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I’m a sucker for hero-in-pursuit stories and I’ve been a fan of Samanthe Beck since she wrote for the Entangled Brazen line (which were some of the first steamier romances I read back in the mid 2010s). I read and enjoyed the first in the Captivity Alaska series so I’d been waiting for another book with the Shanahan siblings. Fortunately it wasn’t a long wait for Bridget’s book and I enjoyed it even more than her sibling Trace’s book, so it’s win-win for me!
As a bush pilot working for her family’s small airfield business in isolated Captivity, Alaska, Bridget Shanahan is happier being in the air than working in the office, but helping her brother Trace with the business end of things is part of being a good sister and shareholder in the company. Things have been a bit screwy since their brother Shay died in a tragic plane accident months earlier, and she discovered that her ex-boyfriend Archer Ellison III had at one time sought to buy the company. Though those plans fell through, for some unknown reason Archer has shown up in Captivity with plans to headquarter his own airline company there. He’d dumped Bridget with not so much as by your leave while they were in college, putting her through plenty of heartache and resulting in the end of her college plans and a swift return back to colder but familiar home territory. What possible reason could he have for intruding back in her life now?
Archer has had two goals since being forced through family obligations to give up the woman he loved. First, become independent from his father and successfully pilot his own business. Second, get Bridget back. He knows he hurt her deeply, and since their breakup he’s spent all his time and energy putting a plan in action to accomplish step one so that he can proceed to step two, winning Bridget over and being able to offer her what he couldn’t when they were both young and with obligations to more than just each other. His plan to get Bridget to acknowledge him succeeds well enough as she ends up breaking her tailbone in a bet with him that results in his offering to help as a spare pilot while her brother and new sister-in-law are away on their honeymoon and she is grounded. Seeing her every day is a first step to getting her to remember the good times between them. Now, can he convince her that he’s a sure bet if she’ll give him a second chance?
There are a lot of enjoyable things in this story that make for a fun reading experience. The author is great at writing witty banter, and you get lots of it between Bridget and Archer, as well as many of the other town characters including periodic appearances by Shay (as a ghost or dream apparition). Bridget is understandably wary of any kind of emotional commitment after her broken heart. She has a healthy sexual appetite, a friends-with-occasional-benefits relationship with one of the other pilots, and has no problem admitting to her sexual attraction to Archer. They definitely didn’t have any problems in the bedroom department before, and as she and Archer settle into a tentative rekindling of their friendship, it’s not long before their chemistry results in some steamy bedroom scenes. But she’s not interested in making it any more than that.
Archer wants more though, and he realizes he has a lot to make up for and that it’s going to take time to get Bridget to trust him again. Starting by making himself an asset to her as a pilot during her time of need, he slowly rebuilds their friendship and shows her in multiple ways that a sexual relationship, while great, is not his ultimate goal. Wooing her is his design, and he’s helped by the appearance of a kitten whom he rescues, that Shay’s dog Key (whom Bridget looks after) takes a permanent liking to, as well as the fact that her co-workers and friends in town can see that he’s serious about her and are willing to aid him in his quest. (Honestly, the scenes with Wally the kitten are some of my favourites).
Archer’s relationship with his parents is poor, though he has an ally in his sister. His father wants to make things as difficult as possible for Archer as a punishment for trying to branch out on his own instead of following in his footsteps. Trying to balance his developing relationship with Bridget with the expectations of his father lead Archer to make some decisions that in the long run will be the best for their future but in the short run cause some hiccups for him and Bridget. Fortunately, they are short lived and they help Bridget understand how truly different things are with Archer this time around. Happy endings come to those who wait and Archer and Bridget deserve their newfound happiness. I’m not sure where this series is going next, but I’m definitely hoping to see some of the other characters find love and will be keeping my eye out for more from this author.
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Grade: B+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 19/01/22
Publication Date: 01/2022
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a biochemist and a married mother of two. Reading has been my hobby since grade school, and I've been a fan of the romance genre since I was a teenager. Sharing my love of good books by writing reviews is a recent passion of mine, but one which is richly rewarding.
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I need to read more of Beck’s books, we’ve given her so many B’s and I’m the only one who didn’t twig to what she was doing in her previous volume.
Beck is so consistent. I am glad this one is another solid performer from her.
I liked the first in the series too, but would give it a B.