I enjoyed reading, Forbidden Kisses. It's a cross between step brother, young love that went no where and spurned family romance. Jack and his family have a flaw, if someone wrongs them they don't forgive or forget easily. I thought this could be a problem for Grace if this had been real life, Lets say sometime in the future Grace or one of their children does something to upset him. How will he handle it? But since this is fiction, I just had to let it go. I guess I just got too caught up in the story and my mind went wild.
I loved and rooted for Grace throughout the whole book.
Forbidden Kisses set up the rest of the book for the series nicely.

good start to a new series, I liked this book

Although this is a labeled stepbrother romance, it really isn't as taboo as that might sound, so don't let that scare you off. This is an incredibly sweet story of two people who have carried a torch for each other since they were teenagers (and yes, they were step-siblings for a time), and finally find their way back to each other as grown ups. There aren't any cringe inducing moments from their childhood or anything that might be off-putting for people who are sensitive to those kinds of relationships. This is also a stand alone book with no cliffhanger.

In this second chance romance, the two main characters – Grace and Jack - are former step-siblings who are both damaged from the way that their family broke apart. There is shame and resentment on Grace's part, and hurt and anger on Jack's part. Those are feelings that make it difficult to move on when they're not dealt with, and the more we get to know both characters, the more we realize that neither of them had actually dealt with anything so that they could on from the pain. And they definitely hadn't moved on from the innocent attraction they'd had toward each other as teenagers.

***SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH*** Both characters were incredibly likable, and from the start I found myself wanting them to find their happily ever after. That said, I had a few issues with Grace. Her mother Tammy did things to the Sawyer family that I personally would find unforgivable, and while dear old mom had “changed” over the years, I was shocked that Grace kind of just handwaved off the things Tammy had done as being a thing of the past. Never mind the fact that her mother hadn't apologized to the Sawyers for her actions and still tried to justify what she'd done to those boys, leaving them with nothing of their mothers, Grace expected just basically just expected Jack to forgive and forget just because he cared for Grace. Her total lack of insight was baffling, to be honest. She was so willing to give Jack up in order to keep a relationship with Tammy - a woman who, to be totally honest, was still incredibly toxic and did not deserve Grace's unwavering love. The fact that Jack and his brothers were able to make any kind of amends with Tammy was nothing short of a miracle and spoke more to THIER amazing character than any growth on her part.

The Sawyer family was really fabulous. Their cousin Gabe wasn't in it much, but I found myself wanting to know more about him. Noah was moody and totally endearingly oblivious, but I really liked him and would definitely read a book about he and Krista who are perfect for each other whether they believe it or not. I really wish that we had gotten to know more about Sam in this one, but I look forward to learning more about his past with Abby. For absolutely no reason, I have a feeling that their story will be the best of the bunch.

If you love a sweet second chance romance where two people overcome their tangled backstory, you should give this one a try. I am glad that I did.

I requested and received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. I was under no obligation to write this review.

I have only read one or two books by this author and they have been romances about military heroes. This is a NEW series about a family business of fisherman. Its kind of a cool series because I have never read a series before about fisherman. The author does a greta job of making the fisherman business appear sexy.

The story centers around the Sawyer family. The family consists of:

Pete - the dad who has been married twice. To the love of his life and then to a woman with a teen daughter who then with a shopping addiction sold off all the first wives possessions to fund her habit.

Son - Jack who has a thing for his ex step sister, Grace but a hate on for her mother. He is convinced by a desperate Grace to hire her as office manager for teh Sawyer fishing business.

Son - Noah who is the youngest and viewed Grace as his sister.

Son - Sam who is divorced and the oldest.

Grace, the former step sister loved the whole family but lost everyone when her mother did the terrible thing of selling thr boys' mothers things, most importantly, the boat named after her, The Beatrice.

In this story Grace desperate for a job gets a job at the Sawyers, her and Jack start a relationship and because of the bad blood and because Grace wants to be considered family, she and Jack hide their relationship.

While Grace decides to enter a fishing tourny and will 20K to get back the boat for the Sawyers. She asks Noah and Jack to help until everyone ends upmad at her and then its Girfriend Power and I loved when all the ladies decide to still do the tourny after Jack and Noah bails.

I totally loved this story and I cannot wait for more books in this series.

Yet another three and a half stars.

Grace Donner is unemployed, after leaving her job as a bartender, in a small town and desperate. Her mother has Parkinson's and unless she can get a job quickly they won't have enough money for her medication. The trouble is, Grace doesn't have any qualifications. When Grace overhears a job interview taking place behind her in a coffee shop for a role she knows she could do she plucks up the courage to turn around and express interest in the job only to find out that the interviewer is her former stepbrother Jack Sawyer.

Grace's mother Tammy was briefly married to Jack's father Pete about 15 years ago when Grace and Jack were teenagers. Tammy behaved atrociously and since that time the Sawyers and the Donners have done their best to avoid each other in a small town.

This is a sweet novel about letting go of the past and making amends. Of rediscovering lost love and lost friendships and of coming to terms with loss. As Grace and Jack have a growing attraction to each other can they come out into the open with all the bad blood between their families? There are also hints of other romances between Jack's older brother Sam and his estranged wife Abbby and his younger brother Noah and Grace's other friend Krista who both vehemently claim that they are friends and nothing more!

I like Annie Rains' novels. Although this doesn't have some of the humour of [book:Welcoming the Bad Boy|27774343], it was an enjoyable read. Both Grace and Jack were engaging characters with good hearts. I just read a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1713181254?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1">review</a> of Welcoming the Bad Boy which referred it as plain good and I think that is a very apt description of this book too. Although Tammy has behaved badly she is somewhat changed and wants Grace to help her to make amends. Grace is hard-working and looks after her mother. Jack is trying to get over the loss of his best friend and please his family and still help out a troubled teen.

In a week where I have started four or five books and given each up at between 30% and 50% I read this straight through because the book was easy to read with engaging characters a fun plot and a believable storyline. I look forward to reading more from Blushing Bay.