America's Sweetheart (Real Love, #5)

by Jessica Lemmon

Old flames burn bright...When a disgraced starlet returns home to lick her wounds, she discovers that her high school sweetheart is just as tempting as ever.

Allison: When I left for California, I gave myself a new name and never looked back. Now my carefully crafted good-girl image is getting torn to shreds in the press thanks to my Oscar-winning A-hole of an ex-boyfriend. So I escape to the only safe haven I know and trust—my hometown—to take a breather while I plot my triumphant Hollywood comeback. However, when I arrive at my parents’ house, Jackson Burke answers the door instead. And suddenly the past comes rushing back. . . .

Jackson: First kiss. First time. First love. Yep, Allison Murphy and I shared a lot of firsts back in the day. When she left, she took half my heart with her. Now she’s back in town, and even though I swore I’d keep my distance, her parents hired me to remodel their house, and I’m going to finish the job. But one hot kiss later, suddenly the press is calling us the next big celebrity couple. Sure, I’ll play the part, for Allison’s sake—but I refuse to let her close enough to break my heart all over again. . . .

• ASIN: B078VYVDRN
• Publish Date: 2 October 2018
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Loveswept
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 190
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

What a cute story about an actress and a builder who reconnected after a decade apart. I enjoyed both Jackson and Allie (she’s Allie to me, not Nina) and really enjoyed seeing them together. Their story was sweet, Jackson was dreamy and Allie really comes into her own over the course of the story. Jessica Lemmon got it right with these two and I’m glad.

[Sam@WLABB]

She was his first kiss, first time, first love, and after being absent for over a decade, Allison was back in his life. Her publicist thought dating a small town average Joe would be good for her tarnished image. Jackson agreed to this "showmance", but would he be able to deny the truth of what lies in his heart?

Second chance romances are among my favorites. I live for the history the hero and heroine share, as well as the idea, that some endings are only temporary and forgiveness is achievable.

Both Jackson and Allison had dreams, but while Allison had opportunities to pursue her's, Jackson was limited by his circumstances. When they saw no way to save their relationship, they went their separate ways.

He poured his pain and heartbreak into his work, and enjoyed some success as a business owner in their hometown, but he never forgot what he had shared with Allison, and was sort of never able to move on.

Allison, though enjoying Hollywood success, was also somewhat stunted in her romantic life. Thank goodness the universe (and the unforgiving public) intervened, because Allison and Jackson were reunited and it really did feel so good.

I wanted these two, no, needed these two to find their way back to each other. After reading the flashbacks, and seeing how they fell back into step so easily with each other, I knew they were meant to be together, and I was rooting for one of them to make that bold move, that bold choice, and not repeat their previous mistakes.

This story was sweet and sassy, tender and sexy. I laughed, smiled, swooned, and maybe even shed a few tears, because look -- I'm a hopeless romantic, and I couldn't imagine this fictional world without Jackson and Allison coupled in it.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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