Cocktails and Books
Written on Jan 26, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that HOLDING HER CLOSE was the love story of Nate Crane (from the Here and Now series)'s little sister, Janelle. I eagerly jumped into the story.
Janelle, beaten down by a cheating ex-husband and all the nonsense of Hollywood, finds herself at her brother's house dressed for a costume party in an attempt to try and salvage what was left of her acting career. A case of mistaken identity has Janelle locking lips with Cade, a hot cop in New Hope, who has a grudge against anything Hollywood. But when Janelle finds herself and her old TV show roommates in the middle of a police investigation, Cade swoops in to save her despite his misgivings.
Lexi Ryan knows how to write a story, where the characters suck you in immediately. Janelle and Cade had me from the moment of their first kiss. Their chemistry was almost a secondary character, making me forgive every dumb act each of these characters did because I knew they would figure it out. This author is one of the few where I will forgive boneheaded acts and ill thought out declarations because I know it's the character fighting against the inexplicable chemistry with the other.
This was a faster read than some of the other New Hope related stories and there were times when I felt the storyline was rushed a bit, but that didn't ultimately take away from the essence of the story or the characters. This was another solid entry into the New Hope line of characters. I can't wait to see what the author has planned next