Sweet, Sexy Heart by Melissa Foster
5 stars
Sweet, Sexy Heart is a stand-alone contemporary romance and it is also part of The Bradens & Montgomerys: Pleasant Hill – Oak Falls series.
Amber Montgomery, a bookshop owner, suffers from epilepsy, but she has it under control and leads a quiet small-town life. Dash Pennington is a high profile ex-footballer who is launching his debut novel; he’s starting his book tour at Amber’s shop, but arrives in town early to have a break from his schedule.
Amber may have a crush on Dash, but he’s not someone she would really get involved with. Dash’s bad boy footballer reputation precedes him, and he’s warned him off Amber, but the image that fans have of him aren’t the real Dash; he’s loyal and thoughtful, putting family and friends first.
It takes an acorn and a determined man to break down Amber’s barriers, but will Dash’s busy lifestyle and her stay-at-home dreams ever find a compromise?
This is a very sweet loving (and hot) romance, which tackles epilepsy in an open way without it feeling like a lecture. I enjoyed the small-town setting and how close and supportive Amber’s family are. There are secondary characters from other books for those who follow the series, or for new readers, those characters may pique their interest enough to pick up and fall in love with more of Foster’s couples.
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Amber Montgomery is perfectly happy with her quiet life. She loves running her bookstore, taking long walks with Reno, her Labrador retriever seizure-response dog, and spending time with her close-knit family. She’s never needed thrills the way some of her sisters have. In an effort to control her epilepsy, she tries to avoid anything that creates too much excitement or stress—including relationships. When Amber hosts a book signing for famed-athlete-turned-author Dash Pennington, he’s everything she’s spent her life avoiding: loud, aggressive, and far too handsome, as proven by the hordes of women who surround him everywhere he goes. Amber can’t ignore the sparks flying between her and Dash, but this is a no-brainer for her: Ignore their chemistry and hold her breath until he leaves town.
Dash Pennington has spent his life running. Running the ball in for a touchdown, running from town to town to appease his public relations reps, and for years, running into the arms of too many women to count. He’s also an expert at protecting—his reputation, his family, and lately, his sanity. But he’s ready to make a change. When he comes to the sleepy little town of Oak Falls, Virginia, and witnesses the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen living the life he craves, she refuses to have anything to do with him. But now that Dash has found the one thing he doesn’t want to run from, he’ll stop at nothing to win her over.
Rosie Amber 