Review by Lisa Kane
I adored CA Harms' Forgiving Reed and Maria and Gavin were secondary characters in that first book. Maria is Kori's (the heroine of FR) best friend and Gavin works for Kori's parents around their farm. In the first book he was new in town, having come from Savannah after he and his wife split up. He and Maria hooked up a few times, and even though he told her that he wasn't looking for a relationship, Maria fell hard for him.
As this story opens, Gavin has left town. Maria has gotten only a few text messages from him, but no explanations for why he left. She has to face facts; what they had was casual and fun but it's time to face facts and move on. She accepts a date from another guy.
Meanwhile, Gavin comes back to town, without contacting her. She finds out from Kori and runs into him at her parent's farm. She is determined to ignore him; if he doesn't want a relationship with her, then who needs him? Lots of other hunky fish in the sea.
"I heard from him three times while he was gone. Three blunt, nothing special text messages were all I was worth to him. But there has been nothing for the last week, so I got the hint. I won't force anything from anyone. I am fine with it all, no need to dwell on it,"I insisted.
Gavin just wants a chance to explain why he left and what is going on in his life. It's not an ideal situation but he wants to be honest and upfront with Maria. Despite his best efforts to avoid any more complications with women, he is drawn to Maria and can't seem to stay away. Maria has abandonment issues because her father left his family high and dry and didn't look back. So trust for her is hard.
"Maria, you are a compassionate, loving person. I know how your father's leaving all those years ago has affected you. You don't think you deserve anything good, but you are so damn wrong. You deserve the kind of happiness that leaves you feeling like you're floating. Like nothing in the world could hurt, because the happiness you feel is too strong."
Finding Gavin has less angst than Forgiving Reed. Gavin's cheating ex stirs up the pot and there are a few heartbreaking moments that gave me the stomach drops. Being the angst lover that I am, I would have liked a little more bitter and a little less sweet in the story. But there was enough to hold my interest and kept my fingers turning each page. This is one series that I hope keeps going strong.
Maria certainly has an interesting family. She reconnected with them in this story and I suspect we may be getting a few sequels there. I have to admit, her brothers sound quite lickable and I am willing to bet there are some wild stories to be told with them!
"Do you know that you can still make my heart race with just your smile? I think about you all the time, every second. I've had life without you, but I didn't care much for that life."