Series: Dare With Me, #2
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: February 16th, 2021
I’m blaming it on the porcupine who broke into Cammi’s coffee truck. If that didn’t happen, I never would’ve kissed her.
I’ve spent years ignoring the spark that flares any time I get close to Cammi. I don’t do romance, and I don’t lose control. Ever.
One kiss will never be enough though. Not with Cammi. I can’t stay away from her. She’s sultry, sassy and a little sweet. In more ways than one.
But I’m not the guy for her. I’m cynical and jaded, and I came to Alaska to escape the ghosts of my past. I’m not planning to fall for a girl who’s looking for a fairy tale.
Except my plans don’t seem to matter anymore. Only winning her heart matters.
This is my first J. H. Croix book and I adored it! I’m a big fan of small town romances and this one delivered that completely! Plus, it has made me want to visit Alaska even more now!
Evers & Afters follows Cammi and Elias as they deny each other their feelings only to fall in love at the end of it all. Obviously there’s a bit of a lead up, which would have been helpful for me if I’d read the first in the series, but it still works. Elias is laid up in the hospital after a crash and he’s on the mend, grumpily. He just wants to go home and get back to work instead of being stuck in a hospital bed. Cammi owns and runs Red Truck Coffee where Elias gets his caffeine fix every single day. So when she visits him in the hospital with a fresh cup of coffee, you know things are about to get interesting.
“She’d pitched a tent in every corner of my thoughts whether I was awake or asleep.”
It’s obvious they have feelings for each other and obvious to everyone but the two of them. Their chemistry is great, because they flirt and talk and help each other out, but the two of them are holding back. It doesn’t help that Elias is a grump and keeps to himself while Cammi is sunshine personified and shy at the same time. But his love for her coffee and her unrequited crush on him obviously make for an interesting story.
Obviously Cammi’s got trust issues, because her ex did a number on her and left her high and dry and heartbroken. And while she’s got feelings for Elias, he’s not going to win her over that easily. Not that Elias is trying at first, because like Cammi, he’s also got some trust issues that stop him from going for what he wants.
“Every cell in my body was tuned to the frequency of Cammi, and I needed her.”
I loved the slow burn and the relationship these two built. It was so good to just have them become friends and work their way to that first kiss and touch and then so much more. Being around Elias obviously makes Cammi feel things she’s never felt before and strangely, that was something I really did enjoy! And of course, grump/sunshine is a trope that we need more of all the time and this one was perfectly balanced.
Yes, it’s a love story about finding that one person that makes you complete. But Evers & Afters is also about finding yourself. Because both Elias and Cammi have to come to terms with who they are before letting the other person in and that’s what makes it really interesting.
Thanks to J. H. Croix and Wildfire Marketing Solutions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
anna reads here 