New Release Review and Giveaway! THE REBEL’S RETURN by Victoria James (Red River #4)

Yay! We’re back in Red River! (And signs indicate that we might be staying for a while, if Dominic’s and Sabrina’s–Nat’s brother and BFF–behavior are any indication…)

The Rebel’s Return is a second chance romance story between high school sweethearts Natalia and Aiden. He had always believed he was too good for her, but the two of them had made forever plans anyway…until Aiden revealed to her that he’d cheated on her with another girl and then promptly left town with his older brother (the older brother who clearly needs his own book, BTW–subtle hint), not to return for ten years.

Until now, when he loses the coin toss to said older brother and has to spend seven weeks back at home with their estranged father, helping him get through his radiation treatments (whether he wants said help or not. It often seems more on the “not” side of the equation.)

Being that it’s Red River, it isn’t long before he’s thrown right into Natalia’s path, something she’s way less than enthused about. It definitely doesn’t help that his return coincides with her cousin’s wedding–to the ex-boyfriend that Francesca slept with before he was an “ex” thankyouverymuch, and in which Nat was acting as maid of honor. Because her cousin is apparently that brand of evil.

Yeah, things could be looking better for our heroine. She decides to conquer at least one part of her out-of-control life by downloading the “Couch to 5K” app (which really exists! We’ll see if I’m inspired enough to try it on time for this year’s Turkey Trot–check back in a few weeks). But dealing with her first and only true love and her miserably vindictive cousin? If only there were an app for that…

I love both second chance stories and this series, so it was a given I was going to be reading this story ASAP. Nat and Aiden have great chemistry together, and it’s clear from the very first chapter that these two have by no means moved on from their ten years ago split. They’re thrown together early on and often, and every time the sparks are flying like mad, though Nat’s doing all she can to shut Aiden’s every attempt down as soon as he makes it if not before.

We learn early on that Aiden hadn’t really cheated back then–he’d just said he had, for an unknown-for-most-of-the-book reason–and it takes a really, really long time for that truth to be revealed…a bit on the “too long” side. Nat begins to suspect (with the help of a well-meaning but nosy townsperson) earlier, but her confrontational style with Aiden for much of the book is swoop in, strike fast, and leave ASAP before he has a chance to respond. Not that he seemed anxious to reveal all anyway…but it did seem like the not-talking-to-each-other-honestly-about-our-past portion of the book stretched out much too long. She angrily held a grudge, he stayed frustratingly mum on the truth, they danced ever closer to doing…something. Rinse and repeat. Again and again.

When he does finally get his head out of his butt, though, Aiden does it in spectacular–and extremely public–fashion. His grand gesture is absolutely wonderful, and made up for a lot of the frustration he gives us earlier. (The fact that this is a short and sweet read makes it easier not to dwell as well.) There’s plenty of continue-the-series fodder here as well, with both the hero and heroine having unmarried–and determinedly bachelor–brothers. Which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from Aiden: “No one enjoys being a bachelor. That’s just what we tell ourselves so we don’t have to go through the painful process of getting our heads out of our as$es.”

And he would know. 😉

The Rebel’s Return is fourth in the series, but would work fine as a standalone (and gateway to the series!) if necessary. Though if the teaser about how Aiden’s former partner in crime Jake and Claire got together doesn’t at least tempt you to look up The Best Man’s Baby , I don’t know what will!

Rating: 4 stars / B

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.