REVIEW: Along Came Trouble by Erin Kern

In Along Came Trouble (Trouble #3) by Erin Kern, Brody McDermott needs a miracle to save his restaurant from going under and that miracle arrives in the form of photographer Elisa Cardoso. Elisa is hired to take photos of their signature dishes for a magazine write up, but from the moment Brody spots her, he is completely taken by the beautiful woman. His problems at the restaurant and with his family continue to battle for his attention. Elisa becomes someone very important to him, calming his anxiety yet fueling his desire at the same time. To say Brody has trouble with expressing his emotions is an understatement. And unfortunately, that may push Elisa into making a decision to leave him behind.

‘Something about Elisa brought out an animalistic side of him, like he needed to drop to his knees and howl at the moon. That or claw her clothes off.’

Elisa Cardoso built a wall around her heart after her last boyfriend destroyed her emotionally. Biding her time in Trouble, Wyoming, she didn’t expect to fall head over heels for restaurant manager Brody when she took a photography job. Elisa knows from the beginning that he is someone she could spend her life with and in turn he could hurt her deeply if she let him. But when the chance of a lifetime comes up, Elisa is forced to choose between the man of her dreams or the career advancement she’s been waiting for.

‘Elisa didn’t care what secrets he had. She loved him, flaws and all. She could take whatever he tossed her way. What she couldn’t take was the secrecy.’

Along Came Trouble is a very sexy and emotional contemporary romance set in rugged Wyoming. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, but book three in the Trouble series can certainly be read as a standalone or along with the others in succession.

‘But this was more than flirting. This was outright seduction. The tone of his voice held all sorts of promises, the kinds of promises that led to screaming.’

I thought the writing style was really fun and spicy, but still had a lot of depth to the emotions portrayed for each character. The double entendres used throughout the story just had me cracking up (and fanning my face from the heat)! I have to say, though, that there was a bit of angst to Brody and Elisa’s inner monologues that I didn’t expect in a contemporary romance. Not that it was a bad thing. In some ways it was almost more realistic that they waffled with their feelings so much, rather than having an epiphany right away like in some other stories.

Watching Elisa and Brody fall in love was equal parts entertaining and torture for me. They were meant to be together. Everyone around them could see it. And if they would only admit it, they knew they belonged together as well. However, they were both stubborn and didn’t want to give in and try, both having had bad luck in romance before. Understandable. But wow…I didn’t think they’d ever have a HEA for a while there! Love has a funny way of working things out just as they should be in the end, though.

Overall, I enjoyed Along Came Trouble. The plot had some nice twists and the characters were well developed. If you like passionate romance with raw, intense emotions, I’d suggest giving this one by Erin Kern a try.

Book Info:

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Published November 19th 2013 by Forever

TROUBLE HAS ARRIVED

Elisa Cardoso longs for passion in her life. Though she’d much rather spend her days photographing the stunning Wyoming landscape, food photography is a lucrative, if uninspiring, way to pay her bills. But when her next assignment brings her face to face with sexy restaurant owner Brody McDermott, Elisa can’t deny the delicious effect he has on her.

From the minute Brody sees Elisa, he’s dying to unleash her inner bad girl. He knows there’s more to the sophisticated photographer than meets the eye. Now getting the sexy shutterbug into his bed is on his menu, but when she starts making her way into his heart-big problem. Love has been tricky for Brody, and he’s not too eager to try his luck again. But when a golden opportunity means Elisa may be leaving Trouble for good, can Brody find the courage to grab on to love . . . before it slips away?