Emma Lucy

Escape to Willow Ridge with a deliciously addictive, grumpy cowboy, steamy romance!
Crossing off her bucket list was easy ― until she fell for him.

Cherry Hensley is determined to make her last summer in Willow Ridge count. With a bucket list full of wild ideas Cherry is ready for anything…

Except Duke Bennett.

The town’s hottest bartender ― and her brother’s best friend ― is way too tempting to resist when he offers to be her partner-in-crime.

Enlisting Duke’s help was supposed to be harmless; she’s known him all her life. But every moment together makes Cherry feel more alive than anything on her bucket list.

Will they hold the line between lovers and friends?

Willow Ridge #2

Riding the Line

When one of your brother's best friends has been your crush for as long as you can remember, you can forgive Cherry for being a tad tongue tied around the man! Cherry may be younger than Duke but she is an adult, almost ready to graduate from college but still her family insists on treating her like a fragile flower - she has Epilepsy and Endometriosis but she knows her triggers and does her best to mitigate them but they still insist on almost infantilising her.  It's a group discussion on what she does with HER life!

Duke now runs his family's bar and it's a roaring success.  Having Cherry working there is both a blessing and a curse - he gets to see more of her but he also gets to torture himself for feeling like a creepy stalker.  He should not be having feelings for his buddy's little sister!

Add a bucket list with ever increasingly smexy items, an uber-extroverted bestie and a streak of determination to catch up on the things she's been missing out on and poor Duke does not stand a chance!

I love a small town romance when it's done well and this hits the spot.  Duke fits seamlessly into Cherry's family and Cherry let's him see that it's ok to not always know how things will go.  They both have to deal with the trauma of loss and dealing with a chronic illness.  All those little signs that Cherry plays on his mind were not lost on (Cherry Martini anyone?)  Duke is also a proponent of therapy, it was so refreshing to see mental health battles being depicted so well.

I do wish that the fear over breaking the news of their relationship to her brother was seen as less problematic.  If they know each other so well then he has to know that Duke would never hurt Cherry, but then that would make it a bit of a shorter book. I thought the solution to their location problem was handled well and neither really had to "give up" part of their life or career, they cobbled them together to make something that worked for them.

Nicola Sarah Brooks

When one of your brother's best friends has been your crush for as long as you can remember, you can forgive Cherry for being a tad tongue tied around the man! Cherry may be younger than Duke but she is an adult, almost ready to graduate from college but still her family insists on treating her like a fragile flower - she has Epilepsy and Endometriosis but she knows her triggers and does her best to mitigate them but they still insist on almost infantilising her.  It's a group discussion on what she does with HER life!

Duke now runs his family's bar and it's a roaring success.  Having Cherry working there is both a blessing and a curse - he gets to see more of her but he also gets to torture himself for feeling like a creepy stalker.  He should not be having feelings for his buddy's little sister!

Add a bucket list with ever increasingly smexy items, an uber-extroverted bestie and a streak of determination to catch up on the things she's been missing out on and poor Duke does not stand a chance!

I love a small town romance when it's done well and this hits the spot.  Duke fits seamlessly into Cherry's family and Cherry let's him see that it's ok to not always know how things will go.  They both have to deal with the trauma of loss and dealing with a chronic illness.  All those little signs that Cherry plays on his mind were not lost on (Cherry Martini anyone?)  Duke is also a proponent of therapy, it was so refreshing to see mental health battles being depicted so well.

I do wish that the fear over breaking the news of their relationship to her brother was seen as less problematic.  If they know each other so well then he has to know that Duke would never hurt Cherry, but then that would make it a bit of a shorter book. I thought the solution to their location problem was handled well and neither really had to "give up" part of their life or career, they cobbled them together to make something that worked for them.

Riding the Line Willow Ridge #2

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