She’s running from her past, he’s hiding from the world when suddenly their lives collide.
Trish Biltman has spent the last two years evading a past she fears. Tucked away in a small seaside Jersey town, with her two young children, her life is simple. Until the day a photo from her best friend’s highly publicized wedding shows up on Page 6, and she finds herself once again on the run trying to keep her family safe.
Since his divorce, Grant Evans has focused his time and attention on his secluded Pennsylvania farm. His solitary life is fine, until the quiet, brown-eyed Trish and her adorable—but loud—kids need somewhere to go. Since his farm is their only option Grant reluctantly opens his doors to them.
Both Trish and her kids begin to thaw the ice that held Grant’s heart captive for years as he teaches her to trust again. But the darkness from her past comes back, threatening their relationship, just as Grant starts to believe life can be…
More than Fine.
Review:
Another winner!
More Than Fine is the second book in Jenni Bara‘s Becoming an Evans series, and it’s Grant Evans’s story. Grant was a bit of a mystery in the last book–he lives away from most of his siblings on his Pennsylvania farm, and clearly had some kind of drama in his past that’s still affecting him now (here we finally find out the details–in a nutshell, his first marriage did not go well).
Plus, he’s kind of quiet. If you’ve read the first book you know how…unusual…that is in this family. 😉
This book essentially picks up where the first one ( More Than the Game ) left off, with the hero and heroine of that book, Marc and Beth’s, wedding. (If you’ve read MTTG I can hear you sighing from here–yes, it’s lovely! <3–if you haven’t yet, it’s not too late to pick it up! ;)) Trish and her kids (Nate and Katie) will also be recognizable to those who have read MTTG–Beth watches Nate and Katie while Trish works, and she and Trish are good friends besides. Though Trish hasn’t meet Grant–until the wedding…
(Cue romantic music here!)
Trish and Grant’s story hits a lot of romantic tropes–forced proximity, a hero and heroine afraid to love again, heroine in danger/protector hero, single parent with adorable children–but it has a lot of depth to it as well. Trigger warning: Trish is hiding from her husband, who was emotionally and physically abusive, as well as a member of law enforcement. To say she is fearful and has trust issues is a vast understatement. Grant is the perfect hero for her, though, since he instinctively understands damaged souls and has the patience needed to figure out what they need to heal. Their romance is a slow burn one, due in large part to the issues they both have to work through, but OMG is it ever HOT.
The first time the title comes up in the story? I practically melted. You have been warned.
And the ending–and epilogue? I can’t even. Cue the heart eyes!
Ms Bara brings all the Evans siblings together not once, but twice in this story–the ending takes place at Christmas time–and clearly she’s doing this to torture her readers, since she’s gotta know that much time with the Evans clan is going to mean we’re going to want everyone else’s story now. Dare I even hope for books for Corey Matthews (Beth’s and Marc’s friend) and Wyatt (Secret Service guy) too?
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.