Blog Tour: Love Blooms On Main Street by Olivia Miles (Review + Top 5 List + Excerpt + GIveaway)
Love Blooms on Main Street
The Briar Creek Series #4
Olivia Miles
On Sale: July 26, 2016
Publisher: Forever
Format: Mass Market & eBook
Price: $5.99 USD (MM) & $4.99 USD (eBook)
Book Summary
Love is always in season . . .
Florist Ivy Birch fantasizes about the day a man will surprise her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Especially if that man happens to be Brett Hastings. One stolen kiss at her best friend’s wedding and Ivy can’t get the sexy ER doctor out of her head.
In the small town of Briar Creek, you can’t avoid anyone for very long. Not that Brett has been trying to avoid Ivy. He just can’t afford to let anything distract him from his work-not again. So when a hospital fundraiser throws them together, love is the last thing on his mind. But with her quick wit and sweet laugh, soon the one woman he’s tried to keep at arm’s length is capturing his heart…
Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | iBooks
IndieBound | Google Play | Kobo
My Thoughts
*ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review*
Love Blooms On Main Street is a sweet, heartwarming romance about a man and woman who fear letting people in, but for very different reasons. Ivy Birch has spent her whole life being in love with Brett Hastings, only to get her heart broken when the kiss they shared at a wedding nine months ago didn’t mean as much to him as it did to her. Now she’s determined to put the man behind her, which should be easy since he lives in another town…only suddenly he’s not in another town, but in the same town, and worse, she’s having to work with him on an event for the hospital.
Brett has done his best not to get close to the people in his life, keeping his focus on helping trauma patients without getting emotionally invested in their care. And like his patients, he keeps his personal life free of entanglements that might prove too complicated or painful, which includes his family. Ivy is a woman he’d normally avoid, and yet, he quickly discovers that he can’t.
The best love stories, in my opinion, are the ones cemented in reality where the hero and heroine change the very foundation of who the other person is. That’s the kind of story that sweeps me up and creates a memorable, lasting read for me. This book was that kind of read for me.
With excellent writing, fantastic characterization, and a delightful storyline, Love Blooms On Main Street is a wonderful small town romance that will make you smile, and laugh, and sigh, and yes, if you’re anything like me, even cry. I absolutely loved it and cannot recommend it enough.
Final Analysis
5 “Heart-String Tugging” Stars
Top 5 List
Top 5 Reasons to Love Small Town Romances
I’m a sucker for small town romances (obviously) but if I had to narrow it down, I’d say:
- The settings are usually cozy and picturesque and because they are so small in size, you tend to have a real sense of place for each distinct aspect of the town.
- All the characters are often interconnected, and because of this, it allows for lots of drama and conflict.
- The reader often feels pulled into a pre-established world, but made to feel right at home.
- The characters that make up these small towns are often the heart of the story, and it’s enjoyable to see them each have a turn in the spotlight.
- I consider small-town romances to be the ultimate escape, because you get so drawn into another town and its inhabitants, that you almost completely forget your own!
Book Excerpt
From Love Blooms On Main Street by Olivia Miles:
A small gasp escaped from her but was quickly silenced by the firm press of Brett’s mouth on hers. Unlike their last kiss, which had felt so tender, this time Brett was leaving no room for confusion about his intentions. She stiffened against his touch, trying to resist him, but pleasure pooled warm in her stomach and the space between her legs began to ache as he wrapped two arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.
Oh, God. She wanted to fight this. The feeling he was stirring within her. The need for more. She opened her mouth to him, letting him in. He kissed her deeply, not giving her a chance to break away, and she wasn’t so sure she could, even if she wanted to. Her hands, which had been pushed off her hips by the strength of his arms, hung loosely at her sides, as if determined to stay out of this drama she was creating for herself, but, like her mouth, they lost the fight. She slid her hands up onto Brett’s arms, taking in every curve of his hard muscles, and up onto his shoulders as she leaned into him. His breath was heavy as he kissed her harder, and she parted her legs to let his slide between and press against the tightness that was building within her.
“What are we doing?” she asked when they finally came apart. She blinked up at him and resisted the urge to flatten his disheveled locks. I did that, she realized with a flutter.
“I don’t really know.” Brett’s voice was low and coarse. “But I like it.”
She firmed her mouth and smoothed her dress. Not good enough.
Turning to stare at the folding table, she felt her spirits begin to sag. She’d let him in again. Let him take her to places she’d wanted, to dream dreams that should have stayed in her unconscious. And nothing had changed. Men don’t change, Ivy. That’s what her mother had always said. When would she learn?
“Well, it can’t happen again,” she insisted.
“Oh no?”
She glanced back to see that slow, sexy smile. “No.” But even as she said it, her body was saying yes.
THE BRIAR CREEK SERIES
Mistletoe On Main Street, #1
A Match Made On Main Street, #2
Hope Springs On Main Street, #3
Love Blooms On Main Street, #4
Christmas Comes To Main Street, #5
Series Page on Goodreads
Giveaway
Up For Grabs: Ten (10) mass market copies of LOVE BLOOMS ON MAIN STREET by Olivia Miles
Enter The Rafflecopter Giveaway Here!
About the Author
Olivia Miles is a Chicago-based romance writer. Having grown up in New England, Olivia attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec before settling in Chicago where she lives with her husband, their daughter, and two ridiculously pampered pups.
When she is not chasing after her little ones, she is hard at work creating feisty heroines and alpha heroes with a heart. A city girl with a fondness for small-town charm, Olivia enjoys highlighting both ways of life in her stories.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads