Where There’s A Will (Bitterthron, Texas #4) by Stacy Gail
Contemporary Romance
E book
November 17, 2014
Carina Press
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “Small towns […] You start out with a simple breakdown on a country road and by the end of the day the whole town’s got you tangled up in a hot and sweaty clinch with triplets on the way.”
Miranda Brookhaven never planned to set foot in Bitterthorn, Texas ever again but the need to right a wrong has her doing many things she never thought she’d ever do again…like voluntarily hunting down her high school sweetheart, Coe Rodas, the man who ripped her heart out. Years ago, Miranda’s father took something important from Coe. Miranda’s father has since passed away but his convoluted will forces Miranda to stay in Bitterthorn until she can give back what her family stole from Coe.
Coe Rodas learned early in life that there are two types of the people-the haves and have nots. When the only thing he ever had to his name is stolen by Miranda’s father, he was convinced the Princess of Brookhaven set him up. Only now she is back and Coe learns everything he thought he knew about that night and her intentions seems to be a lie.
Miranda has sixty days for Coe to find proof he invented the prototype. It’s only then will she finally be able move beyond the pain and hurt he and her father caused her. But Coe seems more intent on rekindling the passion between them then claiming what her family owes him. While she may have been blinded by love in high school, this time around the princess of Brookhaven is more than able to handle the bad boy of Bitterthorn
Where There’s A Will is another classic second chance romance from Stacy Gail. I have enjoyed her Bitterthorn series and was pleased to see Coe would be getting his own chance at an HEA. Gail does a fabulous job with the second chance love trope, effectively separating out the emotions and facts behind the conflicts that lead to the break up of our lovers in the first place. The well plotted storyline flows at a steady if not somewhat overly chatty pace; interjecting with bits of humor and bittersweet moments as two high school sweethearts are reluctantly reunited after seven years.
Heavily character driven, the story revolves around our heroine Miranda Brookhaven and her journey back to the worse time of her life. Abandoned by her lover and father forced Miranda to leave Bitterthorn and cut herself off from her family. Coming back home to a town filled with people who hate her and her family isn’t easy. Emotions run hot and heavy as we learn that there are three sides to every story-yours, theirs, and the truth. Small town gossip and animosity only adds fuel the fire as we hear Miranda’s and Coe’s versions of the events of that fateful summer; events that don’t quite match up.
Coe Rodas wanted Miranda Brookhaven from the first moment he saw her. The perfect trophy girlfriend to prove that a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks could get the rich princess. The product of an abusive home with a large chip on his shoulder and hair trigger temper, he never could believe that she actually cared for him. When he learned her father stole his idea, that confirmed it.
“Behind your perfect manners and polite smile you’re still the cunning little manipulator you always were.”
Miranda Brookhaven met and fell in love with Roscoe ‘Coe” Rodas while in high school. When he gives her a gadget to show her famous father, Miranda does as he asks, even ‘borrowing’ his notes when her father shows interest. Little did she know that her father would steal the device, market it as his own, and Coe would blame her for everything. Her father’s betrayal and Coe’s hatred devastated Miranda.
“It would have been a cliche, except for one thing-her feelings were real. In the end, he’d made sure she understood his feelings had been anything but.”
Their romance is sweet, sarcastic, sexy, and heartbreaking. Strong chemistry and passion flavors the story, assuring readers that no matter what happened in the past, this couple isn’t completely free of one another. The slow journey towards discovery, forgiveness, and ultimately love controlled a large portion of the storyline. Gail builds the story, effectively communing to readers the pain and angst these two suffered through. Miranda was left damaged by Coe and her father. Damage that can’t be rectified by a simple ‘I’m sorry.’ Coe, older and more mature, sees that he has a lot of work to do if he is ever going to gain Miranda’s trust and forgiveness to help move her past the anger and grief she still clings to.
“I loathe you, just as much as you loathe me, so let me assure you that while you clearly are the center of your universe, you’ll never again be the center of mine.”
I loved the interactions between Coe and Miranda. Coe expects the soft-spoken squeaky clean ‘princess’ he remembers from the past and is shocked when he gets the strong, sarcastic, foul mouth, take no crap from anyone woman she has become. Though he comes off as a complete jerk in the beginning, watching him open his heart and become the sweet protective man to the woman he has always loved was wonderful to watch. The moment he realizes exactly how much he hurt Miranda, your heart breaks along with his.
“He really had been the kind of asshole good mothers warned their daughters about.”
The ending wraps up everything nicely and leaves us with a sweet happily ever after for our protagonists. Though this is part of a series, each book can be read as a stand alone.
Overall Rating: B
Recent Reviews:
Wicked Lil Pixie
Book-A-Holic Anon
Goodreads I Author Website I Series List
Leave a Reply