A Season of You (Cloud Bay, #2) by Emma Douglas
Published by St. Martin’s Press on October 3rd 2017
Pages: 304
Goodreads
It’s Christmastime in the quaint island town of Cloud Bay, where love is always in season… Will Fraser has believed in love at first sight since the day he first laid eyes on Mina Harper five years ago. There was only one problem: She was happily married. Then, when Mina’s husband was killed by a drunk driver, Will figured she’d want nothing to do with a guy who owns a whiskey distillery. So he’s kept his feelings locked away, knowing that not even a Christmas miracle would be enough to melt Mina’s heart. . . Mina believes her days of true love are behind her. Since losing her husband she’s kept to herself, content to do her own painting and stay out of the limelight that comes with her famous family. But when, after a freak accident, Will comes to her rescue, Mina can’t quite get him out of her mind. As curiosity turns into a fling during Cloud Bay’s first Christmas Festival, she finds it harder to convince herself that her feelings for Will are just mistletoe-inspired. Could Mina be ready to lay the past to rest and finally admit that what she really wants for Christmas–and forever–is Will?
You might remember that earlier this year, I reported on a book called Need You Now by Emma Douglas. (See review HERE.) I had never heard of Emma Douglas, but because St. Martin’s Press was kind enough to include me on their blog tour for the book, I had the opportunity to learn more about it. Need You Now was book #1 in the Cloud Bay series, and now Ms. Douglas has book #2, a Cloud Bay Christmas Novel called A Season of You.
Lucky for me, St. Martin’s also included me in on the release of this second book, so now I can share it with you. While you can read A Season of You as a standalone, since I already knew the background, I’m betting it would be a better read all the way around if you would read them in order. Just my opinion.
Need You Now took place in the summer, but this book takes place during the winter — or whatever winter is experienced by a small island off the coast of California. I loved the “christmassy” atmosphere in Cloud Bay in this second book.
I will admit that after reading the first book in this series, I was really curious to see what was in store for Mina’s future. She’s the youngest daughter of the deceased rock legend, Grey Harper, of the band, Blacklight. Mina volunteers full time with the local search and rescue team, but would love to be recognized as an artist on her own merit, and not being known only as the daughter of someone famous. She paints and sketches secretly. Mina married her high school sweetheart at 18 and was widowed two years later as the result of a drunk driver. For the last three years, Mina has been lost in her grief.
… And then there is Will Fraser. He moved to the small island with his brother to start a whiskey distillery and they own and operate the local bar. He’s basically a nice guy who wants to settle down and have a family. He has crushed on Mina since he first saw her five years ago.
Will finds Mina unconscious and in the middle of a little traveled road. He rushes her to the local hospital where they learn Mina has a concussion. Her family is out of town, so Will offers to stay overnight and keep an eye on her while she recuperates from her concussion. After that night, he finds reasons to run into Mina, but because of her husband’s death, she doesn’t want to be involved with anyone who runs a bar or makes whiskey for a living. She’s even upset at herself when she realizes she’s attracted to him. She suggests a “limited time” affair with Will, and he’s so into her, that he agrees.
Mina and Will get their chance to have some fun and see where things go for them during the holiday season on the island. Of course, I would have loved a “happily ever after” story, but that’s just not how life is, so I appreciated the development of Will and Mina’s romance in A Season Of You. The story and the world of the Cloud Bay series is great and the smooth and “easy to read” writing makes them quick reads and not too heavy. It looks like Faith and Mina’s brother, Zach, has his own story up next, so I’m pretty excited to see how that plays out in the next book, No Place Like You, which comes out December 5, 2017!
Emma Douglas would love to live in a world where professional napping was a thing. But until then, she thinks writing books is a pretty awesome alternative. When not writing about imaginary people, she can be found reading, doing something crafty, binge-watching TV, playing her latest song crush on repeat, or singing badly in her car.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia in a tiny house stuffed full of books, too many craft supplies and two cats who take up more space than you would expect.
Find out more about Emma at www.emmadouglasbooks.com.
If you want to pick up a copy of this book for yourself, you can find it here:
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley in exchange for my participation in this post! I would like to thank St Martin’s Press for allowing me the opportunity to participate, read and review this book. My views are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone else!
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