Vanessa Jared, a 40-something divorcee, decided that the best way to pull herself out of their post-divorce slump was to form The Savvy, Sexy, Singles Club and start the “Do Me” portion of her and her friends’ lives.

But on the two year anniversary, a sexy sheriff shows up on Vanessa’s doorstep wanting her to help him keep his little sister from marrying her no-good ex. Vanessa is not down for this at all. She wants nothing to do with her ex…until she spots a photo of her ex’s new fiancee wearing her grandmother’s ring–which he clearly stole from her. So now it’s on. Vanessa is ready to take this trifling (fill-in-the-blank) down. What she does not expect is to fall in love along the way.

It’s time to make a change and who better than to help her than her friends Janae and Cree. The three of them comprise the Savvy, Sexy, Singles Club and it’s Vanessa’s turn to host their get together. As she’s locking up, a voice calls out to her using her married name, one she hasn’t used since her divorce two years ago. The Asian man approaching her is muscular and she should be uneasy but instead she feels more unnerved but not fearful. When he identifies himself as Michael Park, Sheriff of Monroe Hills in Pennsylvania, she immediately thinks of the friends she’s meeting, both of whom live there. However, that is not who he’s here to discuss, He wants to speak with her about her ex-husband Karl and on a personal level not a professional one.

It seems her ex-husband has convinced Michael’s sister, Cindy to marry him. She will ignore whatever Michael has to say thinking he’s just being overprotective. If Vanessa is there to prove Karl isn’t a widower and is scamming her, he has a chance to save Cindy a lot of pain and heartache. Vanessa doesn’t agree until she notices Cindy is wearing her grandmother’s ring. A ring that was awarded to her in the divorce.

That night Vanessa finally has the courage to admit to her two best friend the full extent of the abuse she was subjected to during her years with Karl. The telling of it and the support of her friends who would be close by firm her resolve to help Michael prevent this disastrous marriage.

Neither Vanessa nor Michael could foresee how the attraction between them would grow as the weather in the area causes a couple of things to happen. First Vanessa loses her reservation at the bed and breakfast then the weather would keep her there until Cindy could make it back to town.

I love the way this story unfolds. The romance and sizzle, the town, even the eventual confrontation is perfectly executed.

I look forward to reading more from this debut author.

5 Contented Purrs for LaQuette!

2021 Vivian Award finalist and DEIA activist in the romance industry, LaQuette writes bold stories featuring multicultural characters. She crafts dramatic, emotionally epic tales that are deeply pigmented by reality’s paintbrush.

This Brooklyn native’s novels are a unique mix of unapologetically sexy, stylish, & sensational characters who are confident in their right to appear on the page.
​
She is the 2016 Author of the Year Golden Apple Award winner & the 2016 Write Touch Readers Award winner. Writing—her escape from everyday madness— has always been a friend and source of comfort. At the age of sixteen, she read her first romance novel and realized the genre was missing something: people that looked and lived like her. As a result, her characters and settings are always designed to provide positive representations of people of color and various marginalized communities.

She loves hearing from readers and discussing the crazy characters that are running around in her head causing so much trouble.