Cottonbloom. A beautiful, faraway place where a woman can escape her past—and find reason to stay forever in Laura Trentham’s When the Stars Come Out. . .
Willa Brown never planned to stay in Cottonbloom. She was on the way to somewhere else when she landed there and found work at the Abbott brothers’ garage. . .and a sense of comfort and safety that she had never known. The same holds true for Jackson Abbott himself. With one glance in her direction, he can make Willa’s heart melt. But what begins as an unrequited crush turns into something far more powerful than Willa could have ever imagined. . .
Jackson’s most meaningful relationship has always been with his car—and he’s not afraid to admit it. Still, he can’t help but become emotionally entangled with his new star mechanic Willa, who is definitely hiding some dark secrets of her own beneath the hood. Jackson desperately wants Willa to trust him, and to seek protection in his arms. But even as the two slowly surrender to their shared attraction, the danger lurking in Willa’s past remains a stubborn obstacle. Can she open up enough to give them both a chance at having real and lasting love?
*EXCERPT*
Willa glanced down and back up at Jackson through her lashes. The gentle, flirtatious look hit him like a punch. This time his heart kicked like he might require someone to call 911. “Do I clean up good?”
He knew what she wanted to hear and later, in the dark solitude of his bed, he’d tell her and, even better, show her. But, for now, he tempered his response, hoping to get a rise out of her. “Not bad.”
She stepped forward and punched his arm. It might have stung if she hadn’t tipped to the side as her fist made contact. Her eyes popped wide and a little huff escaped. With reaction times honed on the racetrack, he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her flush with his body.
“You sure you know how to operate those shoes?” This time he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
“They don’t require a license. And I was doing fine until you showed up.”
Her admission made him feel slightly better. He wasn’t the only one who was off balance. Her body notched into his perfectly with the added inches the heels lent her. His focus dropped from her sparking eyes to her mouth. Maybe he’d kiss the gloss off them right now. His lips hovered an inch from hers. So close he could feel the ramp-up of her breathing. Or was that his breathing spinning out of control?
About the Author
An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.
She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book, was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR.
When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.
Review of When the Stars Come Out
Review (5 Stars): When the Stars Come Out was a beautifully written romance about two people willing to take a chance on love. Willa Brown was a mystery to Jackson Abbott because even though she had worked at his family’s garage for two years, he barely knows anything about her. That doesn’t change his feelings for her or that he knows she is hiding something from her past. Now, Willa must decide to give this relationship a chance or run away from the only place that has felt like home.
I loved Willa and Jackson’s story because these two characters needed to be together. Willa needed to find a place to call home and for her, Cottonbloom had everything that she ever wanted. I enjoyed seeing their relationship grow over the course of the book as Willa was slowly able to let Jackson into her life and into heart. She spent too much time running from her past and I loved that Jackson would be by her side no matter what. Such a sweet story.
This is the fifth book in the Cottonbloom series and I love each of Ms. Trentham’s books. This book can definitely be a stand alone but you will see characters from previous books making an appearance in this one. Ms. Trentham is one of my favorite writers because she is always able to write beautiful romances that will pull at your heart-strings and will keep readers coming back for more. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and I can’t wait to see what happens next for the residents of Cottonbloom.
