#Review of Rebel in a Small Town (Slippery Rock #2) by Kristina Knight w/a rafflecopter giveaway! @authorkristina @PrismBookTours

Rebel in a Small Town
(Slippery Rock #2)
Kristina Knight
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
July 1st 2017 by Harlequin Superromance

He’s not giving up his family without a fight

James Calhoun has never been able to resist Mara Tyler, or her knack for mischief. Her reputation as a reckless teenager drove Mara from their hometown. So Slippery Rock is the last place James ever expected to see her, and Mara’s timing couldn’t be worse. With the upcoming election for sheriff, she threatens the squeaky-clean image James needs to win. Because Mara has brought with her the result of their steamy affair: his two-year-old son, Zeke. After the initial shock, James is determined to have both his family and career. He just needs to convince Mara that her home is where it’s always been. With him.

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EXCERPT:

The checker hung up the phone and came over to the glass. She said something that sounded peculiarly like “Criminals deserve discomfort” before backing away to the safety of her check stand. As if Mara was about to draw a gun or something.

“Now I know what the goldfish at the office feels like,” she muttered, still holding her hands over her ears. She pushed one foot against the inner and outer doors, but neither budged.

Finally the beepers stopped and everything quieted. Mara took her hands from her ears and tried the doors again. They didn’t budge. She repeated her call through the thick glass.

“I’m here on a security check. I need to speak with Michael Mallard.” The clerk shot a glance behind her toward an area marked Employees Only. No one appeared. The crowd began to disperse, lessening the goldfish effect.

She tugged at her earlobe when a low siren began to wail. Was this some kind of second-tier warning system? The clerk crossed her arms over her chest as if in triumph. The wailing became louder, and it wasn’t coming from inside the store. Mara pressed her face against the outer door, looking left and then right.

“No, no, no. Please, no.”

The siren grew louder, and a few cars passing on the street pulled to the side.

“Let it be a fire. Let it be a fire.”

But it wasn’t a red fire truck that entered the parking lot. It was a big black SUV with Wall County Sheriff plastered along its side. She was definitely not making it to the B and B for snack time.

As the SUV came to a stop, she could make out the driver, a large man with brown hair and big aviator sunglasses over his eyes—eyes she knew would be the color of molten chocolate. This man had been interrupting her dreams since she’d hit puberty and began to figure out why male and female body parts were made so deliciously dissimilar.

“Crap, crappity crap.”

Secret baby, childhood friends to lovers, small town tropes, oh my. Sign me up. Not to mention the secret that is between them that the town still blames Mara squarely for. This book has it all for me. Plus, it has smexy times and what an opening to a book. 🙂 Ms. Knight shook up the mold when she wrote Mara and James. One of the things in the book that keeps resounding with me is the way the town just hates Mara. I really felt bad for her. That’s where the secret comes into play and they way its handle is perfect. It needed to come out and the forum for which it does come out is a doozy.

Mara and James just touched my heart. Thier’s is NOT a sad story but actually a happy one. Even if they don’t think so. You have two people that are friends and somewhere along the way fall in love with each other. When they got older, the booty calls started and for Mara that was good enough, but not for James. I felt bad for him when I found out his story about the night in Nashville. I liked how both of them had family issues that they could overcome. I’m still not sure about James’s dad but I think in the following books, we will see the outcome of the sheriff’s race.

Oh and that’s another thing, CarlaAnn really needs to be slapped upside her head. Hateful, just hateful and I felt like what Mara did to her at the store is classic. Oops. I was giggling. I live in a small town and I know how judgmental and small minded people can be but come on. People can grow up and be responsible human beings. But that’s just the city in me from my upbringing. Zeke is NOT a plot point but an interesting character in his own right. The exchanges between Zeke and James are priceless. I just wish that there had been more of them.

Overall, this book is not to be missed. Ms. Knight is one of my favorite Harlequin writers and she never disappoints. I can’t wait to read Adam and Jenny’s story next. The after effects of the town’s tornado are still present in Mara and James story but I feel like the arc will be totally front and center with them.

Other Books in the Series

Famous in a Small Town
(Slippery Rock #1)
Kristina Knight
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
May 1st 2017 by Harlequin Superromance

Lifestyles of the small-town famous

Forced to leave Nashville after a scandal, Savannah Walters has come home to Slippery Rock, Missouri, with a bruised ego and her singing career in jeopardy. As if that isn’t humiliating enough, on her way into town she’s rescued by her swoon-worthy childhood crush, Collin Tyler.

His hands are full running the family orchard and dealing with his delinquent teen sister, so Collin doesn’t need to get involved with someone as fiery and unpredictable as Savannah. But the intense attraction between them can’t be denied. And when disaster strikes, they’ll both be surprised by who’s still standing when the dust settles.

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And coming September 2017…

Breakup in a Small Town
(Slippery Rock #3)
Kristina Knight
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
September 1st 2017 by Harlequin Superromance

This isn’t the man she married…

Jenny Buchanan never considered what “for better or for worse” meant when she married Adam Buchanan at nineteen. Six years and two little boys later, “for worse” arrives in the form of a tornado that ravages Slippery Rock and injures Adam. Now he’s a stranger to his family…and love won’t be enough to bring him back.

Only when Jenny asks him to move out does Adam become the husband she needs…but Adam isn’t the only one who’s changed. As their attraction sparks back to life, Jenny and Adam must learn what it is to grow up—and grow together—before this small-town breakup lasts forever.

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About the Author

Once upon a time, Kristina Knight spent her days running from car crash to fire to meetings with local police–no, she wasn’t a troublemaker, she was a journalist. Her career took her all over the United States, writing about everything from a serial killer’s capture to the National Finals Rodeo. Along the way, she found her very own Knight in Shining Cowboy Boots and an abiding love for romance novels. And just like the characters from her favorite books, she’s living her own happily ever after.

Kristina writes sassy contemporary romance novels; her books have appeared on Kindle Best Seller Lists. She loves hearing from readers, so drop her a line!

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