This is definitely not one of your typical romances. This one actually has some substance behind it.

After the repeated cheating of her husband, the loss of her unborn child due to miscarriage, losing her job to due a drunken speech telling the truth of how all the woman around her got further along faster by sleeping their way up the career chain, and using alcohol to dull the pain of everything Grey has had enough. At 31 Grey is brave enough to start the process of divorcing her husband, leaving her whole world in New York with only 5 bags of luggage and her BMW.

She drives over 20 hours stopping only twice, while detoxing no less, to Berry Springs where she bought a fixer upper online to live in and hopefully start again because she promised her cousin she'd move there if she ever left her life in New York. There she runs into Lucas, a hottie who I can only describe as a snake oil salesman with all sorts of warning signs for woman to stay away from. But when Grey falls off the wagon, he seems to be the one who's there to take advantage of her. Repeatedly.

So it's refreshing when Declan finally comes onto the scene, agreeing to fix Grey's cracked oil pan in exchange for dinner. Declan has his own checkered past and seems to recognize that Grey might need some help. Almost 10 years her senior, he seems to know what rock bottom looks and feels like. Bless the man though, he has a good set of morals he lives by. So he decides to help Grey, both with her house, her car and getting her life back together.

Now what I really like about this book is how Grey's personal struggles really come to play throughout the whole book. It's not some cheap tool to move the plotline along. It IS the plotline. This whole book is driven by Grey's internal struggle against herself and her desire to clean up her life and live it to the fullest. The poor lady has some serious issues and the author does a pretty good job having her address them and struggle against them. Relapses are a really thing.

Declan, attracted to her from the start, just wants to help her as best he knows how. He knows a fair bit too, thanks to his past experience. He's her ex deus machina, recognizing what she needs before she even realizes she needs it, like a professional to talk to about past issues. He helps her with her house, and even when they fight, he comes back when he knows she'll probably need him, without her asking.

Etta, the neighbor down the road, is a great character too, btw. She is this combination of a good friend and a cheeky grandmother that swears and provides some much needed lightness to the plot. Otherwise I would have to describe this book as borderline heavy. But Amanda McKinney strikes the perfect balance of darkness and lightness that brings a hopefully feeling to the book.

This is a beautiful second chance romance between Grey & Declan. Grey has left behind a life of luxury, and a cheating husband, she has been fired from her job and has suffered through a miscarriage which triggered her out of control drinking. Declan is a former wild child and talk of the town, now just trying to run his garage and keep out if trouble, likes to fix things. As Grey starts to renovate her newly purchased run down cabin, her new neighbour can't help but chip in advice and labour in addition to helping Grey work on herself. Instant chemistry with these two and both their characters were well written. This is a new to me author and I will be reading more of her work.

Amanda McKinney’s first book in the Small-Town Mystery Romance series, Rattlesnake Road, is one long intense ride from start to finish. Intertwined with the darkness and despair of a mystery and Grey’s stumbles of shedding of her old life and embracing a new one, is the journey of discovery and to a HEA that Grey and Declan take. With the quintessential quirky small town characters and charm, this story leaves an impact and a need for more from the series.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.