Book Review #brightlikewildfire #juliettecross #ARCreader #ARCteam
Juliette Cross is certainly taking the romance world by storm this year. Cross is branching out from paranormal, where she started, into contemporary, small town romance and I am having an absolute ball with each and every new release! It definitely feels like her year and she should be extremely proud for all she has accomplished. This is Cross' second contemporary romance and it delights beyond measure! This novel is conversational in tone, people with interesting and real characters, and beautifully plotted to create such a charming, enemies/misunderstood to lovers situation between a school teacher and a cocky town legacy.
Betty, a school teacher and lover of theater, has just gotten her first big role in her favorite show at the local community theater, too bad she has to play opposite her nemesis Bennett, who is the owner of a new upscale grocery story and this town is basically his family legacy. Nine years ago, during a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bennett accidentally hit Betty's boobs with a glitter bomb, leaving her humiliated and contemptuous towards Bennett. But it has been nine years and maybe it is time for Betty to move on and accept the blazing chemistry between her and Bennett.
Betty is an absolutely delightful heroine, she is compassionate and kind and her heart tends to be in the right place. I love her love of the theater and Cross does a wonderfully job bringing this to light throughout the novel. Bennett is kind of a sensitive and caring soul, but he uses is confidence and cockiness to protect his heart. I also love that his love of theater and the community it creates is front and center and creates a charming foundation of commonality between Betty and Bennett. I am a production manager as well as a freelance costume designer, so I was easily swept up into the plotting of this story. I love how Cross is able to create the perfect insight into community theater and I can definitely attest to its accuracy. Cross definitely knows how to build up the tension between Betty and Bennett, making the reader wish they would just admit their feelings already, and then blasting them into a steamy and sexy physical relationship in which they can truly open themselves up to the other and create a strong and trusting bond.
Definitely do yourself a favor and pick this and all of Juliette Cross' other books. You will not be disappointed, they are sexy, real, fun, delightful and just the perfect read to escape into a fantastic story of people choosing to open themselves up to the other!
Thank you so much to Juliette Cross for an eARC (I am part of her ARC team), all thoughts and opinions are my own.