The stand-alone follow up to AMAZON TOP 100 best seller NEVER KISS A STRANGER
On sale for a limited time only!
Country music god Beau Mason has just announced his retirement from the business at age 30, and I’ve just scored the interview of a lifetime. My network is flying me to Kentucky for his final interview, and at his request, I’ll be spending a few days with him at his ranch.
I should be thrilled. But I’m not.
Beau and I have a history, and I haven’t seen him since he obliterated my heart at the tender age of eighteen. I don’t think I can do this. I don’t think I can see him again.
But I don’t have a choice. My career – my promotion – my dignity. Everything rests on this one interview with the man who turns me into liquid desire and corded steel resentment all at the same time.
It’s just a few days, right? What’s the worst that could happen?
PLEASE NOTE: This is a stand-alone, full-length romance novel with NO cliffhanger. Contains a dominating alpha male hero and scenes of a sexual nature. Please be 18+. You do NOT have to read NEVER KISS A STRANGER first, though it is based on a secondary character from that story and may contain minor spoilers.
This is the second book on the series. When I read the first one, it has that forbidden aspect on it. I end up enjoying it OK.
Giving another chance for the second book, second change romance, I still feel the same. I enjoy it OK. The story is plain without so much angst. There is no twist or drama. I consider this book as clean romance. Every conflict is resolves so quickly. Not without so much drama.
The characters, I do not like Beau so much. He is pinning for Dakota for 10 years they apart, but he did nothing to contact her. Instead he drowns himself in alcohol and meaningless relationships. His behavior does not win any points with me. And as for Dakota... she is OK. I can understand her bossy and her icy toward her family. I wish the author can give more dimension/ depth into the characters.
I really had a hard time caring for this book. It's a shame because the writing's not bad and I enjoy this author.
The main character Coco is too icy and you really don't get to see her melt. She's really just a stone cold bitch. Beau, the retiring country singer, is just a selfish douche bag womanizer who's sowed his wild oats and now wants to get back.
They're kind of made for each other though I didn't feel any chemistry.
This is definitely not a romance if you expect the two to be faithful during the separation phase (understandable because there's 10 years between them).
To me coco was cold hearted bi*** and beu was stupid if that were me I would've been pissed off if I found out that coco didnt tell me we had a daughter and she gave her up for adoption instead beau is like oh I was waiting for you tell me bi*** please.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I hate dropping a two star but there was a lot happening here that didn’t sit well with me. I love second chance secret baby tropes they’re always interesting when it comes to timeframes, fault and the all mighty grovel. If there isn’t the grovel then how can the wronged be righted?
This is the typical get out of town after high school and make a better life for yourself. Only the hero seems to think this has to be done justifying it by saying he wasn’t good enough for the heroine. Well at least that’s what he says. Only, he signs a recording contract and becomes an overnight success whilst completely ignoring phone calls from his love of his life. You know, cause he isn’t good enough as he has let fame go to his head and begins a rockstar style of life.
The heroine meanwhile has the burden of what he left behind even though he thinks she has a future mapped out that doesn’t involve him. Her reactions, change of attitude etc is completely understandable. Here she is seventeen, pregnant, no support and being ignored by her baby daddy. I know, a lot of this style of plot device involves rotten communication and I’m sure she could have tried harder, but why should she? Yes, a lawyer sending a letter would have been fun, explode his new life with such a tawdry story but she doesn’t do these things. She adopts her baby out to her cousin and best friend, gets on with her education and career. She closes down her emotions and that is again understandable. Her lover leaves her, she leaves her baby and her old life behind.
The thing that is impossible to reconcile is the hero. He tries to be with another woman, Daisy and when he kicks her to the curb she doesn’t fulfill her destiny very well by getting into drugs and dying. Reading his feelings on this doesn’t redeem him in my books, just another roadkill from this selfish creature called a hero. He used her just like he used the heroine. He shattered her heart just like he did the heroine. Then he bombshell. The thing that really is the kicker. He KNEW about his daughter. That’s it. He doesn’t visit, acknowledge the heroine etc for five years. I don’t care that the heroine marries and is divorced. She did what she had to do to survive. He had a steady home environment, family support etc she had nothing.
What I do like is that the heroine had a life for the break. She did let her daughter go but she didn’t fall in a heap and have a sexless ten years. She marries, has a career and although acknowledges she is not over this hero she isn’t a mess about it. But when they meet back up the entire plot loses its strength. She could be more elusive, demand more explanation and make him feel like shit which he should but even when he admits he knew about the baby she is all guilty and feeling bad. Screw that he should feel worse and that’s why he enters the worst hero shelf.🙃
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Not sure where to start with this...... I was excited to read this book and finished it in one sitting.
I am conflicted. Like her previous novel - I like how the author sets up each chapter from Beau and Coco's POV.
The relationship between Beau and Dakota (aka Coco) was genuine but there were too many issues that didn't get resolved by the end of the book or if they were 'resolved' it was rushed.
At the beginning of the book you knew there was going to be a Happy Ever After but how it got there that I had a problem with. Coco was determined to be a tough chick but ended up a puddle.... Beau was your typical sexy cowboy. I think Coco should have made him squirm at lot more. The supporting characters like Rebecca and Sam could have been developed a bit more. I wasn't too sure how Coco, Sam and Rebecca relationship started - were they actually cousins or just best friends from school.....
Still on the fence about this one.... so I can only give it 3 stars.
Can't wait to read Dark Paradise - the excerpt was a great teaser....
Both Beau and Dakota attained the success they both yearned for when they lived back in Kentucky. But 10 years later, touring as a famous country singer, Bo found he still missed Dakota. Dakota doesn't want to take a second chance with Beau because she was destroyed the first time he left. Now her producer/ex-husband and a 9 year old secret aren't helping things either.
Not as good as the first one, just an okay read for me. Found myself speed reading through most of this. I felt the heroine was cold and closed off. I never really felt a connection with her. Never felt a connection between the hero and the heroine either.
This one was sitting on my TBR for months. I finally read it and loved every minute of it! Beau and Dakota has so much to work through. But they did it, and were stronger in the end!
The story line started well then took a huge nose dive as we got to know the characters more.
Bo: selfish and dumped the love of his life (Dakota) just because he didn’t want to do long distance. Had random hookups and never took one call from the love of his life when she needed him. Knew he had a daughter for 5 whole years and didn’t say a word.
Dakota/coco: began as a head strong woman and then became a bumbling mess when she reacquainted herself with Bo and she didn’t ask many questions and forgave him immediately just because she wanted sex! Oh and let’s not forget to mention that she had his baby and gave the baby up for adoption which I don’t judge her for, but the fact that she forgave Bo for never looking for her once he knew.
Annoyed beyond belief!
The first book was 1000 times better than this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Wow. Where do I begin?? This book was SO different from the first, but in a good way. Equally as enjoyable, but this one definitely gut-checked me a few times. I am usually not a cowboy-hero loving kind of reader, but Beau may have changed that. Coco/Dakota made me feel for her character throughout the entire story, and while it takes place over a period of ten years or so, it all flows so smoothly you hardly notice. It was a true page turner and one that I highly recommend.
This book had so much potential, but things happen to quick. I felt as if it lacks any real depth and your at the end in the blink of an eye. No real cnnetction to characters and the constant going back and forth through the past to the present and then repeating it in that sequence throughoutmade it confusing.
I liked beau and Kota's story. I felt bad for Dakota... and I also felt bad for beau, winter renshaw did a good job of keeping me on the line about which character I wanted to side with. their relationship was tangled but the HEA was justified.
I love this author's books but had a hard time getting into this book. I just didn't see the chemistry between Dakota and Beau so the whole story wasn't that believable to me because I couldn't connect with the characters
I had a hard time with this book. Too many tired tropes and not enough work towards reconciliation.
The biggest problem I had was that Beau made all the decisions. He decided long distance wouldn't work, he so decided he wasn't good enough to be with the woman he supposedly loved, and he decided he wanted her back.
Another thing I didn't like was that he never confronted his mother about the way she treated Dakota. And yet she's
And Dakota's mom seems to have gone off the rails, which struck me as very odd. Yes, she kept looking for a man. But when she finally decided to be on her own for a while she breaks down and becomes a lush? That seemed a little random.
What saved the story for me was Dakota's suffering on her own. I felt her pain and sympathised with her decision. I think Beau should have done more to earn back her trust, and Addison should have encouraged Dakota to make him work for it instead of adding another tick in the rape culture column. (You know: guy hurts girl, says he's sorry, people talk her into going back.) The ending was too rushed for the feelings of betrayal I felt on Dakota's behalf to go away.
Still, Renshaw is a solid writer. Her skills as an author are definitely there, though how anyone can let "...all eyes were on the petite little thing with long satin brown hair and bright blue eyes that matched mine freckle for freckle." through multiple edits and proof reads is beyond me. Shame on the editor!
I will be reading the third in the series, though Skylar and Theo don't really hold any appeal for me.
This is another one of very few new books I’ve read in recent weeks and the second by Winter Renshaw. Beau is a well established and vey popular country singer who has unexpectedly announced his retirement at seemingly the height of his career. Coco is a successful day time interviewer who has been granted the scoop of her career, interviewing Beau as to why he’s hanging it up. There is only one problem. Beau and Dakota as she was known back then were childhood sweethearts and when he became successful, Beau dropped her even though he promised forever, and broke her heart. And she is the only one he will give an interview too.
I normally love Winter Renshaw’s books. But I didn’t really care for this one unfortunately. Beau truly was cruel to Dakota all those years ago and he wasn’t redeemed nearly enough for me to care about him as a character. And as a result, Dakota became a cold and bitter person and she was very difficult to warm up to also.
She heads back to their small Southern town as she can’t really turn this opportunity down. She only plans on staying for a very short while and then heading back to New York. But Beau has other plans. He wants to win her back.
As I said, I didn’t particularly like these people and there was something that Dakota has been keeping from Beau and I think it was handled completely wrong.
I hate doing this as I really do enjoy her work, but I don’t really recommend this one. If this is the first Winter Renshaw book and you didn’t care for it, don’t give up on her. She’s usually very good.
The plot of this story had good bones but the execution missed the mark completely. So many aspected bothered me. I found neither character likeable. Spoilers ahead. Why didn’t Dakota/Coco demand an explanation from Beau as to why he never contacted her back when she reached out about the pregnancy? Especially before she started falling for and becoming physical with him again. It was as if she was so hurt and mad and then suddenly just got over his behavior no explanation necessary. And when did she figure that he didn’t know about Mabry? How come that was never addressed in the story? It feels like it should have been a crucial moment. She was pregnant, abandoned and so hurt and then we jump ahead and she’s feeling guilty that Beau doesn’t know. He doesn’t know because he wouldn’t call her back. And as we learned more about Beau’s first year without Dakota he seemed to have such a character shift. His actions didn’t match the character we had known. He just ignored the girl he’s madly in love with and had been with for years and started screwing other girls left and right? And we’re just suppose to accept that no apology necessary? I could go on and on. This just story frustrated me to no end. And as icing on the cake, the narration wasn’t great. I say don’t waste your time.
This story was god awful. There was absolutely no chemistry between the characters once they re-acquainted. Beau was a trash human being who left her at the ripe age of 18 to sleep his way through the country to pursue his dreams of being a country singer. He ignored her attempts to reach out after he first abandoned her to tell him she was pregnant- come to find out that he KNEW she had a baby and still waited 5 more years to find her. While he was sleeping through the country he decided to settle down with a girl- Daisy… propose to her and then leave her too- which she turned to drugs and died. He was garbage and didn’t deserve a happy ending.
I pushed through this book hoping that there was going to be some character redemption because I liked the first book- but no. None at all. Beau was garbage and didn’t deserve Coco.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I was hoping it would be better. I feel like the author is very talented at using poetic imagery. However there is a point where my mind would wander because it was just too much. The base of the story was okay, not totally unoriginal. I just feel like maybe the author tried too hard for a story that really did not have a lot of layers. None of the “secrets” were really all that shocking to me. Overall, it was okay. Not worth an audible credit, but was fine for a free read. The narrators were not at great all. I was very annoyed with both at certain points.
-this book was so bad I couldn’t take it. The narration was horrific. The voices and KY accent were like nails on a chalkboard. The chapters I actually listened to were so cliche I couldn’t bother listening on. Some books with predictable plots are good background noise while working but a bar voice and plot 🙉
Ps. I just read the other reviews to see if I was the only one who thought this book was a train wreck and in doing so, read the entire plot. What garbage...I am so glad I didn’t waste my time.
This is the story of Coco and Beau. It is told in the present when they meet for a job interview in their hometown, and in flashbacks how they met and how they lost each other. And also how they have moved on. Finally, we also learn something about the somewhat strange relationship between Harrison and Coco which was hinted at in book 1. I found this story more interesting but parts of the plot weren't told as good as they could have been. I wouldn't recommend reading this as a standalone but rather read "Never kiss a stranger" first. 🌶️
Beau is incredibly dislikable heading off for his career without a second glance back. Then 10 years later expecting Dakota not to of moved on! When Beau was ready to settle down then he bothered to force Dakota to spend 3 days with him. Dakota annoyed me as she had a child with this man and he didn’t even contact her however it took 1 days for her to forgive him! Are you joking me that he knew about his child for 5 years and did nothing about this!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Heartbreaking beautiful! I think I cried through so much of this book! The characters pull to the truth that life throws at you and you gotta get up and dust your hands off on your jeans and keep on moving. Beau and Dakota are such a force to be reckoned with. Their personalities are so powerful you just want to shake the heck out of them. Winter this is amazing!
A very cute read. A little sloppy with her because I was left hanging wondering what happened to certain side characters who were mentioned, and added to the story. And why wasn't Beulah upset Mabry???? That was so unbelievable. As for the Mom and Harrison, so weak... But, cute read. LOVETOREAD
What a heart wrenching story. I wanted more...as the sad story unfolded you could feel the love and passion weaving throughout. The plot line was unexpected and Dakota was a survivor. As a mother I never understood why people chose that route, but this story and the state of the world helps me realize it can be a selfless decision. It was beautifully written.
After reading "Never Kiss a Stranger", I was interested in Coco's story. Her story was not what I was expecting. I thought her story would have more on her unorthodox relationship with her Room-mate, boss, and ex-husband, Harrison, but that was not the case. This story revolved around her first love, Beau. I was somewhat disappointed, and only rate this with 3 stars.