Devon Paige has made a grave misstep: She was caught mid-kiss with Bentley Preston, husband of her employer Julianna. Devon has worked hard to build up her clientele as a personal chef in Boston, but Julianna Preston is quick to get the word out, and soon Devon is fired from all her contracts but one. At loose ends, she accepts a job offer as dining services director at the Rockwood boarding school in New Hampshire, desperate to get away from all the attention. When Devon arrives in New Hampshire, there is a surprise waiting for her: a blast from the past in the form of history and government teacher (and soccer coach) Kyle Holling. Back in 2007, Devon spent one romantic night with Kyle, then never saw him again. Kyle is now divorced and available, and their attraction has not gone away. Bouchard’s romance trundles along at a good speed. In the course of the story, the author touches on questions of whether there is ever room for second chances in romance and what to do when life throws you a curveball. Devon is entirely relatable in the position in which she has found herself, if not necessarily for how she got there. While her chemistry with a paramedic called Heath seems anything but natural—it’s a placeholder romance from the start—her big-sisterly relationship with basketball player David Anders, who remains her only client after her initial indiscretion, is a welcome side plot that shows the caring nature of her character. The glimpse into the world of boarding-school gossip is also fun (Devon observes, “Apparently, I had fled one scandal-ridden situation for another one”), avoiding predictable tropes about going from the big city to a small town. Bouchard does not settle for a one-dimensional story, and the romance fares better because of it.
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English (US) ·