5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
Walker
There’s nothing better than a packed house on a Saturday night, and co-owning the hottest restaurant and bar in town with my best friends, isn’t so bad either. We put everything into Burgers and Brew. My job is to keep the alcohol moving and the patrons coming back for more. I won’t let anyone break my focus.
That was until I saw her.
As much as I try, I can’t fight it. Mallory makes me crave a future I never wanted for my own.
Now, I want it all.
Mallory
When I started my new job at a local specialty burger restaurant, I wasn’t expecting to find a tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome distraction in the form of Walker Meyer. He’s one of the owners, which means hands off. Only problem, it’s a lot easier said than done.
Especially when he’s so good with my daughter.
I try to keep him at a distance, but he’s insistent, slowly breaking down every one of my walls. He’s fighting to convince me I can trust him with not only my heart, but my daughter’s too.
I pray he’s right.
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REVIEW:
I’m always in the mood for one of Lacey Black’s sweet and funny small-town based romantic comedies, especially when it’s the start of a new series from her. I’ve read all of Lacey’s work, and for me, her small town romances are amongst the very best of this trope. Lacey typically anchors her small-town romance series around a big, close-knit and loving family, and while Kickstart My Heart wasn’t quite that, it was every bit the warm and witty, feel-good love story I was hoping it would be.
The Burgers and Brew Crüe series is about four college buddies who own the hot and happening gourmet burger and brew pub slash busy bar in Stewart Grove, Ohio. Walker is in charge of the bar. He’s sexy and this town’s version of Tom Cruise in Cocktail. As one of the owners of Burgers and Brew, he’s got one hard and fast rule: no dates or hookups with employees or patrons, ever. He has good reason, but the wind is kind of knocked out of his sails in that regard the first time he lays eyes on Mallory, the new waitress at the pub. Mallory is new to Stewart Grove, having just relocated there with her precious three-year-old daughter, Lizzie, for a fresh start.
The chemistry between Walker and Mallory is intense and instantaneous. Walker described the feeling as being struck by lightning and boy, did I feel it too. I loved watching them dance around each other, and it made for a seriously hot slow-burn build-up. He was the dance-on-the-bar, hips swinging, backwards ballcap wearing bartender that all the ladies wanted, but never actually got. Mallory was such a good mom, and I loved her dedication to her daughter. She was determined to give her a better life than what they’d had, and she was going to do it on her own. The thing is, Walker fell hard for both Mallory and Lizzie, and for the first time, he was practically overcome with the desire to protect, provide and care for both of them. It was definitely a bit of a juggle, but Walker was so sweet with the little scene-stealer, Lizzie, it wasn’t only my heart melting.
Mallory had been through a lot before she arrived in Stewart Grove, and while she was hesitant to trust her heart again, the heart wants what it wants, and hers wanted Walker. He was such a gentleman, and he went about earning her trust carefully, slowly and permanently, and his pursuit of her was sweet, sexy, so very swoon-worthy. Add in the fact that this new work family of hers had claimed her and Lizzie as their own, and she was a goner. One of the things that Lacey does exceptionally well is the building of a community. She’s created magic in her small town romances with the big, wonderful families she’s written about, and she’s poised to do that again here with this group of friends and the people of Stewart Grove. Of course it wouldn’t be a Lacey Black romance without an inappropriate old lady or two, and there are some seriously hilarious ones in this town.
Kickstart My Heart was a shining example of why I love Lacey Black’s writing. She had me rooting for Walker and Mallory from that first crack of lightning, and she followed it up with a seriously sexy and swoony romance, a plot with a touch of suspense and a town full of hilariously endearing characters. Full of heart, heat and humor, I loved every single minute of this charming story! Five smooches from me for Kickstart My Heart by Lacey Black!
~Danielle Palumbo
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