Escaping Into Books: Riveted

Title: Riveted

Series: Saints of Denver Book 3

Publication date: February 14, 2017

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the next installment in the Saints of Denver series.

Everyone else in Dixie Carmichael's life has made falling in love look easy, and now she is ready for her own chance at some of that happily ever after. Which means she’s done pining for the moody, silent former soldier who works with her at the bar that's become her home away from home. Nope. No more chasing the hot as heck thundercloud of a man and no more waiting for Mr. Right to find her; she's going hunting for him...even if she knows her heart is stuck on its stupid infatuation with Dash Churchill.

Denver has always been just a pit stop for Church on his way back to rural Mississippi. It was supposed to be simple, uneventful, but nothing could have prepared him for the bubbly, bouncy redhead with doe eyes and endless curves. Now he knows it's time to get out of Denver, fast. For a man used to living in the shadows, the idea of spending his days in the sun is nothing short of terrifying.

When Dixie and Church find themselves caught up in a homecoming overshadowed with lies and danger, Dixie realizes that while falling in love is easy, loving takes a whole lot more work…especially when Mr. Right thinks he's all wrong for you.

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I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but holy wow Jay Crownover is one amazing author. She has a unique ability to take a simple storyline and turn it into something spectacular. She somehow subtly entwines real life issues into her stories and I am in love with how she does that.

Riveted follows Dixie Carmichael as she tries to find her forever person. She's sure that the one she's supposed to be with is the big and brooding Church, but he doesn't seem to want her back. Not one to chase after a man, she gives up and enters the crazy, and sometimes too ridiculous to believe, dating game.

But Church needs her help with his long overdue family reunion and Dixie can't deny him. The two head to Church's hometown of Lowry Mississippi where Church hasn't stepped foot for over a decade. He prepared himself for all the obstacles he thought he would face back in his hometown, but what he didn't prepare himself for were the feelings Dixie invokes in him.

Church is a character that has really intrigued me in the past because of his quiet intensity. I'm a sucker for a Hero like him and he was exactly what I wanted him to be. He kept his issues bottled up and wouldn't let people in until Dixie came around and forced him to face his past. I found them perfect together because she had the ability to make him smile when nothing else could.

Dixie was a very interesting character to read about. She wasn't overly happy to where it got annoying but it was easy to always be smiling because of her. I have no clue how Jay pulled off writing the complexity of her character because I can barely even describe her while also making sense. She was happy and cheerful so much of the time but there was also the underlying emotions of her wanting someone to be there for her. I really liked that she had so much going on and it made her very intriguing.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book and this author if you haven't read her before. Riveted can easily be read as a standalone but I hope you'll read the other books in the series since they're just as good. And fans of the Saints of Denver series will be very happy to know (if you didn't already) that Poppy's story will be next!

ARC won in giveaway and kindly provided by author.

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