From the publisher:
Don’t miss the first trip to Moose Falls, Alaska where a down-on-his-luck football player and a sassy restaurant owner find themselves going from enemies to lovers in this small-town romance — perfect for fans of Brenda Novak and Annie Rains!
A small-town restaurateur and a big city former football player go head-to-head in this heartfelt enemies-to-lovers romance . . .
As the oldest of three brothers, former pro-football player Xavier Stone is no stranger to making tough calls. Like returning to his small hometown of Moose Falls, Alaska to help run his grandmother’s hard cider company and gastro pub. He agrees to keep an open mind, but between working with his estranged father and confronting heavy childhood memories with his brothers, Xavier’s ready to rush back to civilization. Even the stunning woman who runs his grandmother’s restaurant seems to instantly dislike him . . .True Everett knows better than to let a ridiculously handsome man distract her, especially when it’s the same guy who stands between her and owning Northern Exposure, the tavern she manages. She didn’t pour her soul into the restaurant just for Xavier to swoop in and snatch away her dreams. But amid all the barbs—and, fine . . . all the sparks—flying, True glimpses the man beneath the swagger. That version of Xavier, the real one, might just steal True’s heart.
https://amzn.to/3Tzyv0U“Calhoune provides an enjoyable read, particularly for those seeking a quick and engaging escape.—Library Journal
“The scenic small-town setting and intense connection between the bickering leads are sure to suck readers in. Calhoune knows how to do cozy.” —Publishers Weekly.
“Calhoune delivers all the best elements of a small-town romance. The townspeople are charming and quirky, the fractures and rifts in the Stone family are healed, and everyone pulls together to support the romance between Xavier and True. Most conflicts are low stakes and easily resolved. A charming, sweet romance highlighting the importance of family.—Kirkus Reviews
I haven’t read this author before, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for future books for sure. Regular readers know I am slightly obsessed with Alaska, and I’m always happy to read any book set there. Maybe because I live in South Florida? Alaska is an upside-down world to me – I pull out the Uggs when the temperature dips below 70! I can’t imagine living in that sort of climate, but I love reading about people who do. (As an aside, my husband and I have been watching Northern Exposure on Amazon Prime, and it holds up remarkably well!)
Xavier Stone and his brothers grew up in Moose Falls, Alaska but when their parents divorced, they moved with their mom to the lower 48. Their father pretty much disappears from their lives, but his mother, their grandmother Hattie, keeps in touch, although she hasn’t seen them in years. She runs several businesses in Moose Falls and never leaves home. Among other businesses, she owns a hard cider brewery and a tavern.
True Everett has been working at the tavern forever and is now the manager. Her long term goal is to buy the tavern from Hattie when she’s saved up enough money. So when Hattie invites her grandsons to Moose Falls, True isn’t sure what to think.
Xavier played in the NFL until he got injured. When Hattie asks him to move back to Moose Falls along with his brothers, she dangles her businesses as an incentive to get them to visit. They are all adults now, and she tells them she is ill, but if they stay for a year and learn how to run the businesses, they will inherit them all. What she doesn’t tell them is that she wants them to reconcile with their estranged father, and they will have to work with him as part of this process to their inheritance.
True isn’t sure what Hattie promised the brothers to get them to come back, and she can’t help being resentful. But there is a strong connection between True and Xavier, as much as she wants to dislike him, she just can’t. True lost her parents in a plane crash and is raising her much younger brother, so she has other obligations.
True and Xavier try to fight their attraction to one another, but it’s hopeless and eventually, they get their happy ending. There is a lot of family drama before they get there in this enemies-to-lovers, small-town romance. This was a fast read, and a good one!
4/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
FALLING FOR ALASKA by Belle Calhoune. Forever (March 26, 2024). ISBN: 978-1538758205. 304p.
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