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Small-Town Secrets #1
Worth the Wait
“Best debut novel I have ever read, and I have read a lot!”
— Romance audiobook narrator Sarah Puckett
About This Book
Molly wasn't looking for love — or a mystery — but she found both.
Molly Miller is an overworked and underpaid librarian struggling to raise her three kids herself. The only romances she has time for are the novels she returns to the shelves. Then one day, David Conrad walks into the Fairview Public Library. He looks just like the sexy pirate on the cover of a romance novel her best friend, Lori, has been reading, so they secretly refer to him as The Pirate Man. But the truth is even stranger. His appearance means old secrets are about to be revealed, and not everyone in town will be happy about that.
Who is David Conrad?
David immediately rubs Molly the wrong way. But she somehow keeps getting entangled with him in ways she can't seem to avoid. He claims to be descended from a prominent Fairview family that was brutally murdered in the 1950s. The Conrad murders were never solved, and now that a Conrad is back in town and asking questions, the people of Fairview are in for some surprises. So is Molly. Who'd have thought an irritating Pirate Man could capture her heart?
Review of Worth the Wait:
I cannot say enough about this book! I love the whole librarian single mom angle and meeting up with “The Pirate”??!! So much YES!
Sophia Sinclair creates this small town feel with real characters that have so much depth that you can’t help but fall in love with. Molly not only tackles being a single parent, but also issues with her beloved library and her crazy awful landlord! It’s real and I absolutely loved that it was such a big part of the story.
Then, she meets this mysterious stranger who is new in this small town (we all know how that goes) and he shakes things up in her already chaotic life. They have this love/hate relationship that they have to struggle through.
— Romance audiobook narrator Sarah Puckett
About This Book
Molly wasn't looking for love — or a mystery — but she found both.
Molly Miller is an overworked and underpaid librarian struggling to raise her three kids herself. The only romances she has time for are the novels she returns to the shelves. Then one day, David Conrad walks into the Fairview Public Library. He looks just like the sexy pirate on the cover of a romance novel her best friend, Lori, has been reading, so they secretly refer to him as The Pirate Man. But the truth is even stranger. His appearance means old secrets are about to be revealed, and not everyone in town will be happy about that.
Who is David Conrad?
David immediately rubs Molly the wrong way. But she somehow keeps getting entangled with him in ways she can't seem to avoid. He claims to be descended from a prominent Fairview family that was brutally murdered in the 1950s. The Conrad murders were never solved, and now that a Conrad is back in town and asking questions, the people of Fairview are in for some surprises. So is Molly. Who'd have thought an irritating Pirate Man could capture her heart?
Review of Worth the Wait:
I cannot say enough about this book! I love the whole librarian single mom angle and meeting up with “The Pirate”??!! So much YES!
Sophia Sinclair creates this small town feel with real characters that have so much depth that you can’t help but fall in love with. Molly not only tackles being a single parent, but also issues with her beloved library and her crazy awful landlord! It’s real and I absolutely loved that it was such a big part of the story.
Then, she meets this mysterious stranger who is new in this small town (we all know how that goes) and he shakes things up in her already chaotic life. They have this love/hate relationship that they have to struggle through.
246 pages, ebook
First published March 31, 2019
185 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Sophia Sinclair
12 books23 followersSophia is a small-town Midwestern girl to the core whose books build on each other like the written version of the world's longest romantic movie. She spends her free time performing unnecessarily complicated culinary feats in her kitchen and dreaming up home improvement projects for her husband to do in their fixer-upper Victorian. Her greatest accomplishment so far has been either raising two wonderful children who love to read or designing and digging a goldfish pond by herself. Probably the goldfish pond; it's really cool.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 24, 2021
With her Small Town Secrets series, Sophia Sinclair has basically covered all of the fantasies you might have about living in the small town where you grow up. Worth the Wait, the first in the series, features Molly, the town librarian, who's a single mom pushing 40, meeting the love of her life. He just moved back to his family homestead, so he's the new (hot) guy in town.
Molly has embraced her identity of librarian - even SEXY librarian, though she thinks no one will ever know. She wears sexy lingerie sets under her conservative cardigan-and-skirt ensembles although she doesn't go out on the town all that often. When David comes to the library to do some research, she catches him taking reference books out without authorization, so she has to confront him in his hotel room (of course!). Sinclair doesn't hold back from the downsides of a small town, though, since Molly's afraid to date him right away because of all of the gossip.
Worth the Wait is told from a limited 3rd person perspective, and we did miss getting David's POV a little bit. That said we loved lines like, "[I] kissed him right in the janitor's closet ... after he mopped the ladies room for me. I couldn't resist the romantic surroundings, I guess."
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
Molly has embraced her identity of librarian - even SEXY librarian, though she thinks no one will ever know. She wears sexy lingerie sets under her conservative cardigan-and-skirt ensembles although she doesn't go out on the town all that often. When David comes to the library to do some research, she catches him taking reference books out without authorization, so she has to confront him in his hotel room (of course!). Sinclair doesn't hold back from the downsides of a small town, though, since Molly's afraid to date him right away because of all of the gossip.
Worth the Wait is told from a limited 3rd person perspective, and we did miss getting David's POV a little bit. That said we loved lines like, "[I] kissed him right in the janitor's closet ... after he mopped the ladies room for me. I couldn't resist the romantic surroundings, I guess."
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
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April 6, 2024🎁 FREE on Amazon today (8/4/2019)! 🎁
January 11, 2020
Pretty Good
This was a pretty good book, this is the first one that I have read by this author. Will see how the second one in this series is.
This was a pretty good book, this is the first one that I have read by this author. Will see how the second one in this series is.
December 25, 2021
Ok, I'm obviously in the minority here, looking at the other reviews, but I didn't like this. Molly was a horrible h (more in a moment, much more) who did no growing up at all through the story. This had a lot of good potential, and (especially for a debut romance novel) is well written, but it never came together for me and I ended the book disliking the h as much as when I started. But at least I finished it - so 1+? No, I'm not gonna round up.
Molly (h) is a divorced librarian, completely gun-shy about relationships. David (H) comes into her library doing research into a local mystery - one tied to his own family. Sparks fly, but Molly is completely hesitant to make any sort of forward motion. Will David still think she's "worth the wait"?
So, yeah. Molly. Good golly, Miss Molly. So many reasons to dislike her right from the get-go. Buckle in for some venting...
* What sort of stacks is she working with, that as she stretches, her rising hemline (and thus her garters) is visible to a tall person (like David) standing on the ground? Even old Carnegie libraries don't typically have shelves that high - ADA guidelines and user friendliness and all that. Most libraries nowadays have shelves that you can reach the top shelf with a simple stool - this isn't Music Man and Miss Marion, or 1950s pin-up librarians. Real world, her stacks aren't that tall. So either her skirt is super short, or he's a creeper and bending down to see her garters.
* Also, let's say that her shelves actually are that tall - if she knows that she's up and down ladders all day and there's no other staff to do this, then why doesn't she dress appropriately for her job? We learn later that 'skirts are her thing' but there are midi and long skirts too! Ridiculous.
* She introduces herself to David with two versions of her name, then gets grumpy when he uses the one she prefers the kids use. If she doesn't want people to use that name, then why give it as an option?? This shouldn't be a foreign concept - she's had three kids! It's a rule with toddlers and teenagers: give them options that both get you what you want (Do you want peas with parmesan or butter? Either way they'll eat their peas!) If you only want adults to refer to you a certain way, then only give them that option! Don't give them both and get mad when they choose the one you don't want them to.
* She was only "try[ing] to be friendly"? No, she was being nosy. Plain and simple. One of the basic tenets of librarianship is the right to privacy. We can offer to help with research or searches, but shouldn't take offense if they don't want to share. Yet she does.
* "Usually she’d shush up the hummers." Great - she's one of THOSE librarians. Someone humming on the other side of the library isn't a distraction any more than a soft conversation would be.
And this is all in the first 15-20% of the book, pretty much their first interaction!! Now for more...
* I truly hated how she acted with Lori. We never saw her being truly nice to Lori or talking about what she valued about her. Instead we get snarky comments about how Lori takes care of her hair or her appearance or dates a lot. I'm sorry, but a green dress costs as much as a black one - choosing color over Molly's preferred black or grey wardrobe doesn't make her a "peacock." Everything that Lori spent time or effort on - things that she was entirely within her rights to do - was dismissed as "such things" that Molly couldn't be bothered with or had 'such more important' things to bother about. Yes, children are expensive and need prioritizing, but what should Lori have done - gotten knocked up right out of high school too, so she and Molly would be on equal footing? Not spend any of her own hard-earned paycheck because her friend thinks it's frivolous? As our entire view of this story was from Molly's POV, it definitely didn't color her in a positive light. More bitter and snarky and a touch jealous, but with a "methinks she doth protest to much" edge to it. Yet she'll turn to Lori whenever she needs free babystitting. Just not a positive friendship from how I read it.
* Along with the bitter snark was a lot of bitterness about her life. Guess what - there are single parents all over, even some who had children super young and had to change life plans, and most of them try and find some way to find positivity and ways to reorder what they want in life, even start dating again and/or go back to school and finish degrees. Not still be hung up on what their life should have been had they not gotten pregnant. I know Molly might not have been that bad, but how the character was presented just rubbed me so wrong. Maybe it was getting so much of it at the beginning, how much 'more' she wanted from life and how she was 'doing OK having settled' for the life she had? Of course later, we find that she developed that attitude in high school, and literally thought "she was above them [her classmates]." So, personally, she really was that bad.
* And yet, "sarcasm was not attractive to her." Even though her comments, and especially her internal monologue, are pretty dang sarcastic? Hello, double standard.
And through all of this, she never grows up. I can deal with a character being weak or angry or bitter, as long as they grow during the story. But Molly didn't really. David had to make every step forward. He was the one asking for dates repeatedly, he was the one to make the first moves physically, he was the one to say "I love you" first. For a romance that was supposed to be a lot of Molly getting stronger and risking love again... she didn't do much. Or anything.
Speaking of the plot. So many stray plot threads. The mystery in this? More of a footnote. I think we talked as much about Clarence and his weight problems as we did about actually solving the mystery of the Conrad house and any potential effect it had in the present day. Clarence. The dog. Who, BTW, could have been a fun subplot, but instead never really came to anything. And it seemed like the kids did more work taking care of Clarence and his walks, but 'she's done such a good job with the dog'? Like the mystery, the chubby dog could have been a much more enjoyable story arc.
And now on to a purely professional rant. Quite a lot about this library was weird. She's the director, but doesn't have her MLS. Heck, she doesn't have an undergrad degree!! I know some small towns bypass the MLS to save money, but she doesn't even have an undergrad! As much as I hate to agree with Matt, he's right when he says that she's lucky to have been hired as the director! And she was seriously the worst boss ever. She hires someone and doesn't even give them a tour of the facility? He has to do that himself! Guess what, ma'am, "having lots of library experience" as an undergrad (15-20ish years ago) doesn't correspond to immediately being ready to hit the ground running. For one thing, he worked in the university library - which, among other major differences, uses a totally different cataloging system to a public library. Something that she'd know if she had any education in library science or experience outside this one small town. And for another - he's almost 40 and his "extensive library experience" was as an undergrad. Do you know how many technological changes have happened to cataloging systems and websites and online resources in that amount of time?! Just think about how much cellphones have changed in that same amount of time, and you'll have an idea! And who follows up with calling work references after dinner and a glass of wine - what work contact would still be in the office that late at night to answer your calls? Unless David had moved to Fairview from clear cross the country, West coast to East? Except that's not mentioned either...
And the whole Matt Green thing. Why is he in charge of the library board?? How the heck is he still bitter after so many years!? Who enjoys spending their life picking at a wound from 20+ years ago??? And for what!? He hadn't ever dated her in the first place!!! So, she didn't return his attention in high school, so now he's spending the rest of their lives going all out with the petty power plays and outright sexual harrassment! And is this all worth being a detriment to his community? Is he that shortsighted?? Going back to her being cowed and spineless - he's blatantly sexually harassing her, making her job untenably difficult without reason (she "should have been monitoring the children in the bathroom"?? Impractical and super creepy!), and yet she doesn't do a dang thing! One tape recording and a good lawyer, and this problem could have been solved ages ago. And if she had enough education and confidence in her job, she'd be able to justify things like book budgets (unless they like having nonfiction resources talking about the 'looming threat of Y2K'? There's a reason we weed and update collections!) Yes, I know, we suspend some disbelief in fiction, but this was just ridiculous.
Other than the unbalanced plot and random undeveloped threads, the writing was pretty decent, just a few minor proofreading errors. There were some weird, more annoying issues though. Like the kids names: the author has used the kids' full names less than 10 times total - for all of them together - and then at the wedding, it's suddenly Elizabeth and Thomas and Suzanne in the wedding party? I was honestly confused and had to look back and make sure I was tracking characters properly. Seriously though - "Thomas" was used 4 times in the book, "Tommy" 160 times (yes, the Kindle search function is a wonderful thing). There as no reason to use the full names in this scene, and it was more of a distraction than adding anything. All little things like this, but still, annoying.
3rd person from Molly's POV - would have been really nice to see why David fell for her, but I honestly have no clue, even after 250 pages. She just wasn't a pleasant character to spend time with, let alone fall in love with. No OW drama or love triangles or cheating. Minor OM drama. Unlikable h in a surreally weird library setting. Yeah, DON'T read this if you want a fun librarian pulled into a romantic mystery. She's probably one of the worst librarians I've read, and there's no mystery and little romance, but lots of wallowing in her one failed relationship 15 years ago. HEA and no cliffhanger.
Would I read more from this author? In this series? Usually I give books with a bad character a little more leeway and see if the series improves with different lead. Not here. Molly was unlikable and didn't really improve. The lack of character growth doesn't bode well for how much I'll enjoy other stories in this world.
But as I said at the beginning - looking at other reviews, I seem to be in the minority. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
Molly (h) is a divorced librarian, completely gun-shy about relationships. David (H) comes into her library doing research into a local mystery - one tied to his own family. Sparks fly, but Molly is completely hesitant to make any sort of forward motion. Will David still think she's "worth the wait"?
So, yeah. Molly. Good golly, Miss Molly. So many reasons to dislike her right from the get-go. Buckle in for some venting...
* What sort of stacks is she working with, that as she stretches, her rising hemline (and thus her garters) is visible to a tall person (like David) standing on the ground? Even old Carnegie libraries don't typically have shelves that high - ADA guidelines and user friendliness and all that. Most libraries nowadays have shelves that you can reach the top shelf with a simple stool - this isn't Music Man and Miss Marion, or 1950s pin-up librarians. Real world, her stacks aren't that tall. So either her skirt is super short, or he's a creeper and bending down to see her garters.
* Also, let's say that her shelves actually are that tall - if she knows that she's up and down ladders all day and there's no other staff to do this, then why doesn't she dress appropriately for her job? We learn later that 'skirts are her thing' but there are midi and long skirts too! Ridiculous.
* She introduces herself to David with two versions of her name, then gets grumpy when he uses the one she prefers the kids use. If she doesn't want people to use that name, then why give it as an option?? This shouldn't be a foreign concept - she's had three kids! It's a rule with toddlers and teenagers: give them options that both get you what you want (Do you want peas with parmesan or butter? Either way they'll eat their peas!) If you only want adults to refer to you a certain way, then only give them that option! Don't give them both and get mad when they choose the one you don't want them to.
* She was only "try[ing] to be friendly"? No, she was being nosy. Plain and simple. One of the basic tenets of librarianship is the right to privacy. We can offer to help with research or searches, but shouldn't take offense if they don't want to share. Yet she does.
* "Usually she’d shush up the hummers." Great - she's one of THOSE librarians. Someone humming on the other side of the library isn't a distraction any more than a soft conversation would be.
And this is all in the first 15-20% of the book, pretty much their first interaction!! Now for more...
* I truly hated how she acted with Lori. We never saw her being truly nice to Lori or talking about what she valued about her. Instead we get snarky comments about how Lori takes care of her hair or her appearance or dates a lot. I'm sorry, but a green dress costs as much as a black one - choosing color over Molly's preferred black or grey wardrobe doesn't make her a "peacock." Everything that Lori spent time or effort on - things that she was entirely within her rights to do - was dismissed as "such things" that Molly couldn't be bothered with or had 'such more important' things to bother about. Yes, children are expensive and need prioritizing, but what should Lori have done - gotten knocked up right out of high school too, so she and Molly would be on equal footing? Not spend any of her own hard-earned paycheck because her friend thinks it's frivolous? As our entire view of this story was from Molly's POV, it definitely didn't color her in a positive light. More bitter and snarky and a touch jealous, but with a "methinks she doth protest to much" edge to it. Yet she'll turn to Lori whenever she needs free babystitting. Just not a positive friendship from how I read it.
* Along with the bitter snark was a lot of bitterness about her life. Guess what - there are single parents all over, even some who had children super young and had to change life plans, and most of them try and find some way to find positivity and ways to reorder what they want in life, even start dating again and/or go back to school and finish degrees. Not still be hung up on what their life should have been had they not gotten pregnant. I know Molly might not have been that bad, but how the character was presented just rubbed me so wrong. Maybe it was getting so much of it at the beginning, how much 'more' she wanted from life and how she was 'doing OK having settled' for the life she had? Of course later, we find that she developed that attitude in high school, and literally thought "she was above them [her classmates]." So, personally, she really was that bad.
* And yet, "sarcasm was not attractive to her." Even though her comments, and especially her internal monologue, are pretty dang sarcastic? Hello, double standard.
And through all of this, she never grows up. I can deal with a character being weak or angry or bitter, as long as they grow during the story. But Molly didn't really. David had to make every step forward. He was the one asking for dates repeatedly, he was the one to make the first moves physically, he was the one to say "I love you" first. For a romance that was supposed to be a lot of Molly getting stronger and risking love again... she didn't do much. Or anything.
Speaking of the plot. So many stray plot threads. The mystery in this? More of a footnote. I think we talked as much about Clarence and his weight problems as we did about actually solving the mystery of the Conrad house and any potential effect it had in the present day. Clarence. The dog. Who, BTW, could have been a fun subplot, but instead never really came to anything. And it seemed like the kids did more work taking care of Clarence and his walks, but 'she's done such a good job with the dog'? Like the mystery, the chubby dog could have been a much more enjoyable story arc.
And now on to a purely professional rant. Quite a lot about this library was weird. She's the director, but doesn't have her MLS. Heck, she doesn't have an undergrad degree!! I know some small towns bypass the MLS to save money, but she doesn't even have an undergrad! As much as I hate to agree with Matt, he's right when he says that she's lucky to have been hired as the director! And she was seriously the worst boss ever. She hires someone and doesn't even give them a tour of the facility? He has to do that himself! Guess what, ma'am, "having lots of library experience" as an undergrad (15-20ish years ago) doesn't correspond to immediately being ready to hit the ground running. For one thing, he worked in the university library - which, among other major differences, uses a totally different cataloging system to a public library. Something that she'd know if she had any education in library science or experience outside this one small town. And for another - he's almost 40 and his "extensive library experience" was as an undergrad. Do you know how many technological changes have happened to cataloging systems and websites and online resources in that amount of time?! Just think about how much cellphones have changed in that same amount of time, and you'll have an idea! And who follows up with calling work references after dinner and a glass of wine - what work contact would still be in the office that late at night to answer your calls? Unless David had moved to Fairview from clear cross the country, West coast to East? Except that's not mentioned either...
And the whole Matt Green thing. Why is he in charge of the library board?? How the heck is he still bitter after so many years!? Who enjoys spending their life picking at a wound from 20+ years ago??? And for what!? He hadn't ever dated her in the first place!!! So, she didn't return his attention in high school, so now he's spending the rest of their lives going all out with the petty power plays and outright sexual harrassment! And is this all worth being a detriment to his community? Is he that shortsighted?? Going back to her being cowed and spineless - he's blatantly sexually harassing her, making her job untenably difficult without reason (she "should have been monitoring the children in the bathroom"?? Impractical and super creepy!), and yet she doesn't do a dang thing! One tape recording and a good lawyer, and this problem could have been solved ages ago. And if she had enough education and confidence in her job, she'd be able to justify things like book budgets (unless they like having nonfiction resources talking about the 'looming threat of Y2K'? There's a reason we weed and update collections!) Yes, I know, we suspend some disbelief in fiction, but this was just ridiculous.
Other than the unbalanced plot and random undeveloped threads, the writing was pretty decent, just a few minor proofreading errors. There were some weird, more annoying issues though. Like the kids names: the author has used the kids' full names less than 10 times total - for all of them together - and then at the wedding, it's suddenly Elizabeth and Thomas and Suzanne in the wedding party? I was honestly confused and had to look back and make sure I was tracking characters properly. Seriously though - "Thomas" was used 4 times in the book, "Tommy" 160 times (yes, the Kindle search function is a wonderful thing). There as no reason to use the full names in this scene, and it was more of a distraction than adding anything. All little things like this, but still, annoying.
3rd person from Molly's POV - would have been really nice to see why David fell for her, but I honestly have no clue, even after 250 pages. She just wasn't a pleasant character to spend time with, let alone fall in love with. No OW drama or love triangles or cheating. Minor OM drama. Unlikable h in a surreally weird library setting. Yeah, DON'T read this if you want a fun librarian pulled into a romantic mystery. She's probably one of the worst librarians I've read, and there's no mystery and little romance, but lots of wallowing in her one failed relationship 15 years ago. HEA and no cliffhanger.
Would I read more from this author? In this series? Usually I give books with a bad character a little more leeway and see if the series improves with different lead. Not here. Molly was unlikable and didn't really improve. The lack of character growth doesn't bode well for how much I'll enjoy other stories in this world.
But as I said at the beginning - looking at other reviews, I seem to be in the minority. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
January 2, 2020
Molly Miller's plans never materialized and is making the best of her situations. David Conrad's search for a murderer leads him to Fairview to learn the truth. When David and Molly meet it's an instant and strong attraction. Will that lead to love? Can they solve a 40 year old murder? What happens when they give into their feelings and is it “Worth the Wait?”
Molly can feel him staring at her and wonders if he saw how she pampers herself with sexy underwear. By the look on his face she's pretty sure he did. When her best friend Lori comes into the library to exchange her romance novels, she dubs the stranger The Pirate because of his resemblance to model on her romance novel. Lori & Molly make a date to meet at the local bar connected to the hotel called The Clipper. They find out the stranger's name is David Conrad and he's bought his family's abandon house. No one has really spent much time there since the murders of the Conrad family in the 1950s that was never solved. There was only one survivor who moved away shortly after the murders took place. That survivor was David's grandmother who was pregnant with his father. She'd had an affair with the son of the Conrad family. David believes he knows who committed the murders but has come to live in his family home and figure out the mystery. Molly's first encounter with David results in her thinking him rude. He takes sneaks some books out of the library and Molly goes to his room to get them back. When she confronts him about taking the books, he doesn't deny it. Molly finds herself telling him things she doesn't tell anyone else. David asks her to hire him as an assistant in the library so that he can have full time access to the information he's looking for. Molly's been dealing with the town bully all of her life in different ways. Most recently as the head of the library board. He's very restrictive in letting her have the money needed to run the library and still holds a grudge from when in she wouldn't date him in high school and favored her ex-husband instead. Molly's son gets into trouble and David comes up with a solution to the problem by letting him work off the damage. He also asks if her youngest daughter would like to earn money helping as well. Molly gets a visit from her college age daughter. A problem at the library results in a heated kiss that neither of them can forget about. Molly's nemesis comes to the library about the plumbing issue and starts to bully her. David steps in and hits him and apologizes but gets fired in the process and Molly's job is threatened. Shortly, after the kiss Molly learns about an encounter David has with another woman and pulls away. He wants to talk to her about some information he found out but she tries to keep a polite distance between them. Molly goes to David's room for an explanation and they end up having a passionate exchange. Thanksgiving arrives and they're getting prepared only to have Molly's oven break down. The kids contact David for help. He offers his house that he's fixing up instead. Molly doesn't know how to tell David she wants to continue their relationship. Molly is getting ready to close up the library when a drunk nemesis shows up and starts his bullying but takes it to far. Changes are made and feelings are revealed. A proposal is accepted and a new family is made.
Sophia Sinclair's first book in the Secrets of a Small Town series. Has passion, romance, and will carry have you wondering if the hero and heroine can come together or will fear keep them apart. She has a good grasp on life in a small town and how gossip spreads fast. That there is always someone in the town who thinks they run everything and think they're better than the rest. I look forward to reading the next in the series and am looking forward to reading Lori's story at some point.
Molly can feel him staring at her and wonders if he saw how she pampers herself with sexy underwear. By the look on his face she's pretty sure he did. When her best friend Lori comes into the library to exchange her romance novels, she dubs the stranger The Pirate because of his resemblance to model on her romance novel. Lori & Molly make a date to meet at the local bar connected to the hotel called The Clipper. They find out the stranger's name is David Conrad and he's bought his family's abandon house. No one has really spent much time there since the murders of the Conrad family in the 1950s that was never solved. There was only one survivor who moved away shortly after the murders took place. That survivor was David's grandmother who was pregnant with his father. She'd had an affair with the son of the Conrad family. David believes he knows who committed the murders but has come to live in his family home and figure out the mystery. Molly's first encounter with David results in her thinking him rude. He takes sneaks some books out of the library and Molly goes to his room to get them back. When she confronts him about taking the books, he doesn't deny it. Molly finds herself telling him things she doesn't tell anyone else. David asks her to hire him as an assistant in the library so that he can have full time access to the information he's looking for. Molly's been dealing with the town bully all of her life in different ways. Most recently as the head of the library board. He's very restrictive in letting her have the money needed to run the library and still holds a grudge from when in she wouldn't date him in high school and favored her ex-husband instead. Molly's son gets into trouble and David comes up with a solution to the problem by letting him work off the damage. He also asks if her youngest daughter would like to earn money helping as well. Molly gets a visit from her college age daughter. A problem at the library results in a heated kiss that neither of them can forget about. Molly's nemesis comes to the library about the plumbing issue and starts to bully her. David steps in and hits him and apologizes but gets fired in the process and Molly's job is threatened. Shortly, after the kiss Molly learns about an encounter David has with another woman and pulls away. He wants to talk to her about some information he found out but she tries to keep a polite distance between them. Molly goes to David's room for an explanation and they end up having a passionate exchange. Thanksgiving arrives and they're getting prepared only to have Molly's oven break down. The kids contact David for help. He offers his house that he's fixing up instead. Molly doesn't know how to tell David she wants to continue their relationship. Molly is getting ready to close up the library when a drunk nemesis shows up and starts his bullying but takes it to far. Changes are made and feelings are revealed. A proposal is accepted and a new family is made.
Sophia Sinclair's first book in the Secrets of a Small Town series. Has passion, romance, and will carry have you wondering if the hero and heroine can come together or will fear keep them apart. She has a good grasp on life in a small town and how gossip spreads fast. That there is always someone in the town who thinks they run everything and think they're better than the rest. I look forward to reading the next in the series and am looking forward to reading Lori's story at some point.
December 20, 2019
I love this small town story. It's not just a romance. It's also a book filled so much heart and some mystery. Get ready to go to Fairview, a town with secrets. Molly is a single mother, divorced and the town's librarian. She is content living her life focused on her three kids who are growing up fast and making sure the library runs smoothly. Then a stranger comes to town. His name is David and he is actually a decedent to the Conrad family that was murdered many years ago. The family's murder was never solved. He is in town to take over the old abandoned house and also possible solve the mystery. Molly tries to fight it but her connection with David is plain for everyone to see. She just hasn't let herself open up to anyone after her ex and her split when her now teenagers were in diapers. She takes pride in being a good mother. Then her son does something to question that and now he has a job helping David restore his house. Molly tries to deny what she feels for David but David isn't going to give up on her. As if her confusing feelings aren't enough, she has to deal with her boss Matt Green being a jerk. All because she never wanted to date him. I hate Matt Green. Trust me, he is the ultimate real life villain. I loved following Molly and David and their road to happiness. I found myself falling for David a bit myself. I can't wait to continue on in the series. Especially since there is so much more to the mystery.
January 6, 2020
Couldn't resist this one! Sounds so good.
Molly is an overworked and underpaid librarian who is now a single mother. She never expected to find love again until David Conrad came walking into her life. David is descended from a prominent family that was murdered in the 1950s. The Conrad murders were never solved and with David back in town old questions are coming back to the surface.
Loved Molly and her kids. I wanted her to be happy. Her ex wasn't a terrible guy, but one not made for monogamy. He still cares for her, but marriage is not for him. It was odd that I didn't hate Hank the ex but he was a nice guy minus his cheating-ways. I clapped when he came to the rescue after that one part. Bless him!
It took me a little bit to warm up to David, but I immediately started liking him after what he did for Molly and her son. Bless his heart!
I loved the mix of an old murder mystery. The answer was super obvious, but I liked the mystery aspect added to the story. It worked well.
Some of the people in the town sucked because they were living in fear of the Greens, but c'mon!! Ugh! I wanted to shake them especially those deputies at the end there.
Overall, I really liked this! It was a good read. Good characters and a fun story. Took a minute for me to warm-up to David, but once I did I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvved him. I'll give this 4 stars.
Molly is an overworked and underpaid librarian who is now a single mother. She never expected to find love again until David Conrad came walking into her life. David is descended from a prominent family that was murdered in the 1950s. The Conrad murders were never solved and with David back in town old questions are coming back to the surface.
Loved Molly and her kids. I wanted her to be happy. Her ex wasn't a terrible guy, but one not made for monogamy. He still cares for her, but marriage is not for him. It was odd that I didn't hate Hank the ex but he was a nice guy minus his cheating-ways. I clapped when he came to the rescue after that one part. Bless him!
It took me a little bit to warm up to David, but I immediately started liking him after what he did for Molly and her son. Bless his heart!
I loved the mix of an old murder mystery. The answer was super obvious, but I liked the mystery aspect added to the story. It worked well.
Some of the people in the town sucked because they were living in fear of the Greens, but c'mon!! Ugh! I wanted to shake them especially those deputies at the end there.
Overall, I really liked this! It was a good read. Good characters and a fun story. Took a minute for me to warm-up to David, but once I did I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvved him. I'll give this 4 stars.
September 12, 2019
A fantastic story .
I really enjoyed reading this story .
This is a new to me Author and I'm definitely going to read more of her works . This story is wonderful and the characters are fantastic . Charlie stole my heart . Molly Miller is a single mother raising three kids on a tight budget . She's the head Liberian at the town's Carnegie library . She's not looking for romance but along comes David Conrad . He is the descendant to the Conrad's that were murdered in 1950's . The killings were never solved . The attraction instant .
This story is interesting and intriguing some humor while also some what emotional . I look forward to reading the next story in the series . I highly recommend taking the time to read and enjoy .
I really enjoyed reading this story .
This is a new to me Author and I'm definitely going to read more of her works . This story is wonderful and the characters are fantastic . Charlie stole my heart . Molly Miller is a single mother raising three kids on a tight budget . She's the head Liberian at the town's Carnegie library . She's not looking for romance but along comes David Conrad . He is the descendant to the Conrad's that were murdered in 1950's . The killings were never solved . The attraction instant .
This story is interesting and intriguing some humor while also some what emotional . I look forward to reading the next story in the series . I highly recommend taking the time to read and enjoy .
September 8, 2019
Molly Miller is a small town librarian just trying to make ends meet raising her 3 kids. She never steps out and has fun. Things are about to change. David Conrad has come to town looking to solve a mystery. From the moment he sees her up on a ladder at the library, he has fallen for her. The small town grapevine is working overtime. He doesn't get why everyone is so interested but understands that she has impressionable children. An incident draws both David and her ex Hank into her world. Both want to solve the problem. Luckily the sheriff shows up. Finally things are getting resolved. I loved the ending.
September 12, 2019
I loved this book. It takes place in the small town of Fairview. Molly Miller is the town’s librarian and is a divorced mother of three teenagers, the eldest of whom is in college. Molly is a devoted librarian and mother. She doesn’t go out and have fun and hardly ever dates. But her world is about to change as David Conrad comes to town in search of answers concerning the long ago unsolved murders of his ancestors.
September 17, 2019
A small town story is always a delight to read! There is plenty of gossip as well as determination, doubt, discovery and growing attraction. The characters are wonderful and have amazing interactions. I enjoyed visiting Fairview and will definitely go back again.
April 11, 2019
Where is Fairfew
Loved this book. Great read. What girl doesn’t want a “pirate”. Can’t wait to learn more about the ladies of Fairfew. Perfect balance.
Loved this book. Great read. What girl doesn’t want a “pirate”. Can’t wait to learn more about the ladies of Fairfew. Perfect balance.
September 13, 2019
A light easy romance
I connected with the main character on many levels. Marriage to the wrong man, raising kids alone, and small town gossip. It was an enjoyable read.
I connected with the main character on many levels. Marriage to the wrong man, raising kids alone, and small town gossip. It was an enjoyable read.
February 11, 2021
Cute story.
Nice story with some mystery to keep things moving. Made me wish I had my own pirate man to keep me happy.!
Nice story with some mystery to keep things moving. Made me wish I had my own pirate man to keep me happy.!
December 31, 2020
Enjoyed!
Molly and David have a touch and go relationship. But with time things change and Molly relaxes with David and allows things to develop as they should.
Molly and David have a touch and go relationship. But with time things change and Molly relaxes with David and allows things to develop as they should.
March 2, 2021
Molly is a single mother of three well brought up kids. She has always been a librarian. Even though she had dreams, she couldn't go out of Fairview. Living a mundane life stuck between her kids and the library she has given up on love, until she meets David who has recently moved into the town.
David is everything she ever dreamt of in a man. Yet she is scared and reluctant to be happy again.
"Worth the wait" is a fictional drama with a crisp romantic story. This is indeed one of the best debut books I have read. The language and the narration is mature. The author certainly knows where to draw a line when it comes to romantic scenes. Each character is developed and is relatable. A smooth enjoyable read and a definite grab for romance lovers!
Book available on Amazon.
David is everything she ever dreamt of in a man. Yet she is scared and reluctant to be happy again.
"Worth the wait" is a fictional drama with a crisp romantic story. This is indeed one of the best debut books I have read. The language and the narration is mature. The author certainly knows where to draw a line when it comes to romantic scenes. Each character is developed and is relatable. A smooth enjoyable read and a definite grab for romance lovers!
Book available on Amazon.
May 27, 2021
Small town librarian, Molly always wanted to break out on the big city and become a book editor. But an unplanned pregnancy and marriage changed that plan. Now she.lives a quiet life in a town she.never left. She has learned to be content but never really lost that dream.
David has come back to his family home where a tragic murder has occurred long before he was ever born. He's determined to save the unsolved mystery.
I loved this book. It was a quick read for me. I enjoyed they're chemistry, her hesitation his steadiness. The glimpse of small town life, the goods and bads.
The only part that was unsatisfying was the murder mystery. One person killed everyone! With a knife?! Sorry for the spoiler. But that was no mystery anyway. 😕
David has come back to his family home where a tragic murder has occurred long before he was ever born. He's determined to save the unsolved mystery.
I loved this book. It was a quick read for me. I enjoyed they're chemistry, her hesitation his steadiness. The glimpse of small town life, the goods and bads.
The only part that was unsatisfying was the murder mystery. One person killed everyone! With a knife?! Sorry for the spoiler. But that was no mystery anyway. 😕
December 16, 2020
2.5 stars
Not a good start with this author.... the female main character's head is a tiresome place to be, and her behavior quite childish from time to time.
Let's see how it goes with the second book.
Not a good start with this author.... the female main character's head is a tiresome place to be, and her behavior quite childish from time to time.
Let's see how it goes with the second book.
March 29, 2021
This book took me out of a book slump. I really liked it. The characters, the plot, the scenario. I just think they romance was a little fast and Molly could have tried a little harder in the beggining, but I liked nonetheless
February 25, 2022
A solid romance featuring a hardworking single mother of three older children. I enjoyed the interactions and happenings, nothing seemed to drag on for too long, and even the conflict was dealt with easily.
Read
January 13, 2020This was an ok book, first I have read from this author. Will see how the second one in the series is.
Read
February 20, 2021DNF: 3%
I already hate Molly. The guy ogles her legs, which are on display, and she thinks this gives her the right to be annoyed when he shoots down her attempt to nose into his business. Nuh uh.
I already hate Molly. The guy ogles her legs, which are on display, and she thinks this gives her the right to be annoyed when he shoots down her attempt to nose into his business. Nuh uh.
September 20, 2021
Good Book
This was an Good Book. The ending was Good, also. Will definitely read more of her books. This was an Good Book!!
This was an Good Book. The ending was Good, also. Will definitely read more of her books. This was an Good Book!!
January 10, 2022
An easy read. Well developed characters and well plotted out. Just enough conflict to keep me turning pages.
February 19, 2022
Worth the Wait
Another good story by this talented author. I have enjoyed reading her other stories and I look forward to reading more.
Another good story by this talented author. I have enjoyed reading her other stories and I look forward to reading more.
December 31, 2024
The writing style wasn't for me at all. However has a great story line.
July 21, 2021
Perfectly alright. Molly is very well developed as a character, sometimes a bit too much somehow, and the other characters are not nearly developed enough. I mean, we immediately know why Molly likes sexy underwear but know nothing about her love's favorite anything, food, drink, music, shoes, friends, nothing. The book is relentlessly from her head's view. The storyline is good, the relationship grows slowly but plausibly. TW minor assault, stopped quickly, easy to skip over if needed.
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