ARC Review – The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake #1) by Juliana Stone

Ms. Stone has the ability to make the characters jump off the pages and land right into your heart. ~ Rhayne, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
Sometimes the best place to find love is right back where you started…

Falling asleep in a different bed every night has made it easy for Cain Black to forget his past. It’s been ten years since he packed his guitar and left Crystal Lake to chase his dreams. Now tragedy has forced him home again. And though Cain relishes the freedom of the road, one stolen moment with Maggie O’Rourke makes him wonder if he’s missing out on something bigger than fame.

For Maggie—single mother and newly settled in Crystal Lake—love is a luxury she just can’t afford. Sure, she appreciates the tall, dark and handsome looks of prodigal son Cain Black. But how long can she expect the notorious hellion to stay?

The last thing either of them wants is something complicated. But sometimes love has its own plans.

What a great start to a guaranteed emotional, sexy, intriguing series. This book delivers a variety of highly charged situations mixed with a little suspense and lots of romance. Add to the mix an adorable seven year old, some life-long friends, and a small town full of many nosy neighbors and that will give you a pretty good idea of the story line backdrop.

Cane has been gone for 10 years. He threw away a full ride football scholarship in exchange for a guitar and a chance to live out his musical dreams. He lived the high life and is on the brink of making it big when he heads back to town for his buddies funeral. He has no definitive plans for his future. He is trying to find himself, take a break, and decide what his next step is going to be.

Maggie and her son, Michael moved to Crystal Lake in hopes of re-starting their life. She has a past that she would like to forget and her only concern now is her son. She is a strong willed woman and is determined to never be dependent on anyone for anything.

From the moment Cane and Maggie meet their attraction is igniting. Neither one is prepared for the feelings they both have, but there is a connection that can’t be denied. She tries time and time again to push him away, until her willpower is gone and she can’t fight it. Their relationship is not typical. She needs to lie low and he is a famous musician. They are as opposite as night and day. Once they finally give in to their desires, they are truly magic together.

Just when they get to a good place in their lives, all hell breaks loose when their pasts and their ex’s come crashing in full force. Cane has to lay it all on the line to fight for his girl and she has to find a way to trust and believe that what they have is important enough to hold on to. Maggie has a lot of struggles as she comes to accept that she deserves happiness. When you find the right one love definitely is worth fighting for. She just realizes this a little too late.

Ms. Stone does a superb job introducing this new series. We get a lot of back story and character introduction where this is the first in the series, but it’s not done in an overbearing way. It flows really nicely with the current plot line. She is very talented in descriptive writer. She has the ability to make the characters jump off the pages and land right into your heart. I will definitely read the following books that are in this series. I can’t wait to see what is in store next.