Shannon Stacey once again offers a solid romance in her The Kowalskis series with the seventh installment, Love a Little Sideways. These stories of Boston and Maine-based cousins is one that I really enjoy. I’d marked book seven’s 1 December release date on my calendar and was quite pleased that the publisher shared a review copy recently.
Love a Little Sideways picks up the story of Kowalski sister Liz and police chief Drew, her brother Mitch’s best friend. Yes, they had that quick and dirty hook-up at her brother’s summer wedding to Paige, but nothing more was supposed to occur – until Liz returned home to Maine from her self-imposed exile in New Mexico.
One of the first people she see’s after fishtailing off the road on black ice is, of course, Drew, who comes to help her out. With the loan of his classic car (never before driven by anyone else, including his ex-wife), rumors begin to fly. But they’re behaving as friends as neither of them want to rock the boat…but the sparks between them are just as electric as at the wedding.
With the addition of a family reunion / campout that’s filled with ATV off-loading, cookouts over the fire, some r-rated girls-only scrabble, and kids galore – Stacey offers a fabulous Kowalski get together with all the Boston and Maine-based Kowalski cousins. Both Liz and Drew have their own issues to deal with that might preclude a hook-up from being anything more, but that’s getting into spoiler territory, so I’m not giving any hints.
I was really looking forward to this story and am sorry to say it’s just not my favorite of this series, but it’s a fun read. If you haven’t already done so, I’d highly recommend you add this series to your book shelf: Exclusively Yours (book 1), Undeniably Yours (book 2), Yours To Keep (book 3), All He Ever Needed (book 4 on sale for $0.99), All He Ever Desired (book 5), All He Ever Dreamed (book 6), and Love a Little Sideways (book 7)
So, to wrap it up. Yes, do add this book to your e-reader and enjoy! Remember to mark your calendar for the eighth book, Taken with You, to be released in April. Finally we’ll find out if librarian Halley might have her own happily-ever-after. You can pre-order it now.
From the Publisher
The Kowalskis Book 7
Love a Little Sideways
Shannon Stacey
Carina Press
ISBN 9781426896286
Price $4.99
Liz Kowalski is heading home to Whitford, Maine—this time for good. Eager for her family, a fresh start and some fun, she doesn’t count on being rescued by the chief of police her very first night back in town. Drew is everything she’s not looking for…so why is she still so attracted to him?
After a brief, forbidden rendezvous at her brother’s wedding, Drew Miller expects Liz to return to New Mexico and stay there. He’s searching for someone to settle down with, not a casual fling with his best friend’s sister. But when they’re stuck together on the annual Kowalski camping trip, things start going a little sideways. Keeping their hands off each other proves just as impossible as keeping their secret from becoming public knowledge.
Amid family, mud and melted marshmallow, Liz and Drew try to fight what’s growing between them. But a little time alone, a lot of chemistry and too many opinions might be just what it takes to bring together two people so determined not to fall in love.
