REVIEW: Come Home to Me by Brenda Novak

In Come Home to Me (Whiskey Creek #6) by Brenda Novak, To say Presley Christensen had a rough childhood is an understatement. She and her sister Cheyenne have literally been through hell, and she’s proud to say she’s now on her way to building a positive future. She’s found her way back to Whiskey Creek to be near her sister again and to start a yoga studio. Pres is completely in love with her toddler, Wyatt, and will do anything to provide for him. The only problem with being back in town? She’s had two years away from Aaron Amos and she’s still not over him. Being in such close proximity will be like facing down her addictions all over again.

He didn’t move. “I don’t understand why we can’t be friends.”
“Because, where you’re concerned, there’s no middle ground for me. I can’t be friends with you, not without wanting to rip off your clothes.”

Presley is determined to stay away from Aaron. If for no other reason, than to make sure he doesn’t learn a secret she’s been keeping for two years that could change their lives. But Aaron just doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone. And when Cheyenne’s friend Riley expresses interest in Presley, things become awkward and tense. She and Aaron only ever enjoyed a casual, physical relationship before she left town. Back when they were partying all the time. Now, he’s starting to act possessive and it’s very confusing. Could he actually be showing her some of the same affection she used to shower on him and finally be interested in her?

‘They were in the middle of a wordless war, where pleasure was their most powerful weapon, one they could each wield with skill and accuracy. She was battling to hang on to her heart, and he was battling to show her just how easily he could reclaim it.’

Aaron Amos was never really sure if it was his fault when Presley left town after her mom died. He wasn’t quite equipped to help her through her feelings at the time and felt bad when he was less than kind. He’s thought of her often over the past two years and thought when he found out she was back in town, she would look him up. But Presley’s reaction to Aaron was stilted and awkward when running into each other. Determined to apologize and become friends again, he tries to offer help and spend time with her, only to get mixed signals. Pres still looks at him like she wants him, then pushes him away. Aaron applauds her desire to improve her life but feels a bit offended when she makes it seem like he would hold her back. And he can’t figure out why that bothers him so much. It isn’t like he has feelings for her. Or is it?

“There you go, Pres. Let me touch you,” he whispered. “I’m dying to touch you.”
He wasn’t sure she believed that, either. She seemed suspicious of everything he said or did, but when she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, he knew she was going to take what she wanted–and that meant he’d get what he wanted, too.’

Come Home to Me is book six in the Whiskey Creek series by the one-and-only Brenda Novak. Each story has put the main characters through their paces to find their HEA, but I think Presley and Aaron were the most stubborn (so far) in dealing with their true feelings. Bring on the angst!

So this time, the story revolves around the Amos clan, Presley and her sister Cheyenne, and Riley…not the close-knit group of friends in town that hang out every Friday morning at the coffee shop for breakfast. To me, there was a little different feel to their romance, giving us the sense of how Presley and Aaron had felt like outsiders in town. They both had a rough upbringing and understood where the other was coming from when no one else could. They partied together and had a mostly physical relationship…although Pres wished it could have been more. Unfortunately, in small towns people tend to remember the bad things first, so Aaron and Pres both have chips on their shoulders from their past.

It becomes obvious right away with Presley that, even though she has become a mom and is healthy and free of addiction, she still has very low self-esteem. That becomes a key factor in her relationships with, well, everyone. Given her background, I can understand her not taking anything at face value–especially when someone tries to help her out of kindness. Pres hasn’t known much of that in her life. But she was so darn stubborn in not accepting that Riley or Aaron could really like her for who she had become, and that they weren’t waiting for her to fall back on old habits. She waffled on her feelings so much that I wanted to reach through my kindle and shake her. lol

One other large component of this story? Lies. Yep. It seemed like everyone had at least one secret they were keeping. And not just little white lies. We’re talking life changing ones here. I’m usually not a huge fan of stories based on a series of lies, even though they tend to be dramatic and lead to complex plots. However, I like the characters enough that even though I definitely didn’t agree with their choices, I could deal with it for the sake of the story. I just hope their decisions don’t come back to bite them…

Overall, I enjoyed Come Home to Me. It had my emotions all over the place and I was a wreck until everything worked out for Aaron and Presley, but I knew Ms. Novak wouldn’t let me down! Whiskey Creek never does.

Book Info:

Published March 25th 2014 by Harlequin MIRA

Home is where her heart is…

When Presley Christensen returns to Whiskey Creek with her little boy after two years away, she has completely changed her life. She’s made peace with her past and overcome the negative behavior that resulted from her difficult childhood. Now she’s back in the small town that was the closest thing to “home” she ever knew—the town where she can be with the sister who’s her only family.

There’s just one catch. Aaron Amos still lives in Whiskey Creek, at least until he moves to Reno to open a branch of the Amos brothers’ auto body shop. And no matter how hard she’s tried, Presley hasn’t been able to get over him. Seeing him again makes the longing so much worse. But she hopes she can get through the next few months, because she can’t fall back into his arms…or his bed. She’s come too far to backslide now. And there’s a secret she’s been guarding—a secret she’ll do anything to protect.