Sidecar Crush (Bootleg Springs #2)
by Claire Kingsley with Lucy Score
“I tried to think of something—anything—to calm my raging hard-on. One wrong move and Leah Mae would rub up against it and that was liable to kill me dead on the spot.”
Model turned disgraced reality TV starlet, Leah Mae Larkin, crash lands in her hometown of Bootleg Springs to lay low while a scandal threatens her career. She can’t shake the feeling that her agent—and supposed fiancé—manipulated her into the role of made-for-TV homewrecker. Connecting with her roots is just what she needs, and Bootleg Springs is home to her father, moonshine, and her childhood best friend, Jameson Bodine.
Only there’s nothing childlike about Jameson—a man who turns scrap metal into art and isn’t afraid to throw down on a rowdy Friday night with his brothers and hellcat sister. He might not say much, but still waters run deep. Seeing the ring on his crush’s finger? He doesn’t like it, but he can’t wish it away. No more than he can wish away the trouble his family is in, with evidence pointing to his late father in the cold case disappearance of Callie Kendall.
Jameson and Leah Mae are just two friends reliving their summers together, blowing off steam, and having fun for the first time in a long time. But Leah Mae is realizing what’s really important in her life, and it isn’t what she thought.
And sometimes steam turns into sparks—hot as molten steel—and friends aren’t just friends.
Caroline's Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Adored this story!
"Back when she'd still been Leah Mae, she'd been one of my only friends. Maybe my best friend."
Jameson Bodine is the quiet, artistic one in the family. Always the sensitive one, he'd grown up into a reclusive adult spending a lot of his time in his metal workshop. When Leah Larkin, reality TV star, and one-time childhood friend comes back to Bootleg Springs for a visit, he finds himself tongue-tied and awkward, but very much attracted to her.
"Jameson and I had reconnected, and I had to admit, I had a bit of a crush on my friend...I was crushing on him hard."
Leah Mae Larkin left Bootleg Springs when she was sixteen, after a big scandal rocked the town. She'd never returned since, as her modelling career took off, and she found it hard to visit. Now, she's back to visit her father with her fancy fiancé in tow. However, as her public image goes in a direction that she finds hard to swallow, it makes her re-evaluate her life. Reconnecting with Jameson is no small factor in her change of heart.
"It's my favourite thing to do - take something no one wanted and give it new life."
I adored Jameson! He is a gentleman through and through and doesn't even realise his effect on women. He's sweet and old-fashioned, but so sexy, too! I loved his vulnerability and uncertainty where Leah Mae was concerned, but I adored that once he made up his mind about things, he jumped in with both feet. He spends his life creating something out of scrap metal, and although he didn't really see that Leah Mae needed fixing or rescuing, I found his artistry a great metaphor for his effect on Leah Mae's life.
Leah Mae is a small town girl with the veneer of Hollywood on her. I loved that, in spite of her jetset life, she was intrinsically the girl that Jameson knew when they were kids. She was pretty sweet and genuine, and was so grateful for the town's support behind her.
I loved the growth of their relationship, how it was built upon a solid foundation of a great childhood friendship and adult sexual chemistry. I adored how well they understood each other and saw through to the heart of one another.
This was a sweet, hot, humorous novel, with some fabulous characters. Can't wait for the next one!
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