All About Us: An Abbott Springs Romance

Abbott Springs

by Marilyn Brant

Winterfest is heating up in Abbott Springs...

As the town’s yearly festival kicks off, cold days turn into steamy nights, new flames will be ignited, and old romances will be rekindled.

All Sami Abbott ever wanted was permission to be herself. At home, she aims to be the perfect daughter but never measures up. At college, she’s the bold girl who had a one-night stand with sexy musician, Alex Hamilton. When he arrives unexpectedly in Abbott Springs, her worlds collide and she must reconcile the girl she tries to be with the person she really is.

**ALL ABOUT US is a light, contemporary, new-adult romantic novella by New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Marilyn Brant. It's also available as part of the ALL I EVER WANTED anthology!**

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2014

About the author

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. Her debut novel won RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Award® in 2007 and she was named the 2013 Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She wrote ACCORDING TO JANE, the story of a modern woman who receives dating advice from the spirit of Jane Austen, FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, and A SUMMER IN EUROPE, all women's fiction releases from Kensington Books.

She's also a #1 Kindle & #1 Nook Bestseller and has written a series of fun and flirty contemporary romantic comedies, such as ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, along with a bestselling coming-of-age romantic mystery (THE ROAD TO YOU), a sweet holiday romance (THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS), and the 7-book "Mirabelle Harbor" contemporary romance series. Look for her latest releases, THE SECRET LIFE OF MAGGIE BLAKE, a modern romantic spy comedy inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel (May 2022), and NOT ANOTHER ROMAN HOLIDAY, a rom-com novella set in Italy (November 2023)!

Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, analyzing novels for the storytelling website Save the Cat! and working on her own writing projects. When she isn't rereading Austen's books or enjoying the latest releases by her author friends, she's daydreaming plot ideas for her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry.

Reviews

[Sheila Majczan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short read and taken from a four novella Abbott Springs book. It is told switching back and forth between the male and female POVs and I found this to be interesting.

Alex (Alexander Hamilton) comes to town to help a friend set up his band as part of a Winter festival/fundraiser in Abbott Springs. He is surprised to see Amanda as part of the town's leading family on stage explaining all the weekend activities. After all after a hot one-night stand/date she disappeared and he was hurt by the rebuff.

Sami (Samantha) Abbott is seen by her towns folk as part of a very traditional conservative family who run the local bakery and have the baking gene in their blood...although it seems to have skipped Sam. She leads two lives and presents as a very different person when she is at college in Ohio. And she has not forgotten Alex; but does not want him to see how "small town" her background is and believes that a "cool" big city musician would never want anything permanent in a relationship so doesn't bother to correct her name nor his ideas about her background when things spin into a sizzling night together.

This was a very interesting tale about two young adults and mistaken viewpoints vs being open and honest. It is for a mature audience. I gave it 4 stars due to the brevity of the story.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars