fingers closed around her waist and he tugged her into his lap. He pressed his mouth to hers and used the tip of his tongue to trace the seam of her lips.
A high-pitched whistle pierced the air. She raised her head and found a group of teenage boys giving them the thumbs-up.
Her face heated and she crawled back to her spot on the other side of the blanket.
She reached for the container of olives and spooned a few onto her plate. “I feel like I should warn you that dessert is entirely off-theme.”
He raised an eyebrow and popped a fig into his mouth. “Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “Oh yeah.”
Then she reached for the plastic bag in her purse and plopped it onto the blanket, so that one of the cookies was faceup inside the package.
He leaned toward it, his eyes narrowing. “What kind of cookie is that?”
She’d iced them pink and then used magenta piping to create little curlicues. “Pig butt.”
His gaze jerked to hers and he blinked a few times. “A pig butt cookie?”
The tickle in her throat became too much, she burst into giggles. “Just the decoration, not the flavoring. I found them on Pinterest. Nailed it, right?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Yup. You nailed it. That is most definitely a pig’s ass. Martha Stewart, the person not the van, would be impressed.”
With a giggle, she tipped her head back to let the sunshine warm her face.
It was as near to perfect as a date could be.