REVIEW: The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor by Anna J. Stewart

The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor by Anna J. Stewart: After years away from Butterfly Harbor, Luke Saxon returns to take over the Sheriff’s position, at the request of Sheriff himself. The same Sheriff Luke injured in a car accident right before he left town, and who also happens to be Holly Campbell’s father, Jake.

Holly harbors a lot of resentment towards Luke. She believes if her father hadn’t been injured in the accident that her mother wouldn’t have walked out on the family. Her hostility causes her eight year old son, Simon, to resent him as well.

As time passes, Holly learns there’s more to Luke and the accident than she had always believed. She also realizes that she needs to forgive Luke and move on from the past.

Luke, having survived an abusive childhood, doesn’t forgive himself for the accident. He also doesn’t forgive himself for an explosion at his last job which left a co-worker dead. He feels like he doesn’t deserve to be loved and is willing to accept that Holly might not be able to forgive him, especially since he can’t forgive himself.

That was something Luke had given up hopes up years ago. Family, people to care about–people to care about him? It wasn’t in the cards for him. Not with the baggage he carried. Not with the risks he brought. Surely even Jake at his most optimistic had to see that.
Men like Luke didn’t get happily-ever-after. They got empty homes, empty bottles, and empty reminders they were–and always would be–on their own.

When Luke meets Kyle, he recognizes the signs of the same abuse he had suffered as a child. He does his best to let Kyle know he’s there for him without crowding him and making him feel smothered. He even starts a tab at Holly’s restaurant so Kyle could go eat anytime he wanted to escape his home, which endears him even more to Holly.

Simon was a handful. At only eight, he was a computer genius. Hating Luke because his mother did, Simon managed to download a virus to all the computers in the Sheriff’s office, as well as causing a power failure there and ruining three coffee machines. Luke figured out pretty quickly that he was the culprit. Instead of turning him in to Holly, he tricks Simon into doing what was right and fixing things. He also gives Simon an honorary title of deputy, which leads Simon into more trouble when he decides he’s going to go off to investigate Kyle.

The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor by Anna J. Stewart is well-written and filled with likeable characters. There are plenty of laughable moments, but it also tackles serious topics such as alcoholism and child abuse. These aren’t easy things to cover, but Anna handles them well. This was my first time reading anything by this author, but it won’t be my last.

Book Info:

Publication: December 1, 2015 | Harlequin Heartwarming |

Two things keep Holly Campbell grounded: her precocious son and preserving her forty-year-old family diner in the face of expansion and change. She doesn’t need a blast from the past like Luke Saxon, who’s back in Butterfly Harbor after more than a decade away. The hard-luck kid who nearly destroyed her family, leaving her to pick up the pieces, is taking over as sheriff. She can’t trust him, even if Luke’s ideas for the town’s upcoming anniversary seem to show he’s trying to give back to their community. Has Butterfly Harbor found its unlikely savior? And has the widowed single mother finally found a man she can believe in, rely on…and love?