Single dad, Wade Jenkins, Magnolia Grove’s landscaping hottie who likes to mow lawns without a shirt on is thrown for a loop when his spirited seven-year-old daughter Goldie comes to live with him. While Wade’s thrilled to have his daughter full-time, there’s one little issue . . .
He stops and sets his shovel down. I didn’t expect him to walk toward me, but he does. Each step of his is deliberate and forceful, almost like he’s trying to leave his impression in the grass. He’s wearing his khaki cargo pants and from experience I know each pocket has something he’ll need today. A tool, twine, or trimmer line for the weed wacker. I’ve spent countless hours sitting on my parent’s front porch, watching him cut lawn with precision.
I’m out of breath when he comes face to face with me. He stands close. Close enough that we share the same air. Everything in my mind tells me to step back, to put a wall between us, but my heart sings at the closeness. I know I’ll never win the battle of hating him as long as we’re in the same town.
We stare at one another, taking each other in. His dark hair, brown eyes, and scruff all call to me, beg me to get lost in everything that is Wade Jenkins. I have loved this man for most of my life, and yet he’ll never be mine.
Lemon has only loved one man in her life until one night changed everything and she feels like he betrayed her and their love. Years later even though they live in the same town she wants nothing to do with however that decision will be taken out of her hands when his daughter Mari begins living with him and she is the principal at the school where his daughter will attend.
Wade acknowledges that he accepts some responsibility for what happened with Lemon but feels she does as well. As much as he wants a second chance with Lemon, he must put his daughter first but it might also give him the opportunity to show Lemon that what tore them apart doesn’t have to keep them apart.
Even though you can understand how hurt Lemon is, she also needs to make peace with the past and stop punishing Wade for what happened. The feelings between them haven’t diminished over time and I enjoyed seeing them find their way back to each other, angst and all.
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Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers.
In 2012, Heidi turned her passion for reading into a full-fledged literary career, writing over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Forever My Girl.
Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018.
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Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 