Tuesday Knight's dream of Broadway stardom has flopped, leaving her unemployed and brokenhearted. Ready to quit kissing frogs and make her own happily-ever-after, she takes a job as a princess in Everland, Georgia's historical amusement park.
Mayor Beau Marino lives an unenchanted existence-all work, no play-which is fine by him. After his marriage ended in disaster, the last thing he wants in his life is more drama. But Everland's new free spirit has a talent for getting under his starched collar.
When the town's beloved but bankrupt park might be shut down, Tuesday and Beau face a choice. Can they join forces, save the day-and each other? Or will their fierce battle of wills destroy any chance of a fairy-tale ending?
In the tradition of New York Times bestselling authors Kristan Higgins, Jill Shalvis, and Marina Adair, comes the second book in Lia Riley's Everland, Georgia series about two city sisters finding love in a small town.
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THE EVERLAND, GEORGIA SERIES
IT HAPPENED ON LOVE STREET, #1
THE CORNER OF FOREVER AND ALWAYS, #2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lia Riley is a contemporary romance author. USA Today describes her as
"refreshing" and RT Book
Reviews calls her books "sizzling and heartfelt." She loves her
husband, three kids, wandering redwood forests and a perfect pour over coffee.
She is 25% sarcastic, 54% optimistic, and 122% bad at math (good thing she
writes happy endings for a living). She and her family live mostly in Northern
California.
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EXCERPT
“I’m nervous.” The tightness in
his tone backed up the muscles bunching near the hinge in his jaw. And the
simple, honest admission did something to her that no amount of flirtatious
back-and-forth ever would.
“So am I.” She began buttering
the dish. “Who taught you how to cook?”
He stirred the chocolate in the
double boiler, hands clenching the spoon. “Mama used to say that a man needed
to know three things: how to fix a dessert, iron his own shirt and sew a
button. That some day future women would thank her.”
“Smart lady.” Tuesday laughed, grateful
for a moment to recalibrate, to slow her racing heart. “I suck at ironing by
the way.”
Beau gave her a resolute stare. “I make
my own starch.”
“Stop.” She nearly dropped the
dishtowel. “No, you don’t.”
“One tablespoon of cornstarch in two
cups of water.”
Her gaze fixed on the rare smile tugging
the corner of his mouth. The revelation was oddly endearing. “I’m not sure
whether to be impressed or terrified.”
“Your mama didn’t teach you these
things?”
Tuesday thought. “We grew up in small
town Maine.”
“Sounds cold.”
“So, so cold. So much snow. So much
cold. Beautiful though.”
“I’d like to check it out, in summer.”
“Yeah, good idea. My dad ran a maple
sugarbush farm, made homemade maple syrup. Mom was his opposite. He loved being
outdoors. She liked being inside. I guess they were opposites, must have attracted at some point but over
time they repelled each other. Pushed one another further and further away. She
left when I was in high school. Moved down to New Hampshire where she was from
and met a banker. They live in the suburbs. She has a housekeeper now.”
“She abandoned your family?”
“I. . .you know, I don’t know. My sister
thinks so. I was the baby. My mom used to love to style my hair. She could do
so many intricate braids. We didn’t have much money but she’d shop at thrift
stores and garage sales and find me cute dresses. Sometimes I’d find her sad
and I’d try to cheer her up. I’d ask her to brush my hair and she would, even though sometimes I could hear her
sniffling and I knew if I turned around I’d see her crying.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she ground
her fists into them. “Wow. Hello! Where'd these come from.” God, way to keep
things light. Her inconvenient emotions would probably sink the night.
“I’m sorry that happened.”
“Me too.” She took a breath. Then
another.
“Can we return to the regularly scheduled programming?
Chocolate is always the cure.”
Beau looked like he might press forward
but changed his mind at the last moment. “My mama taught me how to separate
yolks from whites. Can I show you?”
“I won’t pretend that I have skills.
Instruct away.”
“Okay, pick an egg, any egg.”
She selected a brown one and he stepped
behind her, her back heating against his chest. His arms slid over hers.
“Now what you do is give it a tap to open the shell. No! Not so big, just a
little one.” His hand engulfed hers, guiding the movement. “Good. That’s real
good. Now let the yolk settle in one side. That’s it. Now you start to transfer
the egg back and forth and back and forth, let the white run out like that
until voila! All you have left is the yolk.”
Tuesday gawked at the golden yolk in the
shell. “Martha Stewart eat your heart out.”
He checked the chocolate and milk, it
had melted down into a decadent pool.
“Can we eat that as is? I’m sure the
souffle is amazing and all but hey, a bowl of melted warm chocolate is going to
do me fine.”
His laugh was just as decadently rich.
“Haven’t you ever heard that good things come to those who wait?”
“Sure, by people waiting,” she quipped.
“They need something to tell themselves.”
That really got him going, his deep
laugh rich as sun-warmed molasses. “Let me make you a deal.”
“I’m not agreeing until I hear the
terms.”
“Smart woman. When you have this
dessert, you are going to say it’s better than the best sex you’ve ever had.”
She set her hands on her hips. “You have
a low opinion of my sex life.”
“Nah.” He winked. “Just a very high
opinion on my soufflé.”
She arched a brow. “You’re on.”
Standing behind her he continued to help
guide her effortlessly through measurements and pouring, mixing and stirring.
He didn’t grind on her or get perverted, not that she’d have minded. Chocolate
was meant to be an aphrodisiac and she’d never experienced anything so sexily
mundane as chatting over nothings in the kitchen with a man who didn’t try to
cop a feel. He appreciated and and even savored her for who she was and what
she offered which right now was fully dressed fairly polite company.
In fifteen minutes he opened the oven
and slid the soufflé in.
“And now?”
“We wait,” he answered. “Until it’s
puffed on top and jiggly in the center.”
“You have a way of making cooking sexy.”
“Do I? I guess that helps even the
field.”
“How so?”
“You make breathing look sexy.” His gaze
lingered on hers for a few beats before he turned and began to wash the dishes.
She stared at the back of his head, his broad shoulders,
his narrow hips, blinking in surprise. He seemed wholly unaware that he’d
broken her heart and put it back together, refashioned into something new,
stronger and brighter.
GIVEAWAY
REVIEW
* * * 1/2
These covers are simply too cute and they convey what is the absolute best about the Everland, Georgia series from Lia Riley -- they're sweet, charming and irresistible.
I never ever thought that small town romances would be a thing for me but Riley has converted me. She continues the set up she created in It Happened On Love Street, featuring a quirky little town with equally quirky residents and those adorably romantic street names. In this second book, Tuesday (Pepper's sister from the first) makes her home in Everland after abruptly leaving New York. Also left behind are the ex-boyfriend and her dreams of being an actress. Though she may have quit acting it doesn't mean that she's given up her flare for the dramatic and this is something that confounds the town's mayor, the widowed and very single, Beau. He's not used to Tuesday's view on life. He likes rules, structure and work. He drowns himself in it. As mayor he has lofty ambitions to get his beloved town on the map and thriving once again. Tuesday's impulsiveness is contrary to his sense of propriety and organization. The fact that they seem to be polar opposites doesn't mean that they aren't also enthralled with each other in small spurts. The problem is that they've had their hearts broken with everything they believed in thrown in their faces in the process, and each has reacted differently to that heartache. When Tuesday becomes a formidable spokesperson for one of the town's landmarks, it means they have to work together and time that will tell if they finally hook up or continue to be friendly foes.
I laughed quite a bit while reading this because Riley has a fun way of phrasing things, especially emotions. It's almost like you're there experiencing everything firsthand. There were plenty of moments when I thought to myself, "Same". I'm always curious when two different personalities clash and how they find mutual ground. It's no different here. The inclusion of the POV from the town's vindictive and manipulative archnemesis, Ma Hogg who lives in the next town over, makes for a distinct contrast to the entire town of Everland's generally sunny disposition. There are also a couple of other characters that I hope will get their own stories and I'm happy to have Riley surprise me.
I feel redundant saying this but I'll read anything by Lia Riley. I've read all her books so far and I've learned that she can do angsty, romantic, light-hearted, adventurous and serious. Each work she has put out has had a different feel to it. Reading On The Corner of Forever and Always was a sweet escape into a modern day fairytale-like story replete with a prince and princess warding off evil, and legends of lost treasure.
~ Bel
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