You’re Still the One
by Rachel Harris
Synopsis:
Love is one dare neither of them can take…
Arabella Stone, Nashville’s darling, is eager to shuck her prim-and-proper rep, and a few wild months spent checking items off her “ summer bucket list” is the way to do it. First up: kiss the man she’s crushed on since she wore a training bra, the bad boy of country himself, Blue bassist Charlie Tucker.
For Charlie, a beautiful woman flirting with him isn’t out of the norm—but a beautiful woman bolting after the hottest kiss of his life sure is. And when he finds out his kiss-and-run Cinderella is none other than Arabella Stone, daughter of his label’s CEO, he knows he’s in trouble. Because not only is she a Stone, she’s also his employee for the next few months at the recording studio he just bought.
Over the course of one thrilling summer, Arabella and Charlie chip away at her bucket list and fight the simmering attraction between them…knowing that once it’s all over, so is their time together.
Review:
What a fun read! I really liked both Arabella and Charlie, and the two of them trying to check off all the items on Ella’s list that summer made for an entertaining angle. Unfortunately for Ella–but fortunately for us–accomplishing many of those goals had her ending up in a laugh-out-loud situation (for the readers that is…Ella was usually a tad bit embarrassed).
Ella’s had a crush on Charlie since she was an awkward teen in braces, but it’s not until she shows up dressed to kill at an industry party ready to check “Flirt with Charlie Tucker” off of her summer to-do list that he really notices her for the first time as something more than the “Little Bit” he’d met a handful of times at the home of the head of his record label. Laugh-out-loud scene number one prompted this thought from Ella:
They needed to write guidebooks for this sort of thing. The Idiot’s Guide to Flirting With the Man of Your (Literal) Dreams Who Clearly Doesn’t Know You Exist. Bonus material could include how to handle disastrous meet-cutes in the john.
Yep, you read that right. In the men’s room. Poor Ella!
Their relationship develops nicely from there–Charlie manfully tries to resist Ella’s charms as best he can for as long as he can, but he’s no match for the awesomeness of his “sweet girl” who slowly takes over his life and makes it better than he ever thought it could be–but the whole time he’s keeping a pretty big secret from her, and you just know that it’s going to come back and bite him in the butt. Soon.
It does, and it isn’t pretty–add to that the fact that Charlie’s sure that he can’t do relationships and still have a music career (silly, frustrating man!)–and for a while things look pretty bleak indeed. Fortunately Ms. Harris manages to pull out a HEA for them in the end that is highly satisfying and will have readers look forward to seeing Ella and Charlie pop up again in future series books (just so we can squee over how gosh darn cute they are together, of course).
You’re Still the One is the first book in Ms. Harris’s Country Blues series, but it features the hero and heroine from her Accidentally Married on Purpose, Tyler and Sherry; Charlie’s the bass player in Tyler’s band Blue. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the band members (and Ella’s BFF Lana) find HEAs in future series books–there’s obviously something going on between fiddle player Deacon and Hannah, the band’s nanny for their upcoming tour–and can’t wait to see where this series will go next.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
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