Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy Book #9)
Carrie Ann Ryan
Blurb:
Neither one of us
knew it would be two years until we saw each other again. Or that it would be
the last time my sister was part of our core group.
Grieving, I’m
back in Colorado trying to start over. I have no family and have no intention
of dating ever again.
Only fate has
other plans because Lexington Montgomery is my new neighbor.
I want to stay
away from him, but there’s no chance of that now. Especially when his ex shows
up to rub her new husband—and the chance at his dream job—in his face.
I didn’t mean to
do it, but now I’m Lex’s fake girlfriend over the holidays and there’s nothing
fake about the attraction between us.
Except once we
finally give in, it turns out the past I ran from wasn’t so far away after all.
And the dangers we never saw coming might end what we have—fake or not—before
we even have a chance.
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
I
have never met an author more skilled at tearing out our hearts just to remind
us how important love and taking the time with our loved one is—Carrie Ann Ryan
is truly the Queen. For those of us that have been around since the OG Montgomery’s
were leaving us in tears you’ll be just as thrilled as I was to get to see
Eliza Wilder-Montgomery and Beckett Montgomery’s son Lexington finally find the
love of his life, and in some that has been in front of him all along. This is one of those stories that opens our
hearts and yes to the possibilities that we have ignored or overlooked for far
to long, so that we remember that love is sometimes meant to be and easy path
and for others we have to live through trauma and pain in order to appreciate the
beauty and magic that love brings to our lives. As always Carrie gives us a sneak
peak for the upcoming story and I have to say that just seeing that little bit
that is coming for poor Brooklyn I almost dread her story because I know the
pain will be close to unbearable to experience right along with her before she
heals enough o find love again. The capacity
of the human heart for healing and expanding to allow room for second chance at
love never ceases to amaze me, and Carrie is truly one of the few that understands
that and can express it through her writing.
Mercy
Caddel has lived through the worst two years of her life and she has finally
returned to Colorado, hoping to finish healing and reestablish herself in her
home state, but her haven is being disturbed by the construction happening on
the house next door. She is thrown for another loop when she discovers her new
neighbor is none other than Lexington ‘Lex’ Montgomery, someone she once
trusted beyond most others, but who was there on one of the worst days of her
life. Lex is even more surprised than Mercy but he has missed her immensely and
is glad she is back even though she is giving him the cold shoulder—at least
until they suddenly find themselves in a fake relationship. Now they are
spending time together and the friendship they once shared is flaring into a
passion neither of them anticipated, but can their new chemistry and connection
withstand the lie their relationship began with, or will their rocky foundation
crumble when danger comes knocking?
I
am always a major fan of the ever popular friends-to-lovers trope and when you
add in the fake-relationship bit things are bound to heat up quickly. Lex has
always had a thing for Mercy and now with nothing standing in his way he
quickly finds that she is everything he wants him a lover. Lex is the perfect example
of a Montgomery, even if he was adopted; he’s strong, sweet, caring, stubborn,
and often says the first stupid thing that comes out of his mouth and gets
himself into trouble. He has dedicated himself to his family and their business
his entire adult life, never having much real luck in love, but when he has the
chance with Mercy he goes all in, even if he does make a dumb mistake, in the
end he truly almost gives his all for her. I just loved watching him lose his
head and heart to his old friend and finding out that sometimes the lover we
were meant to be with truly is the girl next door. Mercy is leery of men for
obvious reasons, having been left at the altar by the last man she dated, but
when she finds herself accidentally putting them into a fake relationship she
soon realizes that Lex is the kind of man she wants in her life and begins to
trust again. She is smart, sassy, hardworking, passionate, and determined to
move forward in life even knowing that she has lost so much. I loved seeing her
accept the love that Eliza offered her so easily, knowing she needed family
more than anything, because she needed to be folded into the Montgomery “cult”
badly after all she’d been through.
Dating in this world can sometimes
leave a person jaded, and with all these two went through it truly could have
been their last chances, but they found in one another the missing pieces of
their hearts and healed from all their breaks. Mercy went through the most
heartbreaking day of her life, being left at the altar then almost losing her
sister, but since that day she has lived through two years that could break any
persons heart. She is trying to live again and having Lex and the Montgomerys
in her life might just be the very thing she needs to remind her that having
love is all we need in this life to keep moving forward. Lex has had his share
of disastrous romances and when Mercy forces them into a fake relationship he
never imagines just how real it would become, but there is no denying the woman
owns him heart and soul. He knows that the woman that he almost lost is the
only one he’ll ever want again, but if he isn’t careful he just might lose her
again and he refuses to give her up this time—to anyone or anything. I loved
watching these two fumble their way through their fake feelings and
ultimately finding the passion too much to hide anymore until the fire burned
the walls down between them. Their love and connection are obvious to everyone
but them from the beginning and it was fun to see their friends and family
teasing them as they found their way through to one another. I am looking forward
to seeing more of them in future stories. Brooklyn’s story is coming next and I
am truly not sure I’m ready for the pain (Kiss Me
Forever), but I know that Ms. Ryan will give her an HEA in the end, even if
we have to cry buckets to get there. For
now, I will bask in the heat and beauty that was Last Chance Seduction
and the love of two people that were truly meant to be.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
