[Book Review] California Homecoming by Casey Dawes

California Homecoming

by Casey Dawes

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BLURB:

When Sarah Ladina purchased an old Victorian in Costanoa with plans to turn it into a high-end destination inn, she had no idea life could get so complicated. Well, maybe she did. As an unwed pregnant woman who couldn’t cook, she had her work cut out for her. A good-looking disabled veteran, a doctor who orders modified bed rest, and an ex who’s trying to get back into her life make her wonder if she’ll ever be able to stand on her own and open the inn in time for her mother’s best friend’s wedding.

After returning from duty in the Middle East wounded in both body and spirit, Hunter Evans is in search of employment and a home, but finding a job has been tough and housing doesn’t come cheap in Costanoa, the town that he loves the most on the California Coast. Can he strike a deal with the pretty innkeeper to trade a room for handy work?

Sunday morning Hunter pressed a shirt and put it on, along with his best khakis. He thought about picking up a bunch of flowers on the way, but laughed at himself.  He was trying to find a room, not a relationship.

“Oh, it’s you again,” Sarah said when she opened the door, the dog standing next to her. She was frowning.

Against all reason, something about her made him want to scoop her up in his arms and hug her. Because her t-shirt and jeans were dripping with dust, cobwebs, and streaks of soap, it was probably a bad idea, but her short height and big brown eyes gave her an appealing elfin look. He’d always been a sucker for Eowyn in Lord of the Rings.

“I still don’t have any rooms,” Sarah continued and began to shut the door.

“Wait,” he said.

She stopped. “Why should I?”

He smiled. Considering their size difference, she really had no choice. But he bet she’d fight him with every ounce of her strength.

She’d probably fight like a girl -- nasty.

“This is an inn, isn’t it?” he asked.

She smirked at him. “It’s an unopened inn. No room. Get the picture?” She started to inch the door closed.

This time he shoved his foot in the gap. The swinging door clanked on his prosthetic.

Sarah gasped. “I’m so sorry!”

He grinned. “I’m not. It would have hurt a lot more on the other leg.”

BUY LINKS:

Amazon / iTunes / Kobo

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author Casey Dawes lives and writes on the bank of the Clark Fork River in Montana with the love of her life and two cats who think they own the joint. To learn more about Casey, visit her website:  www.stories-about-love.com.

Website:  www.stories-about-love.com

Twitter: @CaseyDawesAutho

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wisewomanshining

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casey-Dawes/177311175677765

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/caseydawes/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5313263-casey-dawes

Should I be ashamed that I love stories with broken characters? California Homecoming is full of hurt, pain and challenges, but luckily Sarah and Hunter find each other to make it through the tough times. Sarah, a newly single and pregnant woman, has to make a life for herself and her baby. She buys a Victorian house to convert into an inn. Hunter, a Marines vet who was injured and has a prosthetic, wants to buy the house or at least live in it since it was his childhood home. Besides all that, Hunter has bad memories from his past and a poor father relationship haunting him. I am a sucker for heroes who are broken and the heroine who helps fix him. However, I think they both do that for each other. I would've liked to have seen some secondary characters come off as more "real." For example, Mandy is just a bit overzealous and Hunter's dad is a bit over the top. I asked myself several times, "Really?" But I fell in love with Hunter. He made the book for me. A real hero in too many ways. 

California Homecoming earns 3 Winks from Flirting with Romance

Casey will be awarding a bottle of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir (a wine served in CaliforniaHomecoming)(US ONLY) OR a $25 Amazon gift certificate (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her Virtual Book Tour, as well as donating $20.00 to Fisher House (http://www.fisherhouse.org/donate/) in honor or memory of a serviceperson of the winner's choice. At each stop, Casey will be donating on behalf of one randomly drawn host $5.00 to Fisher House (http://www.fisherhouse.org/donate/) in honor or memory of a serviceperson of the host’s choice.

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