Thank you to Corinne Michaels and her team for the advance reader copy of Here and Now, the second interconnected standalone in the Ember Falls series.
Nature is healing when I read a military hero and single mom written by Corinne Michaels. Here and Now is a small-town romance, featuring a suspense storyline, and a single mom heroine on the run. Her love interest falls first and falls hard, a golden retriever boyfriend with a heart of gold and I loved every second of it.
I’ve crafted my new life in Ember Falls with two simple rules: maintain superficial relationships and always be ready to run.
But when my son’s incredibly hot hockey coach Miles Anderson walks in, things get very, very complicated.
With his charming smile and our accidental dates, he’s the exact opposite of any man I’ve ever dated. That should make saying yes to being with him simple, but nothing in my life is easy.
In fact, it’s a mess.
Miles makes me smile and treats my son like his own. When we’re together, I forget about my troubles and dream of a life that I will never be able to have with him.
It’s only a matter of time until the past comes knocking and I’ll have to leave, breaking us both in the process.
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Penelope is a single mom on the run, and I got attached to her and Kai very quickly. She is such a strong character, someone you will want to root for immediately. The real gem of the story is Miles Anderson the small-town principal with a heart of gold, he’s a stellar uncle and such a damn catch both in life and on the ultimate frisbee field. All the readers obsessing over him, I get it he’s not just a stellar love interest, but a male lead readers will fall hard and fast for. I have to mention the wonderful cameos for any longtime Corinne reader, Salvation fans are going to be in for a treat and will love getting to check in on some of those characters. Along with so many great side characters including setting up the next book to come which I am dying for.
- Setting: I already loved Ember Falls from the first interconnected standalone, All Too Well, and this story grew my love for the place even more. There is a really sweet sequence where Miles shows Penelope the town falls, and it was in that scene that I truly fell even harder in love with the idea of them falling in love with this town. Penelope and Kai moving around so much before living in Ember Falls brought to light the special place it is and the people that make it worth fighting for.
- Pacing: Reading this felt like almost coming home, like a more nostalgic reading experience similar to when I was reading Corinne Michaels for the first time in 2018. Corinne made me cry and made my heart race sometimes both at the same time, no one writes characters under threat coupled with a broken past like she does.
- Romance: Penelope and Miles were a perfect couple! Of course with it being a single-mom romance Miles did not just fall for Penelope but stepped up to be the dad Kai never had. I loved the sweet and honest way this relationship started and how precious their love felt. I loved how Miles would continually go by the coffee shop and buy coffee just to see her, then make other people get him coffee made by her and the whole time he did not like coffee. This man fell hard and fast in the best way possible and I loved every second of it. The spice was great too, with amazing sexual tension.
Here and Now is 4.5/5 stars
You can pick up the story here.
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Thank you again to Corinne and the Valentine PR team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
