5 SMOOCHES!
SYNOPSIS:
When Rome Pierce moved to Bear Bottom, Texas, it was his intention to lay low. To not be seen. To find a way to heal his body and soul—as well as his son’s.
Nobody would know by looking at him that he used to play professional football. Not with the Bear Bottom MC cut covering his back, and definitely not with his friendly smile completely obliterated.
No longer is there charm in each smooth word that comes out of his mouth. What’s left is an angry, bitter, scared man that’s terrified one day he’s going to wake up and his entire world is going to be gone.
Nobody knows what drove him to leave the game he loved—nobody but her.
She’s the one person that has helped him make it through the dark days and even darker nights. She’s the bright and shining star in his pitch-black sky.
And he doesn’t even know her name.
He should be afraid that she knows things that not anyone—not even his best friend—knows.
Yet, with each encounter, he gives what little bit of his soul remains, and before he knows it only two people on this earth—one dying, and one too afraid to live—make his life worth living.
Until one day he has to choose—the love of his life, or the life he brought into this world.
Two impossible situations. One decision that would change him forever.
REVIEW:
Each month when I sit down with Lani Lynn Vale’s next book, it’s like a visit with friends—even when she rolls out a new series full of new characters. The Bear Bottom Guardians MC series is a new series, but as is generally the case with Lani’s work, it stems from another series. This series isn’t necessarily a spin-off of the Heroes of the Dixie Wardens series, it’s more like an expansion of that series. With each new book Lani releases, she builds upon those worlds, further developing her characters. The result for her readers has been an unparalleled, unique reading experience, and I’m completely hooked. New readers can step in at any point, however, and they’ll be able to ease right in from that series onward.
I think Mess Me Up may be the most gut-wrenchingly emotional story that Vale has written to date. But in true Lani style, she managed to balance all the heavy emotion with some well-timed, appropriately placed humor, a sexy romance and an interesting, suspenseful plot. The hero, Rome, suffered a devastating loss, and Vale took readers along on this man’s journey to healing and love. The road was bumpy, that’s for sure, but this man truly found his perfect match in Izzy. She could relate to his pain in a way that no one else could, and because of that, she was far more understanding than any other woman could have been. While their love story wasn’t exactly easy, it was real and raw, and Vale really brought out all the feels while telling it. Five smooches from me for Mess Me Up by Lani Lynn Vale!
~ Danielle Palumbo
