RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
STARTING OVER AT BLUEBERRY CREEK (Sweetwater Springs Book #4) by Annie Rains is another wonderful addition to the Sweetwater Springs contemporary romance series. Ms. Rains has written a friends-to-lovers story that pulled at every one of my heartstrings.
Brenna McConnell put her college education to become a teacher on hold to finish raising her younger sister, Eve when their parents are killed in an accident. Brenna takes over her mother’s catering business with her aunt and when her sister graduates from high school she fears her sister’s desire to become a firefighter like their father. Eve is headstrong and difficult with Brenna acting like a mother instead of the sister she misses which causes a rift between them.
Firefighter Luke Marini moves next door to the sisters to start over in a new town. He immediately notices the beautiful brunette next door, but one of the reasons he moved was to get away from his previous neighbor and have people not know about his past. Brenna welcomes her new neighbor even as he seems cold to her neighborly advances, but Luke is finding he cannot stay away from the temptation of the sweet Brenna.
Luke helps Brenna realize that her sister is an adult, even though she may not act like one at times and it is time for Brenna to work on realizing her own dreams. Brenna is used to sacrificing for others and she is finding it difficult to only think of herself, especially when wonderful firefighter may be her chance at a future that may be slightly different than what she always dreamed of.
I love Ms. Rain’s storytelling! It pulls me in to her small-town characters and lives effortlessly. Brenna and Luke both had so much going on emotionally, past and present and yet Ms. Rain’s writing makes you feel empathy and not sympathy. The growth and changes flow throughout the story, including Brenna and Eve’s relationship. Sometimes what we believe will make us happy, is not necessarily so and both of the main characters learn that and grow. All the secondary characters are fully fleshed out and the sex is all behind closed doors.
I love this book and all the Sweetwater Springs books and recommend them all! I want to thank Forever Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC. It was very much my pleasure.
