Welcome to Bluebird Basin!

I was thoroughly impressed by this story! This was the first book I’ve read by Jess K Hardy and I loved it.

It presents a captivating narrative that explores the theme of second chances, and has such an evolution of the characters. The pacing of the book is fast, making it a delightful and engaging read. Moreover, the inclusion of spice in the story adds an extra layer of excitement and does not fail to deliver.

I particularly appreciate the representation of recovering addicts, which adds depth and relatability to the overall experience.

With such a fantastic book, I eagerly anticipate the possibility of more captivating Blue Basin Romances in the future!

Deliciously cosy and sexy second chande romance. Great characters, and a well written storyline. Would recommend. Will read more from this author!

Who doesn’t love a small town age gap romance? The chemistry between the main characters was impeccable and the spice was steamy 🥵
The banter throughout the book had me laughing out loud and smiling constantly. I truly hope there will be more to this series soon to get to know Madigan’s men better! Thank you @netgalley for the chance to read this book.

“All the stars in the sky shine dim, compared to you” -Mad Madigan 🤤

Oh my goodness such an awesome story. Queen of the mountain with no self esteem due to an abusive ex, about to lose her fathers legacy. Ex Con/recovering addict with a heart of gold needs work for the men in his recovering addicts home. A contract. Sparks fire, neither feel worthy of a relationship. My heart felt such an empathy for their struggles. I’m so glad I read this, I was left with a warm heart because all the feels were worth it in the end. I love when I’m able to see characters grow, this story was so beautiful.

The burn was slow, but the fire was hot. Face fanning hot. The kind you only get when you really love the characters. Please read. Beautiful messages in this book.

This was adorable, fun, emotional, sexy, romantic…
I could go on.
But seriously this was great, although by the end I was getting kind of bored. But the book got me back on track.
It’s a great read, and the writer has great quotes throughout.
Writing about addiction and loss have to be two of the most difficult things to write about, but the author delivered it amazingly.

4.5⭐️ 2.5🌶

Third person Dual pov.

When Ashley needs to save her ski hill from her cheating ex husband, she hires a group of men from the sober living home Little Timber, led by former rock star Mad Madigan, to help cut costs.
This is my first book by Jess Hardy and it definitely won't be my last. I loved every single character (not Chuck), including Murphy, the needy St Bernard. It was refreshing to read older characters (40s and 50s) and to learn about the men that stay at Little Timber. I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series!

Thank you to netgalley and Victory editing for sharing a copy of this book.

The cover is amazing but I was a little surprised that the main characters were in their 50s. I could see this becoming a Hallmark movie (minus all the spicy scenes that were perfect). I liked that they tackled issues like divorce, substance use and starting over. I think having older characters allowed the author to grow them more and remove a lot of the petty miscommunication younger romance characters have.

4.5⭐️ I absolutely loved this. The spice was excellent and Madigan is a top tier book boyfriend. Both his an Ashley’s journeys were so fun to dive into. The book was well written, I laughed, definitely got teary eyed and felt all the frustration Chuck (and a couple other things but I don’t wana spoil anything).

Half a star off because I felt Ashley’s relationships with her daughter and mother needed a little more focus. And I REALLY wanted Chuck to get his ass handed to him more than it did.

I liked this so much more than I was expecting. It was so refreshing to read a romance with older MCs. She’s in her 40s and he’s in his 50s. Both MCs have some confidence and intimacy issues — him from addiction, her from her ex-husband. There was a lot of growing and healing. Sweet romance, good spice.

Come As You Are by Jess K. Hardy was a fun surprise. I saw it on NetGalley and decided to give it a shot and am so glad I did. This novel about a family ski lodge/mountain trying to not get eaten up by a corporate entity and a ragtag group of men in a sober living facility was heartwarming and thoughtful. Ashley, the lodge owner, is on the struggle bus--her ex-husband wants to buy out her family's legacy, her mom seems to undermine her at every turn, she's understaffed, overworked, and still grieving the loss of her dad. Madigan, the owner of the sober living home, is looking for steady employment for the men he's in charge of and at the invitation of Ashley's mom, approaches Ashley with a proposition: she gets workers for less than what she's used to having to pay and his men get an opportunity to gain skills and show responsibility, while living clean and sober. Once the shock of it all wears off, Ashley grudgingly accepts the deal and what ensues is a journey of discovery and hope mixed with fear.

Madigan and Ashley begin to get to know each other and show one another that it's okay to want things, that you can actually trust people with your heart, and that it's okay to be vulnerable with those that you trust. Of course there are missteps and misunderstandings but what I really appreciated about these characters is that they actually communicated about things, listened to each other, and tried to be respectful of what the other one needed. I loved that Hardy made Madigan a big softie; it's nice to see a man be real with his emotions and to see it on the page. I appreciated how she wrote Ashley too; that she showed a character who had unfortunate, but realistic, fears and judgement about the men she was hiring and how she learned about how wrong she was.

Come As You Are was a great weekend read: sweet, romantic, honest, and heartwarming. I look forward to the next book in this series.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was a fabulous book! A later-in-life romance between two people who have experienced the worst that life has to offer and still choose to face each day with love. I adored our two MCs, especially Madigan who absolutely won my heart. There were a lot of heavy themes in this book, but what I loved most was how much optimism there was. There were also some fantastic 'real' moments that this book didn't shy away from, which in the end made everything feel more realistic.

I'm really looking forward to the next books in this series, I'm hoping we see some of the side characters from this book get their own HEAs.

This was a quick read for me. The main characters grew together throughout the story so well and the chemistry was THERE. Cute, fun cozy and romantic read.

We don’t get many books like have main characters in their 40s/50s, so I was excited to read this one! Ashley (46) owns a ski lodge that has fallen under hard times after the death of her father. Madigan (52) is an ex rock star, recovering addict that runs a sober living home. Ashley hires Madigan and his men to work at the lodge. Sparks fly between Ashley and Madigan, even though Ashley fights that attraction. While this book touches on some heavy themes like grief, addiction, betrayal and self doubt, they are handled with care. Mixed in with the heavy are light, sweet, funny and swoon worthy moments. Madigan is just so good. The slow burn to spice is perfect. I loved the ski mountain setting and the side characters were great! I highly recommend this book!

Loved reading this winter themed book in the middle of summer. Made me feel like the holidays are close! I really loved seeing Ashley and Madigan's relationship develop throughout the entire book. They both learned to love and value themselves because of their relationship with each other. This book made me laugh and cry at many different scenes. It's my first time reading characters who are over 40 and I really liked it!

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would! I absolutely loved this and it's most definitely my favorite book I read this year. I love madigan so much. I laughed out loud and cried. Every character's story hurt my heart, and I love that "he who shall not be named in bed" got the shit scared out of him!
Received as an arc through Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book was so cute!!!

Huge pro in my book was the main characters were older (Madigan is 53 and Ashley is 46) and not college students or in their 20’s. Such a refreshing

Ashley is running their family ski resort with her mom after her father passed away. They desperately need help for the season when Madigan shows up. Madigan runs a sober living facility and his men need work. Very reluctantly Ashley hires them and pretty soon her whole world changes for the good.

This book was so very good and heartwarming. It had you really rooting for these characters.

4.5/5 stars and will be buying a physical copy for my shelf!

Firstly, I need to get this off my chest, I found it incredibly annoying that Ashley’s mum was constantly referred to as Maude Alice, not mum, Maude Alice.

Now that’s out of the way, Come as You Are was an enjoyable read. I really loved Little Timber, and Madigan’s work with his men was a beautiful story, and I would gladly read more books about the men that arrive there and how their new lives unfold.

I loved this aspect; I also really enjoyed the skiing and the book's setting; what I didn’t get on with was Ashely or her mother, Maude Alice, and sometime Madigan. All these characters are supposed to be in their 40s plus but didn’t read that way, they seemed a lot more immature. Ashley and her mother didn’t have a good relationship and were just awful towards each other, and I didn’t like the instalove that happened between Ashley and Madigan.

A good book, but not great. It was and easy and enjoyable read, I just wanted more from it.

This book was amazing. It really surprised me. I never read a book like this, so well written and with fictional characters with a lot of maturity.
I adore the found family in this book and the way that communication was always a part of the characters and the book.
The plot and story of this books was so good and it talk about serious problems that a lot of people go through in life and how difficult the process is for both of the person and their families.
Ashley throughout the book gained her confidence and learner that it was best to let go of things that were in her past and that she could let her guard down and be vulnerable with someone.
Madigan, on the other hand was a mature person thanks to everything he had been through and learnt also that he needed to let of his mistakes in the past and understand that he didn't need to carry the burden alone, and also that he needed to stop being so hard on himself.
This two made each other better persons and their relationships was everything they needed.
I really adore this book with all of my heart.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Come As You Are
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Book 1 of the Bluebird Basin series
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Jess K. Hardy
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Spicy Romance
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 1st November 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 28th June 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.75/5

“But someone wise once told us—it might have been you, in fact—that hiding from life is not recovery. The freedom is in embracing life fully, the good, the bad,” Clay pointed at Kev, “and the ugly.”
Putting his cup back on the dresser next to Clay’s, Kev rolled his eyes.
“You’ve gotten pretty good at accepting the bad and the ugly,” Clay said, “but sometimes I wonder if you’re still afraid to embrace the good.”

This was a sweet and snowy romance that is sure to melt any frozen heart. Although the two main characters, Ashley and Madigan, meet at the beginning of the book and immediately have a spark lit under them, the actual romance itself is an intense slow burn that set my cheeks aflame.

One thing I loved about this novel is that the main characters are actually mature adults. Ashley is 46 whilst Madigan is 53. Yet the author doesn’t write as if having sex at this age is a weird and wonderful thing and belongs younger generations, she creates a congruent and mature romance where each character has baggage, insecurities, growth, and a fabulous chemistry that could cause an avalanche.

Come As You Are is also genuinely amusing. I loved the banter between Madigan and the men he looks after. The relationships between Ashley and her surrounding network are much more tense so Madigan definitely provided some light relief.

I would describe this book as medium paced but with high stakes. Ex-rockstar Madigan needs to keep himself and his men sober, and Ashley needs to stop her sleazy ex-husband from buying Bluebird Basin, the ski mountain she owns, which is easier said than done whilst her finances are in disarray.

Also here’s an appreciation comment for the pictures of the gent who inspired Madigan the author put in the goodreads reviews!

The topic of addiction is a deeply explored theme in this story and I thought it was done really well. All of the men are reaching for redemption and yet it’s acknowledged how difficult it is not just for the ones with the addiction, but for their families and loved ones too.

I’m excited for this to be a possible series?!

Thank you to the publishers & netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Madigan, Madigan, Madigan, OOOOF. What a steamy, sensitive, MMC. He runs a sober living home after his own addictions while being a literal rock star. He apologizes, forgives, and gives world-rocking orgasms. What more can we want in a MCC?! I love Ashley’s brave, strong, and determined care for her family business. Both MMCs are in their late 40s/early 50s, so this appeals to a wider romance audience as well. Ashley is also finding true love after divorce. Cannot wait for book 2!!