TILL I KISSED YOU by Laura Trentham
A Cottonbloom Novel , Book 3 of 3
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 978-1-250-07762-2
August 2016
Contemporary Romance

Cottonbloom, Louisiana and Mississippi

More than a river divides the town of Cottonbloom into two. The Louisiana side is no match in wealth or social status to the Mississippi side, yet they have their pride. The resentments dividing the two groups are of long standing.

Both sides are planning festivals to raise money for civic improvements. Then the Heart of Dixie magazine gets involved, and before they know it, their festivals are not only to be held on the same day, but they must vie with each other—and other towns—for a monetary prize.

Mayor Regan Lovell is from the Mississippi side, and Sawyer Fournette is Commissioner of Cottonbloom Parish (the Louisiana equivalent of a county). While once, in their youth, these two were girlfriend and boyfriend, now they are rivals with mistrust on both sides. Megan is sure it's Sawyer who is responsible for the vandalism on her side of the river. Is he? Or is there someone who doesn't want any festivals at all?

While the plotline of sabotage and the introduction—and reintroduction—of the towns people make for good reading, the conclusions of story lines from the first two books in the series (KISS ME THAT WAY and THEN HE KISSED ME) starring the other two orphaned Fournette children and their eventual mates add much to the whole. Still, it's the steamy on and off misunderstandings in the relationship between Megan and Sawyer that dominates. For neither one is completely over the feelings for the other. Readers who enjoy interesting people and lots of gentle sex will enjoy this well-written series.

Jane Bowers