ALL THEY EVER WANTED - Tracy Solheim
Second Chances , Book 2
Berkley
ISBN 978-0-425-28103-1
March 2016
Contemporary Romance

Chances Inlet, North Carolina - Present Day

At a young age, Miles McAlister made a life plan that would one day lead to the White House, and he's about to take a major step down that road when his life suddenly starts going off the rails.  His father had done some creative accounting with their construction company and died before fixing it.  Though it wasn't exactly illegal, it doesn't paint Donald McAlister in the best light, and now a vicious reporter is using his father's mistake to try to smear Miles's reputation as he campaigns for a seat in the House of Representatives.  Between the campaign issues and his mother's recent accident, you would think that Miles has enough to deal with.  Unfortunately, his biggest concern is the overwhelming attraction he feels toward the mysterious woman who's been helping at his mother's Bed and Breakfast.

Lori knows that it's time to move on from Chances Inlet, but with Patricia McAlister laid up, she can't leave the B&B in the lurch.  With the disastrous turn her life has taken, Lori has no intention of sticking around anywhere for long, not even a town known for second chances.  She's come to care for the McAlister family too much to stay and risk having her past catch up to her, and with the way her body responds to squeaky-clean Miles, Lori knows that time is running out before she makes a mistake.

Ambition and secrets are not uncommon during a political campaign, and in ALL THEY EVER WANTED, that's exactly what readers get.  Miles has worked hard to get to where he is…about to step into the national political arena.  While he is definitely ambitious, he's also honest and somewhat idealistic.  He believes his campaign should be run only on the issues, and isn't willing to resort to any underhanded tactics.  Which makes the smear campaign against him annoying to say the least.  Lori on the other hand, is nothing but secrets.  She's been at the B&B for almost seven months, and nobody knows anything about her beyond her skills in the kitchen.  Miles has had this inconvenient attraction to Lori since the first time he saw her, but after his mother's accident, he started helping out at the B&B.  Now that he's spending time with Lori, the attraction is becoming impossible to ignore.  It's not too long before they give in, with the intention of keeping things strictly casual.  But will it stay that way?

The issues surrounding Miles's father are actually detailed a little more in the first book in the Second Chances series, BACK TO BEFORE.  However, enough is explained that it's not difficult to follow along if you haven't read it.  Readers will get a chance to see what's happening with other members of the McAlister family, as well as some characters from the Out of Bounds series.  Sizzling chemistry, likable characters, and a little bit of mystery, ALL THEY EVER WANTED is a winner.

Jennifer Bishop