Stephanie Archer

The guy who broke my heart is now an arrogant, too-hot firefighter… who’s hellbent on getting me back.

This summer, I have one goal: field work. I need it to finish my PhD. I never expected Finn Rhodes to offer help. He broke my heart twelve years ago, and now that he’s back in town, I want nothing to do with him.

Finn wants one thing—me.

We were inseparable as kids until everything changed. Now, he’s all grown up—tattooed, muscled, and unfairly hot… and insists we’re meant to be together. I know he’ll grow bored of me and this small town like before, but he’ll never give up unless it’s his idea.

I’ll pretend to date him, but actually? I’m trying to get him to dump me.

Between hiking the back country and cringe-worthy dates designed to turn him off, I begin to remember why we were best friends. Despite how hard I try, Finn isn’t interested in dumping me… and now I’m not sure I want him to.

Finn’s always been trouble, but now he’s a different kind entirely. The kind that might break my heart. Again.

A Spicy Small Town Second Chance Romance (The Queen's Cove Series Book #4)

Finn Rhodes Forever

nanafark

This never got old. Every kiss from Olivia was a gift.

“It’s always been you, Liv,” I whispered. “Always. I love you so fucking much. All I ever wanted was for you to see me like I see you.”

A laugh burst out of her, and then it turned into a sob. “Finn.”

“Baby.” My voice was soft and I held my arms out. “Come here.”

She stepped forward and I picked her up. Her arms looped around my neck, her legs wrapped around my waist, and she gazed into my eyes with such intense affection, I swear my heart tripped. Her eyes welled up and I kissed her.

I kissed her like she was mine. I kissed her like I had been hers for a very long time. I kissed her like our hearts were full and connected. I kissed her like she was the best damn thing that ever happened to me, like the universe had put us side by side for a reason.

I kissed Liv Morgan like she was my soulmate.

“I slammed a steel wall up between myself and others so I couldn’t get hurt. If I didn’t care, it wouldn’t matter if they left me.”

“This is supposed to be meaningful, and I want everyone to know that I love you.”

The words floated through the air, landed on my heart, and sank in. I knew she felt that way, but hearing her say it? It shifted the earth under my feet.

The way Jen stared at me made me hate myself.

People got bored and people left, so I kept my mouth shut.

“You’re mine,” he managed. “You’ve always been mine.”

Finn kissed the inside of my thigh, so gentle and sweet for someone with such a dirty mouth.

“You’re so beautiful, Olivia.” His eyes roamed my face before meeting my gaze. “I look at you and I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I just want to be with you.”

I had been hoping I could email him. I hated talking on the phone.

Years of her hating me, wanting nothing to do with me, while I missed her and hated myself, and now this.

I tilted my face up and gave him a lazy smile. He stared down at me like I was everything to him.

“That list earlier, your bucket list?” I whispered.

“I want it all. I want to be all your firsts. Everything. I want those things with you.”

Her eyes were puffy with sleep, hair all messy. I wanted to keep her like this forever. We could spend the rest of our days out here in the woods, wandering through the trees and staring at the stars together.

When he left, I’d have nothing holding me together. I’d fall apart for real this time, and harder. Smaller pieces were harder to put back together.

“To you? I’d get married this afternoon,” I said without thinking. “Would have done it twelve years ago if I was smart enough.”

Please tell me you’re not going to propose.”

I huffed a laugh. I knew how that would go. She’d toss the ring off a cliff.

“Been in a lot of relationships, have you?”

He stopped walking and caught my hand, pulling me to stand in front of him. His smile dimmed but his eyes were soft. “Nope. You ruined me, but I’m not mad about it.”

She breezed past behind the bar, tray in hand, and my gaze stuck to her like glue. My heart twisted, sharp and sweet, and I swallowed past a tight throat.

Because it was Liv. Because I had never been able to keep secrets from her. She made me say everything in my head. Around her, I got dumb.

The last thing Olivia needs is a guy like you dragging her down

, her mom had said to me after Liv and I got in trouble for skipping class.

She had been right, and I knew she was right. That’s why I left. That’s why I said the things I did on the front porch when I got home on graduation night. 

I’m bored with this town. Bored with you.

It was only a matter of time until Liv figured out she was too good for me. Her mom saw right through me.

My stomach sank even lower. Fuck. No wonder Liv didn’t trust me. My entire life, I’d shown her that I couldn’t be trusted, and then I bailed on her the same night I told her I loved her.

For most of my life, I’d been madly, stupidly in love with her. It wasn’t going away, and I needed to fix the mess I made twelve years ago.

Leaving was the biggest mistake of my life.

melina25

I would absolutely die for them. I absolutely loved other couples but these two??? I knew I was gonna love them when they kept being mentioned in previous books but no idea I was gonna love them this much🥹 AND HELLO BECK AND CASS?? I CANNOT WAIT AND ALSO I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE HOCKEY ROMANCES 🫶🏻

Best friends (and especially childhood friends) to lovers is my all time favourite trope so it definitely done it for me.

This book was the funniest of them all. I found myself laughing out loud too often.

Apart from the fact that it seems unreal how they started their relationship, all the rest and how the story progressed was pretty good.

I enjoyed the main character’s dynamic a lot, as well as the whole Rhodes family dynamic (as always) and i’m pretty satisfied with how much of the rest of the characters we got to see again. 

Again, i’d like to touch more on what exactly happened to that night between them. We learn about it from her when she explains it to her friends, we see him say how he remembers very well and has fantasised about it for so long, but nothing about what exactly happened and what meant for them. We got i tiny glimpse of explanation from his part but the conversation doesn’t extend far from her part, which is odd and a bit frustrating. Same with his tattoos, ok we get it, he obviously got them for her but can you please explain it more and not leave us imagine what they mean exactly? We need to see you being romantic dude!!! Just that, just to justify the romantic need in my soul. We need to see WTF did you do/think exactly for 12 years. Just fill us in!!

Anyway. I’m happy with how they evolved and how they found their way together but again, how annoying is Miri? 😅

Other than that, it was lovely! I loved it. 

 remains the best one for me but Queen’s Cove is definitely one of my favourite series to date and i highly suggest it!

Best friends (and especially childhood friends) to lovers is my all time favourite trope so it definitely done it for me.

This book was the funniest of them all. I found myself laughing out loud too often.

It was also sweet and super spicy.

Apart from the fact that it seems unreal how they started their relationship, all the rest and how the story progressed was pretty good.

I enjoyed the main character’s dynamic a lot, as well as the whole Rhodes family dynamic (as always) and i’m pretty satisfied with how much of the rest of the characters we got to see again. 

Again, i’d like to touch more on what exactly happened to that night between them. We learn about it from her when she explains it to her friends, we see him say how he remembers very well and has fantasised about it for so long, but nothing about what exactly happened and what meant for them. We got i tiny glimpse of explanation from his part but the conversation doesn’t extend far from her part, which is odd and a bit frustrating. Same with his tattoos, ok we get it, he obviously got them for her but can you please explain it more and not leave us imagine what they mean exactly? We need to see you being romantic dude!!! Just that, just to justify the romantic need in my soul. We need to see WTF did you do/think exactly for 12 years. Just fill us in!!

Anyway. I’m happy with how they evolved and how they found their way together but again, how annoying is Miri? 😅

Other than that, it was lovely! I loved it. The Wrong Mr. Right remains the best one for me but Queen’s Cove is definitely one of my favourite series to date and i highly suggest it!

Finn Rhodes Forever A Spicy Small Town Second Chance Romance (The Queen's Cove Series Book #4)

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