The Last Honest Man

At the Carolina Diner #3

by Lynnette Kent

Phoebe Moss is engaged to be married

And what a catch! Adam DeVries is a hardworking, intelligent man who's running for mayor of New Skye. After years of avoiding the trappings of a relationship, Phoebe finds herself pulled toward Adam—despite his strange aversion to dogs. And he certainly seems to be attracted to her.

But the engagement isn't real

Phoebe Moss is a speech therapist who has been secretly helping Adam with his stutter—an impediment that could cost him the election—and they've had to hide the real reason for their constant companionship. Now they're both wondering how and when to tell the truth—the engagement is fake, they're not really in a relationship. But neither one of them seems to want to break the news….

Genres: Contemporary, Harlequin

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam DeVries is the "man" in Lynette Kent's book, The Last Honest Man. He wants to run for mayor of New Skye, North Carolina in three months. He knows he'll need to be able to talk and give speeches without stuttering. So he goes to see speech therapist, Phoebe Moss. His campaign manager, Tommy Crawford, thinks Phoebe is a good choice because she's new to town and doesn't know many people. They want to keep his speech therapy confidential. But when Adam and Phoebe are seen together at the Highlander Hotel, they end up pretending to be engaged! This means having Phoebe attend campaign events and spend even more time with Adam. This book is a friends to lovers story with likable and unlikable characters in a small town. I enjoyed it.

[Englishrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although interesting and complex, I felt that this book could have done more to pull me in as a reader. The hard work and effort of a political campaign is done in great detail, but by the end it almost felt more like a grocery list of things they did, rather than actual events. Though I suppose that may be how political candidates feel too. The romance was sweet, though I continued to loose track of the main conflict since it didn't seem to have one. Simply several events that drove them apart with little rhyme or reason for the separation or the reunion. Pheobe is a sweet girl, but not grounded with a past or even a strong personality. Adam is better, though the author seems to lose focus now and then on who he is. Overall, I think the author tried to tackle too much with extra characters along with excess events, which caused the main romance and story to suffer. Still a cute story about running for office.

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[Bobbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book.