Blog Tour: Second Chance Charmer: Brighton Walsh

by - Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Second Chance Charmer 
Brighton Walsh 
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Publication Date: March 19, 2018
Willow Haven’s content. Okay, that’s a lie, but she has tried her damndest. Trouble is, it never sticks. Second oldest in a family her town was named after, she’s always felt the pressure. From the townspeople, from her sisters, but most of all from her daddy—the original Good Old Boy and Havenbrook’s reigning mayor. The only time she didn’t feel that stress had been those blissful months spent in the arms of the resident bad boy. The same one who broke her heart beyond repair when he left without a word.

Life hasn’t come easy for Finn Thomas. He’s had to claw and fight for everything he’s ever had—and truth be told, it hasn’t been much. He spent the first eighteen years of his life living so far from the wrong side of the tracks, he couldn’t even see them through his trailer window. The only thing that ever came easy for him and made his sorry ass happy was the one girl he loved with all his heart. And the one thing he had no choice but to leave behind.

When an opportunity arises to return to his tiny, southern hometown and open the first bar in a formerly dry county, he jumps at the chance. That won’t win him points with the mayor, who’s hell bent on making Finn’s life a nightmare for sullying his namesake. Too bad for Mayor Haven, Finn’s got his sights set on more than just the town, and this time he won’t be scared off quite so easily.
Willow Haven is doing her best to be perfect and keep her life in order and routine. But she will never be good enough for her Daddy the Mayor no matter how much she does for him or the town. And she was not good enough to keep the one man who stole her heart years ago and left town with it. And that changed the course of her life.

Finn Thomas, the previous bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks that broke her heart and left her is now back in town. He and his brother and friend are bringing a bar to the previous dry town with the added benefit for making the Mayor mad and getting to check in with the girl he left behind. 

He was not expecting a friendly reception and he was probably lucky to make it out of her office in one piece, but now he has decided to extend his stay for a bit to get the bar running.  Willow cannot hide from him forever. But is their hometown big enough for the both of them?

The spark may not have fizzled between them, but the hurt and anger are still there. She's determined not to let him get close. But Finn is also one persistent man. And though Willow is strong and feisty in some ways, she has also been beat down by life in others. Neither can deny the crazy chemistry that crackles around them, so maybe letting go and taking a bit of pleasure temporarily might not be such a bad thing. If she can just keep her heart out of it.

They've got reasons to sneak around and avoid prying eyes. They still have secrets and old wounds from the past hanging over their heads. And Finn is only supposed to be in town temporarily. There are definite risks and it is hard to trust. So it is a recipe for one big mess of confused emotions.

I loved Finn. He really was a charmer. And I enjoyed his close bond with his twin, Drew. Willow was a bit harder to warm up to, but she had a lot of reasons to be a bit prickly. Her relationships with her sisters and family were complex and dynamic adding to the depth of the story.

This was an engaging, sexy, funny. second-chance, small town love story with just a bit of angst. I enjoyed the scene building of Havenbrooke, Mississippi and all of the quirky family and townspeople. I am interested in more stories especially with her sisters Rory, Mackenna, and Nat, his twin, Drew, and perhaps their friends, Nash, Nola, and Ty. There are plenty of interesting people in town.

I was gifted a copy.
Willow Haven has dedicated her career to the hometown that carries her family name. Working for her father, the mayor, isn’t easy: her accomplishments are overlooked and belittled while more and more work is piled onto her plate. She feels the pressure to succeed everywhere, but feels like it doesn’t matter how hard she works, she will never measure up to expectations.

Finn Thomas has a reputation for trouble that was earned during his wild teenage years. He has plans to remodel a prominent building into a new bar, but doesn’t plan to stay long. When he finds out the girl he left behind all those years is still in town, he fights a pull towards her that he has always felt. It doesn’t hurt that by sticking around he is also continuing to poke at the mayor, who has never been his biggest fan.

Willow is a determined, strong willed character who is constantly belittled, causing her to keep everything locked inside. She hasn’t felt free since her heart was broken when her first love left town without a word. Now that he’s back, she must battle her heart as well as town expectations in order to decide what is best for her, because she still has feelings for him even if they are buried under a layer of hurt and anger.

The title fits him to a T. He always was a charmer, but has a lot to prove when it comes to shaking off his reputation and the hurt he left behind when he moved away.

I loved watching as they rebuilt their relationship and faced the hurt and anger that had simmered for years during his absence. As they kept things secret between them, they may have addressed some of the baggage they carried, but the secrets kept them from facing some of the biggest obstacles they needed to tackle.

This was a fun, small town, second chance story. The history between them and the small town atmosphere kept their past close to the surface as expectations are heavy and memories are long in small town minds.

I was gifted a copy.
Without any conscious thought, Willow’s fingers started tracing the lines of ink on Finn’s skin, and all she could do was watch. He was so solid and warm under her fingertips, his puffs of air growing faster and faster against her neck, then her cheek, then her lips. 
And even though it’d been a long time, she knew what was coming a split second before he pressed his mouth against hers. Her sound of protest was lost in the space between their mouths as he swiped his tongue against her lips. And then there was nothing but Finn and his sinful mouth and his body flush against hers. He swept his tongue inside her mouth, and Lord, had he always tasted this good? Had he always kissed this good? 
Never breaking away from her mouth, he walked them until Willow’s back was pressed against the wall, and then he just sort of…settled in. His hips held hers against the wall, the length of his erection pressing into her, proving this wasn’t at all one-sided as his hand continued its maddening path along her hip. But then—Lord, then he slipped his thumb under the waistband of her shorts until there was nothing between his rough fingertip and the part of her body forever marked as his. If it were possible, the soft caresses had her melting even further into him. 
He kissed her like he was a starving man feasting on his first meal in a month. She’d forgotten how he’d always put his whole body into it, the heat and solidness of him pressing against her, making her feel safe and secure. Finn groaned into her mouth as he deepened the kiss even more, and all she could do was clutch him, one hand fisting the front of his shirt and the other pressed against his side where her tree was eternally imprinted. 
“You feel so damn good,” Finn said against her lips. 
Willow murmured her agreement into his mouth because there was no denying it. Her body was on fire, her nipples hard points pressing against his chest, her skin lit up from the inside out. And then Finn’s thumb, rubbing maddeningly against her tattoo, slipped to the right until he was as close to the Promised Land as he’d been in a long time. He didn’t try to push it any further, just ran his thumb back and forth right above where she was wet and ready for him until she thought she’d die.

Brighton Walsh




Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with her first love: writing. When she’s not pounding away at the keyboard, she’s probably either reading or shopping—maybe even both at once. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children, and, yes, she considers forty degrees to be hoodie weather. Her home is the setting for frequent dance parties, Lego battles, and more laughter than she thought possible.




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