COME HOME TO DEEP RIVER – Jackie Ashenden
Alaska Homecoming , Book 1
Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 978-1728216867
July 28, 2020
Contemporary Romance

Deep River, Alaska – Present Day

Silas Quinn had been raised in Deep River, but he left as soon as he became an adult, vowing to never return. However, when his close friend, Caleb West, who owned the town, died unexpectedly, it's left to Silas, as well as breaking the news to the town's inhabitants about a previously unknown oil reserve that sits beneath the town. He doesn't want to “own” a town and comes up with an idea on how to help him divest without uprooting the people who live there. Silas arrives in Deep River and goes in search of the one person who can help him with his plans: Hope Dawson.

Hope and Silas were once friends, but after he left town, she felt abandoned, especially since she was secretly attracted to him. Hope is managing the bar that was left to her mother, Angela, by her grandfather. Hope would have left town years ago, but felt compelled to remain to assist her mother, who has mental problems. When Silas walks into the bar, she is stunned to see him and also resentful. Why is he back? After he explains about the will and the oil, Hope is told by Silas that he wants her to run the town. She isn't sure she can, especially if selling the lease on the bar would give her and her mother enough money to finally leave town.

The long-ago friendship between Silas and Hope soon turns into a mutual attraction. He only plans to be in town a week at most, so a quick fling is all that he can offer her. Hope is not only conflicted about her feelings for Silas, namely why he left town all those years ago, but also whether she wants to help him now. Meanwhile, Silas and Hope must let the townspeople know what is going on, which soon turns into a sudden need when a mystery man starts calling folks in town about selling their businesses to him. Silas has kept the news about the oil reserves secret, but does someone know and is trying to gain an upper hand? If the oil is tapped, then it affects the town's future to survive.

Hope is reluctant at first to have sex with Silas. She isn't the jump into bed type, plus she is aware that he will be leaving soon. His arrival and news about the town has left her shocked and unsure of what to do. But it is her that he has turned to, so she feels she has to listen to him and help however she can. Deep River's remoteness along Alaska's southern coast has left the economy stagnant. Silas has some ideas to help them draw in the tourists, but it is dependent on them not touching the oil beneath the town. Meanwhile, the attraction between Silas and Hope grows hotter, until they can no longer keep their hands off each other. At the end of the week, will he walk away and leave her—a second time?

COME HOME TO DEEP RIVER is Jackie Ashenden's first book in her Alaska Homecoming series. The sensual and emotional tale will pull readers into the drama between Hope and Silas, as well as wondering what will happen with the town. If you love a sexy and poignant romance about friends reuniting and becoming lovers, then don't miss COME HOME TO DEEP RIVER.

Patti Fischer