BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: LEAVE THE NIGHT ON by LAURA TRENTHAM

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge--

life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

LEAVE THE NIGHT ON

Cottonbloom #4

Laura Trentham

Releasing Aug 1, 2017

St. Martin's Press

In Leave the Night On (Cottonbloom #4) by Laura Trentham, discovering she's been made a fool of by her best friend, Sutton Mize is determined to prove she's not heartbroken by what she's found in her fiancé's classic Camaro. Involving Wyatt Abbott in her plans is a rash decision, but what other choice does she have. However, the more time she spends with Wyatt, the more she finds herself falling for a man she never expected to fall for. Will Wyatt and Sutton get their happy ever after, or will the fact that they're too different keep them apart?

This is a wonderful and astonishing start to a new trilogy for Ms. Trentham's Cottonbloom series, which encompasses three blue-collar brothers that need love in their lives. The way this story started had me empathizing with the heroine, as her life is turned upside down because of the betrayal of those she thought she could trust. However, it was from the moment that the heroine takes matters into her own hands to save face where this story really comes alive, because the hero harbored a crush on Sutton when he was younger and is determined to help Sutton after being witness to what she discovered.

As for the dialogue, it was well-written, very engaging and I loved the way it illustrates the fact that Sutton and Wyatt are complete opposites, but reveals the incredible chemistry this couple had really well, which eventually spills over onto the pages in hot sex scenes. Furthermore, the dialogue was a wonderful combination of intense moments due to the main characters back stories and playful banter that I loved, because it shows what a good guy Wyatt is. He's charming, doesn't care what people think, and I liked how determined he was to show the heroine how to have fun. While the heroine, she's always been the good girl; the one to always please people and I liked how she stuck to her guns in not giving those that betrayed her a second chance. Did they honestly think that she'd be able to forgive so easily? I also liked that she did something she wouldn't normally do when it came to her and Wyatt. Will everyone believe their relationship is what Sutton says it is or will everyone see through her lie?

Overall, Ms. Trentham has delivered a marvellous read in this book, which entertained me from start to finish due to the delightful main characters that overcome some tough obstacles. Including the fact that this pair come from different worlds; an ex that is determined to win the heroine back; and a brother that is determined to do everything in his power to ruin the already fragile relationship he has with the rest of his siblings. The way this story ended had me cheering for this couple's happy ever after, because if it wasn't for what one of the secondary characters does, then would this couple have found their way back to each other? However, it was the words Sutton says to Wyatt that left me with a huge smile. No way would Sutton have been happy with anyone else.

Yet, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up perfectly, as Sutton knows just the right present to get the hero and I loved what Wyatt gave the heroine in return. No way wasn't Wyatt going to let Sutton know how important she was to him and how much he wants her in his life. I would recommend Leave the Night On by Laura Trentham, if you enjoy the opposites attract trope, the fake relationship trope or books by authors Marina Adair, Catherine Bybee, Marie Harte and Brenda Novak.

BLURB

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge--life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

Sutton Mize is known for lavishing attention on the customers who flock to her boutique on the wealthy side of her Mississippi town. So when she finds a lace thong in her fiance's classic cherry-red Camaro, she knows just who she sold it to: her own best friend. In an instant, Sutton's whole world goes up in flames...

Wyatt Abbott has harbored a crush on Sutton since he was a young kid from the other side of the tracks. He witnessed Sutton's shocking discovery in the Camaro at his family-owned garage--and it made him angry. What kind of man could take lovely, gorgeous Sutton for granted? But then Sutton comes up with an idea: Why not give her betrothed a taste of his own medicine and pretend that she's got a lover of her own? Wyatt is more than happy to play the hot-and-heavy boyfriend. But what begins as a fictional affair soon develops into something more real, and more passionate, than either Sutton or Wyatt could have imagined. Could it be that true love has been waiting under the hood all along? 

“Can I ask you a question? Something serious?” Sutton asked.

“Alright,” Wyatt said cautiously.

“Do you find me doable?”

His hand jerked on the steering wheel and sent the car skidding on the shoulder before he righted it. “Do I what?”

“Find me doable? Because that no-necked bouncer and those two brothers did.”

He choked on a gulp of air. What was happening? Had he crossed the river into the Twilight Zone instead of into Mississippi?

Her voice was as bland and conversational as if discussing commodity cotton prices. “Because I find you doable. Very, very, very, very doable.”

Her string of “verys” slurred together. She was drunk, which meant her thinking was impaired. Or . . . he glanced at her. Maybe, just maybe, the whiskey had stripped away her social niceties like turpentine to peeling paint, and she was being honest.

The woman had been put through the wringer by her best friend and her fiancé. Despite her wishes otherwise, she was nice. And sweet. And cute. And unbearably sexy in a way she didn’t even understand. Not yet anyway.

No way could he let this opportunity to be with her in whatever way possible slip through his fingers. While the ramifications went on repeat in his head, she slipped out of the car and headed to her door.

He rolled down his window and shimmed half-way out to see her over the top. “Hey, Sutton!”

She turned with only a slight wobble, jutted a hip, and set her hand on it. “What?”

“For the record, I find you extremely doable.”

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. The first two books of her Falcon Football series were named Top Picks by RT Book Reviews magazine. Then He Kissed Me, a Cottonbloom novel, was named as one of Amazon’s best romances of 2016. 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 large as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

LEAVE THE NIGHT ON is the start of a new Cottonbloom trilogy about three blue collar brothers. The dynamic between the brothers is as important to the story as the romance is. Plus, I love writing about male friendships/brotherhood.

1.   Here’s a scene between Wyatt and Jackson, fraternal twin brothers discussing the heroine, Sutton.

Jackson grabbed Wyatt’s arm and forced him around. “You like her.”

“Everyone likes her. She’s nice.”

“I mean, you like like her. You have since we were kids—I’ve not forgotten how you walked around with cow eyes around her—and that kiss out front wasn’t pretend. You two nearly melted the asphalt.”

Jackson’s twin powers had veered sharply annoying. “I maybe, sort of like her. What’s wrong with that? She’s single; I’m single.”

“She’s been single for less than a week. She’s using you.”

“I’m using her too. In return for me squiring her around, she’s going to get her judge daddy to talk up the garage at the country club. Send some more projects our way to make up for the Camaro.”

“That kiss was all a selfless act for the garage?” Jackson’s sarcasm was not appreciated.

Wyatt had to look away from his brother’s gaze which prompted a muttered curse from Jackson.

“Do not fall for this woman, Wyatt. Whether she means to or not, she’s going to rip your heart into little pieces and feed it to the gators before she goes back to her old life.”

“We’re not getting serious. In fact, we agreed that after I take her to the gala, it’s over.”

Jackson didn’t look pleased with the news. He looked worried. “As long as you don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s anything more than that. She’ll be back with Tarwater or someone like him by Christmas.”

Because the thought had already burrowed into his chest, Wyatt’s reaction was knee-jerk and defensive. “Someone like him?”

“You know, sophisticated. Worldly. Rich. Well-connected. Well-groomed.”

“Fuck you,” Wyatt shot back, but there was little heat to it. Jackson was right. “I’ve been told I clean up real nice.”

Jackson’s smile revealed his dimples. A rare sight since their pop had died last year. “Doesn’t count if it’s from a female relative over the age of sixty.”

2.   Here’s a scene of Sutton, the heroine, giving in to her wild side, just a little…

A kiss right here, right now would be on the edge of wild and reckless. Hadn’t Sutton lamented the fact she was too nice and normal and . . . beige. Yep, that’s what she was. Or even worse, maybe taupe.

Wyatt was all color. His energy, his laughter, his impetuousness. She craved color in her life. In an attempt to muffle her inner monologue, she relaxed against him and ran her hands up his chest to link around his neck, his hair tickling her fingers.

She was attracted to him. She’d recognized the pull that morning even as she’d denied and squashed the urge. Now she gave herself over to the feeling, fisting her hands in the soft strands and fitting her body close.

Without letting sensibility overrule her burst of recklessness, she popped up on her toes and mashed her lips to his, cursing her lack of finesse. Before embarrassment seized hold, he took control, easing the pressure enough so he could take her bottom lip between his teeth and run his tongue along it. She gasped, her nerve endings firing like she’d stuck her finger in a socket.

3.   In one of the most fun scenes in the book to write (and hopefully read), Sutton has a little bit too much to drink out at a bar with Wyatt…

Wyatt didn’t use alcohol to manipulate a woman home with him. Didn’t need to.

“Have you ever been drunk before?” he asked.

Sutton shook her head. “Uh-uh. I lived at home during college, and I was a good girl.”

“Good girls can get drunk, you know.”

“Not according to Mother. And heaven help me if I went home with a guy from a bar.” Her eyes were wide, and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth.

The woman was entirely too concerned with what everyone else thought. What would happen if the natural sexiness lurking behind the puritanical philosophy her mother had hammered into her was unleashed on the male species?

“Lightning wouldn’t strike you down.” He ran his hands down her arms and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “Good girls can have sex too. And enjoy it.”

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