Falling for Bella
Katie Reus
Blurb:
Bella has been
working with her family at their popular tour company since she was a kid. She
loves her city and giving tourists the real history. Even if the rival tour
company across the street has been a thorn in their side for years. She’s been
doing her best to ignore them, but it’s hard, especially since her recently
returned former best friend is back in town and now running the other company.
So what if he makes her heart pound whenever he looks at her? He’s the enemy
and she wants nothing to do with him.
He’s trying to
clean up his family’s mess…
Ansen and Bella
used to be best friends, but their feuding families eventually drove a wedge
between them. Now that he’s back home to stay, he’s hoping they can put the
past behind them—so he proposes they fake a relationship to get their families
to declare a truce. The upcoming Halloween festival provides them a chance to
grow their businesses and gain more exposure—if only their families will stop
their petty squabbles and pranks. If they can pull off that Halloween miracle,
maybe he can finally convince Bella that he wants more than friendship from
her—and that nothing about his proposal is fake.
Themes: Contemporary, Holiday
Rating: 3.5 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
I love a short story with all the fun and
sweetness of a holiday thrown in but throw in a family feud and what could
possibly go wrong. This novella by Katie
Reus combines some of my favorite tropes as she brings us a Halloween romance
between two New Orleans ghost hunting families that have been rivals for years.
Bella and Ansen have been the sensible ones in their families while the others
have been pulling pranks on one another and generally making themselves look
like idiots. When Ansen approaches Bella
with not only a truce but a plan to combine their business and personal lives
in a way that could benefit everyone, she is skeptical but willing to give him
the benefit of the doubt. Ansen has
loved Bella from afar for a while and now that he is back from the military and
running his family’s business, he is ready to put in the work needed to get
Bella for his own. Now if only they can keep their family from doing anything
stupid and causing their budding relationship to be torn apart. I loved the sweetness of Ansen and Bella’s
emotional connection and the chemistry between them. Bella is a sassy and smart woman that
obviously knows how to get exactly what she wants for herself and even though
she knows that she should want Ansen she does and she is willing to admit
it. Ansen has wanted Bella for far too
long and his determination to claim her for himself now that he is back to stay
means nothing will stand in his way. The
passion between Bella and Ansen was a bit of a slow burn but since the story was
short, I enjoyed that the last chapter was a jump ahead, so we knew that they
made a real go of it and got their HEA. I look forward to more Halloween
romances in the future from Katie and can only hope they are just as great as Falling
for Bella.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
