review || CAN'T WALK AWAY

Can't Walk Away by Molly McLain

Publisher:
Series: River Bend, book 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Author
Purchase links || amazon | bn || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★★

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A convenient, casual, and completely orgasmic fling. What more could a girl want?For the past year, barista Ally Barrett has been content to spend her weekends distracting River Bend's hottest commodity--the sexy, too-serious sheriff. Their casual arrangement suits her independent nature just fine...until it doesn't.

Sheriff and Army Guardsman Mark Dunn lives to serve the people of his community and his country. Ally is the only woman who's never asked for more than his nights--and the only one he's ever considered giving his days, as well. Too bad duty says otherwise.

When an unexpected pregnancy flips their no-strings understanding on its head--and tarnishes both of their reputations--Mark has a tough time proving he wants a real relationship and not just reelection. But if this sheriff knows anything, it's how to fight for what he believes in--Ally's heart.

Warning: This book contains a hero who's all business and no play...unless there's a dress and a hot redhead involved.

{ review } .

First off...

I love stories that overlap others. This book is told essentially in the same time frame as CAN'T GET ENOUGH. I love overlap because in a town, one relationship doesn't happen before another -- this is also the case in families. Just because one family member is busy getting it on and finding his or her happily ever after doesn't mean that brother/cousin/sister can't be doing the same thing at the same time. It makes River Bend believable.

Want to know what else makes this believable?

We're picking up at the meat and potatoes part of Ally and Mark's relationship. It's so real -- this isn't a quick romance. This is a relationship that has been on-again-off-again for the past 11 months and due to male dumbness (sorry, Mark), they're currently in the off pattern. Ally, who is hurt and confused, decides to do the female thing and make the man jealous... by hanging on another man -- younger than him, nonetheless.

Well, Ally, mission accomplished.

Theirs is a story of miscommunication and mistakes due to said miscommunication, but what a lovely story it is, regardless. Both are hardheaded and set in their ways. Both know what they want --

-- they each want the other, the problem is how they're going about it.

Mark, being a man, just blurts it out regardless of the situation.

Ally, being a woman, overthinks his confessions and wants, and analyzes them, giving them reasons that while could be, aren't necessarily true, and if she'd look at the context, she would understand Mark means everything that he says.

When I reviewed CAN'T GET ENOUGH, I mentioned how I was pleasantly surprised that it belonged to a series where the novella, the only book I'd read, was not my favorite in any way shape or form... and that I absolutely loved CGE. Well, I'm here to say I absolutely loved CAN'T WALK AWAY too... maybe even more than CGE -- but because of the story overlap, it helps me like CGE a little bit more ;)