Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Come As You Are by Jess K. Hardy [Review]

Come As You Are (Bluebird Basin #1) by Jess K. Hardy
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: January 27, 2023

Bluebird Basin
1. Come As You Are - Paperback | Kindle
2. Lips Like Sugar

Jess K. Hardy
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):
He’ll win her heart one mixtape at a time.

Ashley Cooke will do just about anything to save her struggling ski hill. When she hires the men from a local sober living home for the season to cut costs, even she thinks she’s gone too far. With her credit cards maxed, her cheating ex-husband intent on buying the mountain out from under her, and record-breaking snow in the forecast, she can’t afford to be distracted by the six-foot-tall bearded and tattooed sober living home owner moving onto her mountain.

Recovering addict and ex-grunge rocker Matthew Madigan has devoted every minute of the last decade to the men residing at his sober living home. When he meets tightly wound and adorably flustered Ashley, desires he’s put on the back burner for years start to simmer. Immune to his infamous albeit rusty charm, Ashley presents a challenge he can’t resist. When she offers to give him skiing lessons in exchange for his help training her St. Bernard rescue dog, he jumps at the chance to ride next to her on the chairlift despite his debilitating fear of heights.

During bunny hill shenanigans, chairlift confessions, and steamy cabin serenades, Madigan teaches Ashley that a person’s past doesn’t define them, and Ashley shows Madigan that the men he helps aren’t the only people who deserve a second chance. When sabotage threatens both the men and the mountain, Ashley and Madigan will have to decide if they’re only having a winter fling, or if the mountain isn’t the only thing worth fighting for.
Thoughts on Come As You Are: Oh, MAN. A lady who's running herself ragged trying to keep her beloved mountain from being bought out from beneath her and the guy who unwittingly gives her a chance to succeed while helping the men who rely on him. Ashley and Madigan. YES!

She's struggling with grief and the crushing burden of watching her livelihood slowly wither since it's unable to match the glitz and glamour of the nearby corporate ski resort. Ashely's wound too tight, attempting to deal with everything herself, and genuinely can't see a way to save her mountain from being gobbled up by a soulless corporation. Not that it stops her from trying, but she knows she needs a miracle to stay afloat.

Her miracle comes in the form of Matthew Madigan and the men staying at his sober living house. Not that Ashley realizes it at first. But Madigan charms his way under her skin and into her heart and his ideas help her immensely. On the other end, Ashley's sweetness (despite her ofttimes prickly exterior) digs deep under Madigan's skin. With a little help from the men he's mentoring (and his very wise father), he starts addressing issues he's pushed aside and hadn't dealt with and THINGS HAPPEN. Glorious, naked things.

An awful betrayal, found family, quiet moments, sexy moments, and difficult to deal with moments plus a whole lot of smolder. Ashley and Mad (plus the various people around them) were fantastic as they pushed and pulled and dug into their issues to get where they needed to be. GOOD STUFF.

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