Title: Homebound
Author: Kata Ĉuić
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kata Ĉuić
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 9, 2020
A second-chance romance set in the heart of Appalachia
that will make you root for first love, forgiveness, and family.
Lenore Wheeler knows what a hard life, heartbreak, and
failure tastes like. Heading home to the backwoods Appalachian town she swore
she’d never return to with her young daughter in tow, she can’t imagine her
future getting much bleaker.
That is until she comes face-to-face with the one man she
never expected to see again.
Jesse Yates was supposed to escape the mountains, make
something of himself, and attain every dream Lenore destroyed. He’s determined
to wear down her resolve and win her back, but she’s got a secret to keep and
reasons to keep her old flame at arm’s length.
Lenore already broke her own heart to save Jesse, but she’ll
do anything to protect her daughter from the same fate.
Except fate has a funny way of working out, especially when
all roads lead to home.
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Excerpt
A sharp rap on my open classroom door precedes the entrance
of my new boss into my professional sanctuary. I can’t fault him for his
dominance here and now. This is his building. I’m his employee who he’s
contractually bound to supervise.
I still haven’t come up with a new plan to circumvent that
twist of fate. Mostly because my wildest dreams have no place in my current
reality.
Jesse perches on the edge of the student desk closest to
mine, his forest-green eyes boring into me. That’s ironic, considering he
couldn’t be bothered to make direct eye contact for the duration of our faculty
meeting. He’s sure making up for it now. His gaze sweeps me from head to toe
quickly, then he starts over again much, much slower.
I let him drink his fill because I’m hungry to do the same.
The past five years have been so good to him. He’s removed his jacket and vest,
leaving me to feast on a white dress shirt and red tie that look like they cost
a pretty penny. The hint of his physique I noticed in the auditorium is much more
pronounced without added layers. Scrawny until the night I left him, his arms
now look as strong as they used to feel when they were wrapped around me tight.
Biceps bulge against the fabric of his shirt. A row of buttons clings to his
flat stomach then disappears beneath his belt. His smooth dress pants hug
muscular thighs that used to thrust against me until pleasure I never knew was
possible made me feel so high I wondered if I’d ever be able to come back down.
I’m down now, all right.
His heavy gaze touches me in all the places that the years
haven’t been as kind to me.
I squirm in my seat, cursing Mama and Liz’s choice of dress.
There’s no way to hide the bulge of my belly or the breasts that aren’t as
perky as the last time he caressed them. At least that’s one thing going for
me. He’s matured and aged like a fine wine, but any physical trait I used to
possess that attracted him to me is long gone.
His voice sounds the same, even if it’s softer now than the
last time I heard it. “I have imagined this moment in so many different ways
over the past five years, but now that it’s here…I don’t rightly know what to
say.”
I nod even though I never imagined this moment at all.
This is my first time reading this author. The story she brings forward is rich in detail and seems to come from a place of knowledge about the Appalachia area. This is a story of second chance love but it's over arching message is one of love is love is love.
Lenore, so far in her life, has made great sacrifice in the name of love. The love of her heart, the love a child. Her parents also know sacrifice in the the name of love. And finally Jesse, allows his heart to break, because he loves a girl so much, he cant bear to go against her wishes.
Their story is told in flash back. I can't say that I am a fan of story telling this way but it worked ok for this book. I got hung up a bit on the dialect. I know it added character tot he story but it seemed as though, especially with Lenore, characters slipped in and out of using it.
Overall, a sweet read about destined lovers. Great secondary characters. Loved the epilogue!
*Complimentary copy provided for an honest review.
Kata Čuić lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and three
teens. No one told her life was gonna be this way. She holds a degree in
Linguistics with a minor in Religious Studies from the University of
Pittsburgh. Her plans of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon were foiled by OChem
1. Fortunately, she’d been making up stories in her head since the days of her
imaginary friend, Choosy. Putting pen to paper, er…fingers to the keyboard…came
surprisingly naturally after her aforementioned teens decided it was time for
them to cut their respective cords.
Kata writes everything from angst-filled NA series to
standalone rom-coms and has been known to dabble in a bit of paranormal on the
free stories section of her website. She believes nice guys shouldn’t have to
finish last (except in the bedroom where she prefers an alpha between the
sheets but a gentleman in the streets), and that the surest way to a woman’s
heart is through laughter and food.
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