Review: Good contemporary romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2013
This is the first story by this author I have read, and I found it to be well written and well edited. The main plot seemed to be character development and the relationships between the main characters, but there is a villain added in as well. The heroine, Payton, is a college senior who works as a bartender to supplement her partial scholarship. She is a very self contained person who has only two friends, she has no family, and the events of her traumatic past are slowly revealed throughout the story. Payton has many reasons for not trusting easily and not letting people close to her. She is both incredibly strong and tragically fragile emotionally.One night, Payton is accosted in the park between the bar and her apartment as she walks her usual route home from work. The man grabs her from behind, choking her and demanding her money. She blacks out from the lack of air and collapses at his feet. When she regains consciousness, a very good looking, nice guy is asking her if she's ok. He lives just down her street and his name is Garrett. He returns her to her friends at the bar and makes sure she's alright before he takes off.What Garrett omits from his account of events is that the person who assaulted Payton was his little brother, Jackson, who is struggling with a pain medication addiction. Jackson was the driver in the car accident that killed their parents and Garrett is his guardian for a few more months until he turns 18. Having Payton pass out made Jackson think he had killed her and the reason Garrett was there when she woke up is because Jackson frantically called him. It's the last straw for Garrett, though, and a wake up call for Jackson, who finally agrees that he needs rehab, entering the next morning.Garrett can't stop thinking about Payton. He stops by the bar to check on her. He knows he can't date her because of what Jackson did and what he didn't tell her, but something about her just calls to him. Payton is extremely cautious about letting people know her, but Garrett makes her feel safe. Slowly, carefully, they start to spend time together. At the first perceived negative reaction to something from her past, Payton goes right back into her shell. But Garrett just can't stay away; he shows up with soup and medicine when she's sick, they walk to class together, they go on dates, and when she's not ready for sex, he doesn't push it.The relationship between Payton and Garrett was very moving to watch develop. I'm glad the author resisted the urge to make Garrett too good to be true and gave him doubts and a temper. Almost as interesting was the connection between Payton and Jackson and her ability to help him and the strength she derived from that. I enjoyed this story and look forward to others by this author.Heat factor moderate.