Leave The Night On by Laura Trentham

This book taught me that revenge romance really isn't my cup of tea. That's ok! I love the small town and am interested in reading other books in this series.

Meeh, revenge romance not really my cup of tea. I gotten bored halfway through especially when she decides to have a secret romance on the side. Slogged through the rest. I'm reading this backwards so I know a bit of Ford it was nice to get more background on him.

This is a voluntary review and I do not get paid for this review.

When Sutton takes her fiancee's car to Abbott Brothers Garage for a restoration, which would also be a wedding gift. What could have been a nice surprise, turned out as a shock as she discovers lace panties under the seat and she knows exactly to whom they belong. One thing leads to another and Sutton finds herself lying about having somebody else as well and that someone is Wyatt. They agreed to play a couple for a few weeks, but a lot can change during those weeks.
I enjoyed the small-town setting and the romance between the main characters. I've read almost all books in the series and will definitely want to read the ones I haven't gotten around to yet. The writing style, characters and the vibe of the town makes it a great book to read at any time.

In Leave the Night On, Laura Trentham returns to the southern town of Cottonbloom, a community split by both a river and a state line, for the first book featuring the newly introduced Abbott brothers. While familiar characters from the first Cottonbloom trilogy appear periodically, readers new to Trentham's Cottonbloom books will have no difficulty starting with this novel.

I've been excitedly anticipating this newest Cottonbloom story and it did not disappoint. Once again, Trentham has paired a couple from opposites sides of the river: Sutton, the privileged daughter of a Mississippi judge and Wyatt, the blue-collar mechanic from the Louisiana side. At first glance, Sutton and Wyatt are completely mismatched, but both are much more complex than appearances would suggest. Wyatt, in particular, has hidden depths that not even his family has guessed and beneath her prim and proper exterior, Sutton hides the soul of a woman aching to break loose and have fun. I adored them both, individually and as a couple, and thoroughly enjoyed their journey.

As in her previous books, both the town of Cottonbloom and the quirky citizens on both sides of the river are featured prominently in Leave the Night On. Trentham brings them to life with her vibrant, realistic descriptions and spot-on southern dialog. It's a town I want to visit - people I'd like to know. And you can put Wyatt at the top of that list. He made me laugh, made me sigh, and if I didn't like Sutton so much, I'd elbow her out of the way and claim him for my own.

In addition to creating intriguing communities, Trentham also excels at developing complex family relationships, the Abbott brothers being the most recent to take center stage. The dynamic among the four brothers is fraught with emotion, mistrust, and conflict. Trentham unveils just enough about each brother to leave me wanting more though I have to admit that at this point all I want to do with eldest brother Ford is drop-kick him off the nearest cliff. I'm sure there are swirling emotional depths within each of them to which we will eventually become privy. I can't wait to see where she takes them in upcoming books.

If you enjoy small-town stories true to their southern roots with sensual romance, emotional depth, likable couples, quirky secondary characters, and a splash of humor that wrap you up in a satisfied smile and sigh, then I recommend any of Laura Trentham's Cottonbloom novels. Leave the Night On is a great place to begin.

It's Laura Trentham's first book I read and love it.

A novel with the classic cliches, but that involves the reader(especially for being a series and the reader knowing that some characters would return).

Sutton was a woman of organized and accomplished life.
Everything was going well. Good work, wedding in sight. Until she discovers a piece of women's clothing - which she knew whose was - in her fiancé's car.

Instead of Sutton putting her fiancé against the wall and ending the relationship (which would be more logical to do), she decides to pay back.

Or, more or less.

She would fake a romance, and for that, she had the help of a longtime friend, Wyatt.

What Sutton could not have guessed was that Wyatt had always been in love with her, and perhaps pretending a romance could lead to something more serious... and with more devastating consequences.

A novel that makes us think about priorities in life and that revenge is not always the best answer, but sometimes can be lovely...

4,5 stars

I’m not sure where to start. This is a new author to me and I can’t wait to read more. I absolutely loved this story line. Wyatt is a so called bad boy from the wrong side of the river. Sutton is from a family with money and influence. I loved the back and forth between these two strong characters. Sutton has so many insecurities and is scared to love. Wyatt knows he is in love with Sutton right from the start.
This story is the sweetest book I have ever read.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw the title of the book and read the description, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into reading this book. I have to say, that I just loved this quick read.

It was the first time for me reading work from this author,and I couldn't put the book down. The main characters, Sutton and Wyatt, are what I believe the be the epitome of life in a small town. Both Sutton and Wyatt are known to those in the surrounding community, although for different reasons. Sutton is the good girl from the right side of the river, daughter of a judge, and all around good person who everyone loves. Wyatt is the town mechanic from the other side of the river, known for his way with women and cars. The two are pushed together by a fortunately unfortunate event, and the way this story is told the reader can easily fall in love with this couple.

The dynamic between Wyatt and Sutton was realistic, with a twist between Sutton's innocence and Wyatt's confidence. The interaction and friendship turned to more between the two really made the story enjoyable. This was a quick read, and while I loved the main characters, I also wanted to know more about the secondary characters as well so hoping there are more books with their stories.

I voluntarily read an advanced reviewers copy of the book

Wyatt Abbott is a strong man who has always liked Sutton from a distance. When he gets a chance to be there for her there is no way that he could walk away.

Sutton is in a jam and when the man who teased her as a child stands up for her in a way that she would never imagine she can't help to notice all his good points and forget all of the horrible teasing he did in the past.

I love the Cottonbloom series and I love this book. It was a great story about romance, family dynamics, passion and friendship. Overall a great book that made me laugh, cry and want more and more! Great job Laura.

I very much enjoyed reading Sutton and Wyatt's story. Small towns can harbor all sorts of secrets, and can lead to all sorts of surprises. The tensions, family dynamics, small town politics, and romance all made for an engaging read. I hope to see more books set in this town with some of the supporting characters getting their time to be up front.

Loved this book! Sutton and Wyatt were perfect together and I loved the way this story unfolded! Perfection!

Small town romance that is filled with southern charm, and plenty of sass. I loved the humor in this one.

When Sutton Mize finds out that her fiancé has been having an affair with her best friend, the gloves come off! This truly is one of those, all's fair in love and war kind of stories. Great characters, great storyline, I was happy to find out that this is a series and I look forward to reading more!

A sweet and charming book with a fake romance that turns into true love

What do you do when you find out your best friend is having an affair with your fiancé? What do you if you're born an bred to always do 'the right thing', your daddy's a prominent judge, appearances matter? What do you do when you learn this information standing in front of an extremely sexy man your family and friends may find slightly inappropriate? If you're Sutton Mize you create a diversion, a diversion in the form of steamy Whyatt Abbott.
Sutton Mize is standing in an auto restoration shop in front of Whyatt Abbott arranging for her fiancés sports car to be restored as a wedding gift when they find a pair of woman's panties under the car seat that don't belong to Sutton. Immediately she knows they belong to her best friend, a special order from Sutton's high end boutique. Humiliated and betrayed Sutton concocts an affair of her own. Whyatt has harbored a crush on Sutton since they were kids and readily agrees to 'fake date' for a short time to help her save face. Realizing she was anguished more over the loss of a friendship then your fiancé is freeing, and allows Sutton to really break free from her fiancé with no second thoughts. As Sutton moves through anger, grief, manages rumor, innuendo, her own feelings towards Whyatt, we see a young woman who for the first time seems to be considering what she wants, what she needs. It's refreshing to watch. I love that while doing so she also stays true to herself. This makes the story very relatable.
On the surface Sutton appears to to choose revenge. As you read you realize there's much more to it, it's not that trite, and Sutton has chosen herself. I love a good romance, a hot and steamy one...even better! However, a story that also manages to empower a woman to walk away from an ugly, self serving relationship has me standing up and cheering! Laura Trentham does a wonderful job balancing these at the same time while sacrificing neither. These were characters I cared about, are multidimensional, we understand their motivations. I wanted to keep reading to learn more, and I'm anxious for more books in this series. I thoroughly enjoyed Leave the Light On and highly recommend. Well done!
I received an advanced reader copy (eGalley) from St Martin's Press through NetGalley. This review reflects my honest and unbiased opinions.

I LOVE LT's small-town stories. The only thing small about LT's writing is the location. The writing is big, the story-telling bigger, and the MCs great from the classy, scorned h, Sutton, to the deep, charming, sexy H, Wyatt. There's a sweet, sexy attraction between the two MCs. They're sexy, really good people, and their chemistry is honest without hitting you over the head with it every other page in explicit detail.

Can't wait for future stories about the 3 other brothers and where the family goes. With LT's writing I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

HEA: Yes
Standalone: Yes but the other 3 brothers will be getting their story (fingers crossed)
Cheating: No
Recommend: YES

Sutton Mize was a true southern belle. She grew up in Cottonbloom, Mississippi. Her father was a judge and she did everything in a proper way. As a wedding gift, she took her fiance's Camara to be restored. While at the shop, she was surprised to find a thong under the seat of her fiance's car and it didn't belong to her. She recognized it immediately because she had custom ordered them for her best friend.

Wyatt Abbott was from Cottombloom, Louisiana, just across the river from the town of the same name in Mississippi. He had liked Sutton since they were in school together and he didn't want to see her in pain. So, when he was there for the "thong unveiling", he helped her the best way he knew how and that was to get her out of there as fast as he could. At her request, he agreed to be her fake boyfriend as revenge against her fiance' and best friend. But, as they spent more time together, the fake relationship didn't seem so fake anymore. Was it possible for this southern belle to love a swamp rat?

I grew up in Louisiana so this story was a fun read for me. I loved the character and especially loved, Wyatt, who patiently showed Sutton how much he cared about her. I'm not particularly fond of the descriptive sex scenes. I think the chemistry can come through without all the details of a couple's sex adventures.

I was given an arc copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've just finished "Leave The Night On", another great contemporary book! It's still summer, right? ☀️.

4.5 Stars! I think people would like this if they like ADULT small town romances, fun/caring characters with substance, and a decent plot.

NOTE: Leave The Night On is an adult read due to sexual content and lying/scheming.

Leave The Night On is book 4 in the Cottonbloom series. I didn't know this before I looked on Goodreads, after I had requested it on NetGalley. It luckily works as a stand alone, though. Netgalley should really tell those requesting books where the book comes in the series, though, I think, or if the book is a standalone. That might be something that NetGalley can improve on in the future? Thanks to Netgalley for this e-arc.

Leave The Night On starts with Wyatt, our lead male character who works in a garage with his brothers. Wyatt is a twin. Jackson is his twin brother, and Ford is his other brother. "Leave The Night On" starts when our female lead, Sutton brings her fiancé, Andrew's car into the garage.

When Wyatt uncovers a pair of panties in the back of Sutton's fiancé's car it makes Sutton question her thoughts about whether Andrew is the right man for her. We learn that Andrew is very stuck up and posh and that he doesn't care for Sutton herself. He just wants to be with her because he's a lawyer and it makes his social standing better.

Wyatt suggests that both he and Sutton start a 'fake' relationship. For him, it's about showing Sutton that she's better than she thinks she is and for Sutton it's about showing Andrew that Sutton can live without him. Does this 'fake' relationship lead to more, though? Can Wyatt and Sutton turn what's fake into reality? You'll need to read to find out...

Spoilers below...

When Wyatt first sees Sutton he compares the both of them. "She was Southern femininity and grace. And he was a grease monkey". I thought this was cute and funny. Wyatt puts himself down a lot and doesn't think he's worthy of Sutton, at first. He often compares them. He learns that it doesn't matter what his background is throughout "Leave The Night On", especially when he hears about and then meets Andrew, who may have a more upstanding job that him but is horrible.

Also, Sutton's parents are hard on Wyatt also, although they clearly love and want what's best for Sutton.

"Her daddy's a judge. I can't afford to make an enemy of him" is Andrew's reaction to Sutton's best friend's plea to be with her instead of Sutton. He doesn't want to anger Sutton's father because he could loose his job. It's not that he loves Sutton. It never was. He was only with her to further his career.

"Wyatt transferred the wrench to his left hand, wiped the right across the front of his coveralls and took her hand in a firm shake. "I'm the youngest by a minute, and Jackson never lets me forget it. But that's okay because I'm better looking"

this is the first interaction that Sutton and Wyatt have. Wyatt has a funny personality that Sutton can easily connect to.

"From what I've heard, I'm lucky to have your love and devotion even if it is temporary". Her sexy-sweet tease faded as her words hung between them. She shifted and fiddled with her hair. "I mean, the car is lucky, not me.
The graceful play of fingers at her neck was hypnotizing".

I could tell pretty early on in the book that Wyatt and Sutton would get together. Would and how would they stay together, were more the questions that I was pondering?

What did I like about Leave The Night On?

* I loved our lead characters. I felt I could totally see myself in Sutton, a girl who's not been given many chances at happiness in her life. Also, I found Wyatt to be cute, and funny.

* When I started Leave The Night On, I was worried that there would be a big love triangle between Sutton, Andrew and Wyatt. I'm glad to say that this is not the case. It's established pretty early on that Andrew and Sutton break up.

* I loved the cover of Leave The Night On. This is what drew me to the story.

What didn't I like about Leave The Night On?

* The pacing of the story seemed a little off. There certainly wasn't any instalove but because it's so short it just felt too slow to me. I would have preferred to see Sutton and Wyatt make up their minds about each other sooner. Or for the book to be slightly longer so we got to see if they worked long term.

* I personally didn't understand how the title linked to the story. If I had read the previous books in this series of stand alone novels then maybe I would be able to...

I loved Leave The Night On. The only thing that I would have altered slightly is the pacing of the story. It's quite a short read so I would have lengthened it a little bit and added more interaction between our main characters and other secondary characters, as well as each other. We get to see a little bit of this but not very much. That and not knowing what the title really means led me to dock half a star but for a cute, small town romance it's got a lot going for it. That's why I'm giving Leave The Night On 4.5 stars.

If one word could aptly describe a book it would be PHENOMENAL!!!
The fourth book in the Cottonbloom series but can also be read as a standalone.
This is Wyatt and Sutton's story-Wyatt owns a car restoration garage and Sutton is the owner of fine women's lingerie.
As a surprise to her fiancé Sutton takes his Camaro for some restoration work and never expected to find betrayal!
The damning piece of evidence -a thong from her boutique that she had sold to her best friend!!!
Wyatt cannot believe that any man could do such a thing to Sutton to him she's everything that a man could possibly wish for- she's been his secret fantasy since forever maybe even had a small piece of his heart!
So when Sutton breaks off the engagement and schemes to dish out the same in her ex-fiancé's face Wyatt is more than happy to play her FAKE lover!
But what started out as a fake relationship turns out into something much more than they both ever expected!
A love just as hot and strong as the Mississippi heat!!
I totally enjoyed this book it's hero and heroine were absolutely great together, Wyatt is the perfect gentleman supportive and loving to her. Sutton realizes how different her relationship is with Wyatt and that this is a man who she can rely on and worthy of her heart.

I received a complimentary copy from the author via NetGalley for my unbiased review.

I agreed to review this book for one reason... fake relationship! Also, it's set down south on the Mississippi and Louisiana border and I do have a thing about books set in the southern states of America. I fully blame X-Men for this fascination but that's a whole other conversation.

I agreed to this book because I saw mention of a good old fake relationship, and a revenge/saving face fake relationship at that. Poor Sutton discovers another woman's underwear under the seat of the classic car of her fiancé she is intending to get restored as an engagement present. It is also underwear she recognises as she sold it so knowing the 'other woman' definitely doesn't help matters. Instead of being broken hearted she gets angry and she gets even angrier when she learns her (soon to be ex) fiancé is going to try and turn it around on her so she does what any self-respecting woman does: she lies. She lies and says screw you I've been cheating too and quite conveniently she has just been dropped home by sexy mechanic Wyatt and has his number. They are old acquaintances so she is only very mortified to drag him into the lie and really, it is obvious where it goes from there.

Fake relationship stories are predictable so I do have slightly discerning tastes when it comes to them. I can put up with the usual plot points as long as it's done well and this book does it right. Both Wyatt and Sutton have their own reasons for faking a relationship. Sutton needs to save face with friends (and not be discovered as lying to her ex) and Wyatt can get word out about the garage and the restoration business he runs with his brothers. But both of them are attracted to one another and think the other doesn't care. It's a whole thing and it's written well. Sure, it was slightly frustrating that Sutton assumed things about Wyatt based off of gossip but who isn't guilty of that? The two had obvious chemistry from the start and were enjoyable to read about.

Sutton is very straight-laced. She's always done as her parents wanted and never rocked the boat so I liked seeing some of her personality shine through. I often get bored of nice girls in books because they are beige (as Sutton says about herself) they are boring and you don't care about them so seeing bits of Sutton break through and show she is more than a nice girl from a nice family was good. It was Wyatt which drove the book for me, though. He was sexy and charming and completely unaware of how nice he came across to everyone. He is from the wrong side of the tracks (or the river) and so some folks look down on him and make him feel bad, but very few because he is a nice guy who can smile at an awkward teenage girl and make her blush and flash those braces. He learns he can take a chance and ask for what he wants and doesn't have to accept his lot in life. He has his own life to live and got I loved him.

So, from this slightly rambly review (or word vomit of initial thoughts) I can say this was an enjoyable romance which had me swooning. I got frustrated at Sutton in the book but even her hesitance to trust was understandable because the girl had just been burned. There are the usual romance dramas to be seen (and family dramas) but it was a good book that I sped through and I really enjoyed it. Now to find the rest of the series and see if it's as good.

An interesting take on a small town, Romeo and Juliet type plot. An easy going read that should appeal to readers looking for a nice summery beach read.