After leaving her abusive husband, Chloe Wentz returns to her hometown of Cherry Grove. With just some clothing and the things she brought into the twelve-year marriage, she’s forced to start again. Having spent the last decade helping her husband further his career by giving up her own, she readily accepts the management position offered to her at her stepfather’s restaurant. However, on her very first day, she discovers she’ll be managing the man whom she had bullied relentlessly in school.
When Seth Martin looked up to meet the new manager at the restaurant where he’s a bartender, he never expected to find the person who made high school hell for him. Sixteen years after graduating, he’s happy with his life. He has his own house on a piece of property on the edge of town and a job he loves. No longer is he that boy who grew up in the trailer park with smelly, worn-out clothes and no money. Now, he’s worried he might lose it all if she makes his life hell at the restaurant, too.
Can Seth and Chloe navigate a professional relationship when they have such a rocky past? How will Chloe figure out who she is again after having given up so much of herself in her marriage? Will she and Seth be able to find common ground and eventually trust in one another as feelings begin to grow between them?
Tropes: letting go of the past to grow; is friendship even possible?; former bully x victim; finding yourself again; both are afraid of getting hurt; he had a crush on her, she humiliated him; healing; starting over
Available: Kindle – Kindle Unlimited – Paperback
Content Warnings:
Marital Abuse – The FMC’s husband slapped her. Then, six months later, he backhands her during an argument. There is a detailed description of the injuries, including the bruising she covers with makeup. After she leaves him, her ex keeps trying to reach out to her, even changing his number, as she ignores his texts and calls. She fears his reaction to receiving divorce papers. He shows up seemingly unannounced at the house she is staying in after receiving the papers. She’s afraid he’s there to hurt her. He’s only dropping off her things and isn’t there to harm her, but she’s not aware of that at first. She calls the cops and the MMC for help, and the matter is resolved amicably. The FMC references the fact that her biological father abused her and her mother emotionally and mentally as she was growing up. As she grew into adulthood, she helped her mother financially to get out of the marriage.
Bullying – The FMC bullied the MMC in school quite often, picking on his appearance and home life. In their senior year, she catfished him. She managed to convince him she was a girl who went to a different school. Then, she orchestrated it so that he thought he was taking that girl to their senior prom. When the girl never showed up, the FMC and her friends made fun of him. She struggles with the guilt of having done it, and the MMC struggles with trusting her not to do it now.
Child Abuse – The FMC mentions, historically, that her biological father mentally and emotionally abused her mother and her as she was growing up. The MMC and his sister suffered from physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of their parents. It is mentioned historically. Their parents neglected them both. When the MMC’s sister was seventeen, their parents abandoned her with barely any food and rent due soon, never to be heard from again. The MMC leaves the life he was making for himself and takes care of and supports his sister from that point on.
Mention of Parent Death – One of the secondary characters had a mother who died of cancer. It is referenced briefly and historically.
Sex with Someone Other than the FMC – The MMC enjoys sex and frequents a sex club in the closest city, especially when he’s stressed out, which the FMC’s return makes him. He has on-page sex with two different women who are not the FMC. When he realizes things are turning from friendship to something more between him and the FMC, he stops going because it doesn’t seem right to go any longer.
BDSM Dynamics/Kink – The MMC is into BDSM and frequents a sex club where he can indulge in those practices. He, in particular, enjoys pain and being flogged by dominant partners. As he and the FMC grow close and become partners, they have discussions about it and practice it in beginner-level ways. This book is not an instruction manual for BDSM. Do not use it as such.
Risky Sex Behavior – Despite the MMC taking pride in communicating with his sex partners, the first time he and the FMC have sex, he neglects to discuss the last time either was tested or whether or not she is on birth control. He’s upset with himself afterward, since he’s usually better at making sure everyone is on the same page.
Addiction – The MMC’s parents were addicts as he and his sister were growing up. Once they abandoned his sister at seventeen, he and his sister didn’t know what happened to them. There is no on-page drug use or specifics mentioned, just that both the MMC and his sister think of them as addicts. There is a dark joke in the second chapter with the sister saying she’s not a quitter, that it’s in her genetics not to.
Alcohol Consumption
Explicit Sex
Shonna Preston 