contemporary fiction – Mel Reviews Her Books

Imagine a dare is born out of a college-nemesis/complicated past feelings relationship, that results in two bestselling writers crafting stories from genres they despise. The winner has to poach their novel to publishers, get the biggest book deal and the highest paying advance.

Enter January and Gus.

January has just made the worst discovery of her life. After her Dad’s recent passing, a letter he left her explained that he had been in love with another woman and had built a life with her all in a small beach town. January is confused as he was always the most loving father and their connection was strong. He has left the house that he shared in his double life to January. Not only is she thrown for six but her writing jué jué is off and the timeline on her next book is closing in.

Gus has never forgotten the frustratingly talented writer from college who never failed to make every writing assignment into a happy ending. He much prefers to research for years, uncover and pull apart the pieces of people that we sometimes never see. Seeing January in the house next door on the summer evening of his birthday was not what he had on his Bingo card for this year. But will it turn out to be his, and her, best year of writing yet?

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Teddy Anderson is her small town’s so-called ‘good time girl’, who is guaranteed to always be the life of the party and draws the attention of most people in a room with her suede fringe jacket and skin-tight jeans.

Yet underneath the social glow of many eyes, Teddy is a hard worker, a carer for her chronically ill father and will always be there to support her best friend Emmy Ryder, along with her family.

So when Emmy calls Teddy in a pickle, she decides the positive outweighs the negative because it’s only for the summer – right.?

Within 24 hours, Teddy is a stay-in nanny for Emmy’s niece and living with the one Ryder family member she’s never seen eye to eye with – Angus Ryder.

Angus is a single dad, a cattleman and the over protector for all his family members. One thing he knows for certain is that being around Teddy Anderson is much easier when they’re throwing cutting words and displaying their utmost mutual distaste to one another. Now having her in his home, spending quality and helpful time with his daughter, Angus is forced to see a different side, a softer side, of Teddy unravelling. She’s getting under his skin, but not in the way she did before.

Lost and Lassoed is number 3 in the Rebel Blue Bell series. Teddy and Angus’ story is the classic enemies to lovers trope that has you devouring paragraphs and pages in no time!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5!!)