Review: Precious Embrace – Dana Mason

A second divorce and a new baby wasn’t the vision Alison Hayes had for her future. Now a single mother with two young boys, she wants to focus on her kids and what’s left of her stagnate career.

When Detective Johnny Rhay Bennett breezes into her life with his country-boy accent, she wants to run. She doesn’t need another man in her life, or another reason to make people talk. But when her worst nightmare becomes a reality, Johnny is the only person who can pull Ali out of her despair, forcing her to stay strong and not give up hope of finding her missing child.

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Who falls in love after a one-night stand? Johnny Rhay doesn’t believe it’s possible until it happens to him. With Nashville in his rear-view mirror, he’s determined to convince Alison she loves him too, even if it means moving to the West Coast.

Ali’s not easy, and she’s living on just this side of bitter after her divorce, but Johnny doesn’t care. He’s up for the challenge. At least, he believes he’s up for it until baby Micah is stolen right out from under his nose. Now Johnny has to keep it together and get that sweet little boy home safe before his dreams of having a family vanish too.

Series: Embrace #2
Release Date: July 11th 2013
Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing
Source: AToMR Tours
Reviewer: Shannon
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

3.5 Cocktails

This is a kind of love at first sight romance with a twist, if you consider half of the one night stand moving across country to the others small town a twist.  But it worked and honestly, you couldn’t help but fall for Johnny Rhay.

Johnny and Alison met at a location wedding and had a one night stand.  For most, that’s the end of the story.  But for Johnny and Alison, it was just the beginning.  Johnny picks up and move across the country to the town where Alison lives.  She may have been stunned to find the hot ass man she slept with at her doorstep, but Johnny happened to be exactly what Alison needed at a time when her life was in utter chaos.

Alison was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she was divorced, again, with a young son and a baby.  But she was determined to do everything on her own, to prove to herself and whoever else that she could.  But when Johnny shows up he manages to show Alison that it’s ok to have someone to lean on.  And lean on him she does, when a parents worst fear happens and her baby is kidnapped.  Without Johnny pushing her and supporting her, I don’t think she would have been of use to anyone.

It was hard not to fall for Johnny.  He had that southern charm that could melt anyone within a 10 block radius, while still being an alpha male set on protecting what was his.  For Johnny that was Alison and her sons.  It took a bit for Johnny to get Alison to understand that despite how they met, she was what he wanted and the reason he was in California.  Johnny shouldered a lot, feeling responsible for all sorts of things that weren’t his, but his heart was in the right place and made you want Johnny to be on your side.

I enjoyed the kidnapping storyline.  Even though I had figured out who was behind it pretty quickly, it was still fun to follow along and sometimes second guess what I thought as the story unfolded.  As with other Embrace series books, it was hard to put this one down until I got to the last page.  Dana Mason does a great job of weaving a suspenseful storyline into the romance of the main couple, daring the reader to put the book down.